Griner, Baylor open tourney with easy win over UC Santa Barbara

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Brittney Griner scored 14 points in only 22 minutes, and top-seeded Baylor rolled to an 81-40 win over 16th-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the Des Moines Regional on Sunday.

Brooklyn Pope had 13 points for the Lady Bears (35-0), and Destiny Williams added 12. Baylor has not lost since the quarterfinals of last year’s NCAA tournament.

Emilie Johnson scored 10 points for UCSB (17-16), but the Gauchos were as overmatched as expected. They swarmed Griner early and prevented her from dominating, but Baylor has plenty of other options.

The Lady Bears move on to the second round, where they’ll face ninth-seeded Florida on Tuesday night.

No. 9 FLORIDA 70,

No. 8 OHIO STATE 65

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Jennifer George had 16 points and six rebounds to lead Florida over Ohio State.

The Gators (20-12) scored the game’s first nine points and held on in front of a crowd packed with fans of the in-state Buckeyes (25-7).

Tayler Hill scored 23 points for Ohio State, including two late baskets to pull the Buckeyes within two. Florida patiently worked the ball inside to George, who went up strong with her left hand and scored with 45 seconds to play. Emilee Harmon missed at the other end for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State star Samantha Prahalis went scoreless in the second half and finished with nine points.

Lanita Bartley scored 15 for Florida.

No. 4 GEORGIA TECH 76,

No. 13 SACRED HEART 50

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Freshman guard Sydney Wallace scored a season-high 28 points to lead Georgia Tech past Sacred Heart in the first round.

Wallace finished 11 of 13 and hit six 3-pointers, while Sasha Goodlett added 12 points and 11 rebounds. They helped Georgia Tech (25-8) set the school’s single-season wins record and avoid being upset in the first round for the second time in three years.

The Yellow Jackets used a huge run in the first half to take command and didn’t allow the Pioneers to get closer than 13 after the break while claiming a spot in the second round opposite fifth-seeded Georgetown on Tuesday night.

Gabrielle Washington had 13 points for Sacred Heart (27-6).

No. 5 GEORGETOWN 61,

No. 12 FRESNO STATE 56

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Tia Magee scored 17 points, and Georgetown held on to beat Fresno State.

Adria Crawford and Sugar Rodgers added 11 points apiece for the Hoyas (23-8). They never trailed but blew most of a 17-point lead and made just four field goals during the final 15 minutes — none in the final 6 minutes — before improving to 4-0 in NCAA tournament openers.

Ki-Ki Moore scored 22 points for the 12th-seeded Bulldogs (28-6). They shot 34 percent, finished with a season-low point total and remained winless in six NCAA tournament appearances.

No. 3 DELAWARE 73,

No. 14 UALR 42

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Elena Delle Donne had 39 points and 11 rebounds to lift Delaware over Arkansas-Little Rock.

The Blue Hens (31-1) earned their first victory in three NCAA tournament appearances and ran their winning streak to 21 in a row.

Delle Donne, the nation’s leading scorer at 27.5 points per game, was making her first NCAA appearance after leading Delaware to the WNIT the past two seasons. The junior didn’t disappoint, collecting 20 points and nine rebounds in the first half and helping the Blue Hens pull away in the second.

Marian Kursh had 12 points for the Trojans (20-13), who were making their third straight NCAA tournament appearance.

No. 11 KANSAS 57,

No. 6 NEBRASKA 49

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Angel Goodrich scored 20 points to lead Kansas past former Big 12 rival Nebraska.

The Jayhawks (20-12) led by as many as 10 in the first half and held on in the second for their first NCAA tournament win since 1999. The appearance was the school’s first since 2000 and the first in eight seasons under coach Bonnie Henrickson.

The win comes after Kansas narrowly made the tournament after losing six of its final eight games when leading scorer Carolyn Davis injured her knee.

Goodrich picked up the slack, and Chelsea Gardner added 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Kaitlyn Burke had 14 points to pace Nebraska (24-9), which shot 33 percent from the field.

RALEIGH REGIONAL

No. 1 NOTRE DAME 74,

No. 16 LIBERTY 43

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Kayla McBride scored 15 points, and Notre Dame opened the game with an 11-0 run to rout Liberty in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

The Irish (31-3) will face No. 8 seed California (25-9) on Tuesday at the Purcell Pavilion, where Notre Dame is 16-1 this season.

Natalie Novosel and Brittany Mallory hit 3-pointers to open the scoring. McBride converted a three-point play, and Devereaux Peters hit a jumper for an 11-0 lead less than 2 minutes in.

After Liberty rallied to within 16-8, the Irish took off on another 11-0 spurt run to lead 44-19 at halftime behind 13 points from McBride.

Devon Brown scored 16 to lead Liberty (24-9).

No. 8 CALIFORNIA 84,

No. 9 IOWA 74

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Layshia Clarendon scored 16 points, and California nearly lost a big lead before hanging on to beat Iowa.

The Golden Bears (25-9) watched a 16-point lead slip to six when Iowa’s Kamille Wahlin and Kelly Krei hit late 3-pointers. Clarendon made two free throws with 41 seconds left as Cal pushed the lead back to 10 and stopped the rally.

Freshman point guard Brittany Boyd added 15 points, eight assists and six steals for Cal, which had a 41-29 rebounding edge, including 19-7 on the offensive boards.

Wahlin led Iowa (19-12) with 15 points.

