LEXINGTON REGION

Third-quarter outburst lifts Lady Vols

TENNESSEE 100, LIBERTY 60

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Freshman Rennia Davis scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in her women's NCAA Tournament debut as No. 3 seed Tennessee pulled away in the second half to beat No. 14 Liberty 100-60 in the first round on Friday.

Tennessee (25-7) plays No. 6 Oregon State in the second round of the Lexington Regional on Sunday with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. Oregon State beat No. 11 Western Kentucky 82-58 in the opening game.

The Lady Vols used an offensive outburst in the third quarter to win their NCAA opener for the ninth consecutive season and remain undefeated at home in NCAA play at 57-0.

Tennessee finished 24 of 30 from the field in the second half (80 percent) and scored 64 points.

Liberty entered the game ranked No. 7 in the country in scoring defense (53.7 points per game), but couldn't hold Tennessee's offense down for a full game.

The last time Liberty (24-10) allowed a team to score 100 points was in 1998, when the Lady Flames lost to Tennessee in an NCAA Tournament game in Knoxville.

Tennessee struggled with early turnovers as freshmen guards Evina Westbrook and Anastasia Hayes combined for seven of UT's 11 turnovers in the first half. Tennessee seniors Jaime Nared and Mercedes Russell were a combined 2 for 9 from the field in the half.

But Tennessee's pressure defense triggered its offense in the second half as the Lady Vols scored 38 points in the third quarter to take control.

Lela Sellers led Liberty with 13 points. Big South Conference Player of the Year Keyen Green scored 10 points, all in the second half.

LOUISVILLE 74, BOISE STATE 42

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Kylee Shook had 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench to lead Louisville to a blowout of Boise State.

Beginning NCAA play as a top seed for the first time in school history, the Cardinals (33-2) used quick spurts early in both halves, along with defense, to cruise to victory.

Louisville combined size and quickness to break it open coming out of the break, outscoring No. 16 seed Boise State (23-10) 16-4 for a 50-26 cushion. The Cardinals dominated most every category, from points in the paint to rebounds (51-30) to fast-break and bench points.

MARQUETTE 84, DAYTON 65

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Natisha Hiedeman scored a career-high 32 points, including 18 in the first quarter, and No. 8 seed Marquette rallied past No. 9 seed Dayton for a victory.

Hiedeman's five three-pointers in the first quarter were critical in rallying the Golden Eagles (24-9) from an 11-3 deficit to a 22-15 lead that they maintained on the way to their first NCAA victory since 2011.

The Flyers (23-7) got within 69-58 early in the fourth quarter before jumpers by Davenport and Danielle King (11 points) stretched it back to a comfortable margin.

OREGON STATE 82, WESTERN KENTUCKY 58

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Marie Gulich scored 21 of her 29 points in the second half and grabbed 15 rebounds as No. 6 seed Oregon State (24-7) beat No. 11 Western Kentucky.

The 6-foot-5 Gulich finished 11 of 15 from the field, with a steady stream of layups and short jumpers highlighting her second-half surge.

Despite a decided crowd advantage encouraging the Lady Toppers to make a run, WKU was never able to threaten the Beavers. Tashia Brown finished with 17 points on 7 of 21 shooting to lead WKU while Ivy Brown scored 14.

MICHIGAN 75, NORTHERN COLORADO 61

WACO, Texas -- Hallie Thome scored 24 points, Katelynn Flaherty added 20 and No. 7 seed Michigan defeated No. 10 Northern Colorado.

The Wolverines shot 57 percent from the floor and took advantage of their size at nearly every position to dominate on the boards, 33-18. They were also more aggressive going to the basket, and that manifested itself in a 23-15 edge from the free-throw line.

Savannah Scott led Northern Colorado with 23 points and four steals, and Big Sky Player of the Year Savannah Smith had 14 for the Bears.

BAYLOR 96,

GRAMBLING STATE 46

WACO, Texas — Lauren Cox had a career-high 30 points and 17 rebounds to lead four players in double figures as No. 2 seed Baylor beat Grambling State. The Lady Bears (32-1) scored 17 of the game’s first 18 points and were never challenged in picking up their 29th consecutive victory. Cox tied the Lady Tigers’ offensive output of 19 points in the first half by herself and tied for a team-high five assists.

The Lady Tigers missed their first eight shots and went without a field goal until an Ariel Williams jumper with 3:30 to go in the first quarter. Things didn’t go much better the rest of the way, and they finished at 25 percent from the floor and 19 percent (5 for 26) from three-point range.

KANSAS CITY REGION

Terps top Tigers

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Kaila Charles scored 20 points and Maryland beat Princeton 77-57 in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament.

Eleanna Christinaki added 16 points, Kristen Confroy finished with 14 and Brianna Fraser had 11 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Terrapins (26-7).

They shot 56 percent in the second half, built a 43-25 rebounding advantage and pulled away in the second half to advance to the second round.

Abby Meyers scored 13 points and Bella Alarie had 12 for the 12th-seeded Tigers (24-6), who allow just 54.3 points per game -- 10th-best in the country. The Terps surpassed that mark in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter.

Maryland went up by double digits to stay with a 14-4 run late in the third quarter keyed by seven points from Charles, then pushed its lead into the 20s on Fraser's layup with 7½ minutes remaining.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE 62, ELON 35

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Kiara Leslie scored 13 points and North Carolina State beat Elon.

Aislinn Konig added 12 points to help the fourth-seeded Wolfpack (25-8) advance to a second-round matchup with Maryland in the renewal of a past Atlantic Coast Conference rivalry.

Shay Burnett had 12 points for the 13th-seeded Phoenix (25-8), who had their 13-game winning streak snapped. N.C. State held Elon -- which shoots 45 percent from the field -- to a season-worst 24 percent shooting.

Sports on 03/17/2018

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