No. 13 MARIST 76,

No. 4 GEORGIA 70

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Corielle Yarde scored 21 points, Brandy Gang had 18 and Marist upset Georgia in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Marist shot 52.5 percent and made 21 of 25 free throws for its 11th straight win.

Yarde’s three-point play put the Red Foxes up 74-65 with 1:37 left. Casey Dulin added 11 points for Marist (26-7), the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions.

Khaalidah Miller led Georgia (22-9) with 21 points, and Meredith Mitchell added 15 before fouling out with 7:01 left.

No. 5 ST. BONAV. 72,

No. 12 FLA. GC 65, OT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Megan Van Tatenhove scored 18 points, Armelia Horton had 17, and St. Bonaventure rallied to beat Florida Gulf Coast in overtime, snapping the Eagles’ 21-game winning streak.

Doris Ortega and Chelsea Bowker added 10 points each for the Bonnies (30-3), who overcame a 53-42 deficit in the final 6 minutes.

Courtney Chihil sent the game into overtime with the Eagles’ only field goal in the final 6:29, a layup that tied it at 58.

Sarah Hansen led FGCU (29-3) with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Eagles shot just 35.7 percent.

St. Bonaventure meets Marist on Tuesday night with the winner advancing to the round of 16.

FRESNO REGIONAL

No. 3 ST. JOHN’S 69,

No. 14 CREIGHTON 67

NORMAN, Okla. — Nadirah McKenith scored on a coast-to-coast layup with 0.1 seconds left, lifting St. John’s to a dramatic victory over Creighton.

After Carli Tritz hit two free throws to tie it with 5.4 seconds left, McKenith took an inbounds pass and zoomed up the left sideline and into the lane before lofting a high-arcing shot that splashed in for the game-winner.

McKenith finished with 21 points, and Da’Shena Stevens scored 12 for the Red Storm (23-9), who narrowly avoided becoming the first No. 3 seed ever to lose in the tournament’s opening round.

Ally Jensen scored 15 points, and Tritz had 14 for Creighton (20-13), the Missouri Valley Conference champion.

No. 6 OKLAHOMA 88,

No. 11 MICHIGAN 67

NORMAN, Okla. — Aaryn Ellenberg scored 21 of her 28 points in the second half, Whitney Hand added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Oklahoma defeated Michigan in the first round.

Playing on their home court, the Sooners (21-12) took control with an early 14-4 run and never trailed.

Oklahoma led by 12 in the first 8 minutes. The advantage grew to 19 as Ellenberg came out hot in the second half, and Oklahoma held the Wolverines without a basket for the first 5 minutes.

Michigan (20-12), making its first tournament appearance in 11 years, got as close as eight with a flurry of 3-pointers by Carmen Reynolds before the Sooners closed it out.

Reynolds finished with 20 points to lead the Wolverines. Michigan’s leading scorer, Rachel Sheffer, had only three points in a season-low 14 minutes.

No. 2 DUKE 82,

No. 15 SAMFORD 47

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tricia Liston scored 22 points, and Duke started strong in an easy victory over Samford.

Freshman center Elizabeth Williams, the ACC defensive player of the year, had 11 points and three rebounds while playing with a stress fracture in her lower right leg. She is Duke’s top scorer and rebounder.

Duke (25-5) opened the game on a 23-7 run en route to a 40-22 halftime lead. The Blue Devils made nearly 52 percent of their shots overall and were 22 of 25 from the foul line.

Taylor Reece led Samford (20-13) with 10 points.

No. 7 VANDERBILT 60,

No. 10 MIDDLE TENN. 46

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jasmine Lister scored 19 points to lead Vanderbilt past in-state rival Middle Tennessee.

The schools hadn’t met since 1992 despite being about 40 miles apart. Vanderbilt (23-9) led 25-18 at halftime and used a 20-5 run in the second half to pull away.

Kortni Jones led Middle Tennessee (26-7) with 12 points, and Ebony Rowe had 10 with 16 rebounds as the Blue Raiders lost their third straight opening NCAA tournament game to a Southeastern Conference team.

Middle Tennessee shot only 28.1 percent for the game to 42.1 percent for Vanderbilt.

KINGSTON REGIONAL

No. 4 PENN STATE 85,

No. 13 UTEP 77

BATON ROUGE, La. — Maggie Lucas scored 23 points, and Alex Bentley had 21 in Penn State’s victory over UTEP.

Zhaque Gray added 15 points for the Lady Lions (25-6), who trailed for much of the first half but led nearly all of the second en route to their second straight appearance in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Gloria Brown had 18 points and 10 rebounds for UTEP (29-4), which had not lost by more than three points all season before running into Penn State, the Big Ten regular-season champion.

Kayla Thornton added 15 and 12 rebounds for the Miners, who led by as many as seven in the first half but fell behind by as much as 14 in the second.

No. 5 LSU 64,

No. 12 SAN DIEGO St. 56

BATON ROUGE, La. — LaSondra Barrett had 17 points and 10 rebounds in her comeback from a concussion, and LSU held off San Diego State to advance to the second round.

Courtney Jones added 13 points, and Jeanne Kenney scored 10 for LSU (23-10), which trailed by six midway through the second half but surged in front for good with a 12-0 run that lasted nearly 7 minutes.

LSU, which plays Penn State next, shot 38.3 percent (18 of 47) but made 26 of 35 free throws, while San Diego State (25-7) missed 13 of 20 foul shots.

Courtney Clements scored 17 for the Aztecs, but only three in the second half. Chelsea Hopkins added 14 points.