IOWA CITY, Iowa — Lauren Jensen scored 19 points against her former team, including the go-ahead 3 with 12.9 seconds left that lifted No. 10 Creighton over Caitlin Clark and second-seeded Iowa 64-62 Sunday in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Iowa (24-8), which shared the Big Ten regular-season title and won the conference tournament, had two chances to tie the game in the closing three seconds. Monika Czinano missed a layup with three seconds left, then Kate Martin missed a putback as the buzzer sounded.
Jensen, who played at Iowa last season as a freshman before transferring, had nine of her points in the fourth quarter. She had a layup with 1:26 left to cut Iowa’s lead to 62-60, then her 3-pointer gave the Bluejays a lead. After Clark missed a layup, Emma Ronziek made the second of two free throws for the final margin.
Payton Brotzki added 13 points for the Bluejays (22-9), who advance to their first-ever Sweet 16. They were the seventh double-digit seed to win in the women’s NCAA Tournament so far, matching the record set in 1998.
Monika Czinano led Iowa with 27 points. Clark, who came into the game as the nation’s leading scorer at 27.4 points per game, finished with 15 on 4-for-19 shooting, missing all eight shots in the second half.
The Bluejays will play Iowa State in Greensboro on Friday.
GREENSBORO REGION
IOWA STATE 67, GEORGIA 44
AMES, Iowa — Lexi Donarski scored 20 points and third-seeded Iowa State raced to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2010 with a win over sixth-seeded Georgia.
Emily Ryan had 15 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Cyclones (28-6), and Ashley Joens added 12 points.
Jenna Staiti led Georgia (21-10) with 16 points. The Bulldogs shot 31% from the floor and never had a lead.
SOUTH CAROLINA 49, MIAMI 33
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 16 rebounds for her 26th double-double in a row as top-seeded South Carolina used its strong defense to hold off Miami.
The Gamecocks (31-2) again held an opponent without a field goal in the second quarter and Miami (21-13) shot just 24% for the game as South Carolina coach Dawn Staley advanced to her eighth Sweet 16 in nine tournament appearances.
The Gamecocks led throughout despite shooting only 30%. Kamilla Cardoso led South Carolina with 11 points. Boston was 4-of-15 shooting, missing both her 3-pointers, and made just 2 of 6 free throws.
Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi of Miami, a former teammate of Cardoso at Syracuse, led all scorers with 15 points.
South Carolina will play the North Carolina-Arizona winner on Friday.
SPOKANE REGION
STANFORD 91, KANSAS 65
STANFORD, Calif. — Lexie Hull scored a career-high 36 points with six 3-pointers and made six steals, leading No. 1 seed Stanford past eighth-seeded in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.
With the win, the defending national champions extended their winning streak to 22 games and secured a trip to the Sweet 16.
Cameron Brink added 13 points, 12 rebounds and four assists as the Cardinal (30-3) used a dominant third quarter to pull away.
Zakiyah Franklin scored 13 points to lead Kansas (21-10), which was back in the tourney for the first time since 2013.
Stanford plays Maryland on Friday.
MARYLAND 89, FLORIDA GULF COAST 65
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Diamond Miller scored 24 points as fourth-seeded Maryland used a 19-0 run spanning parts of both halves to pull away from 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast.
Angel Reese added 21 points and Ashley Osusu scored 20 for the Terrapins (23-8), who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 10th time under coach Brenda Frese.
Kendall Spray scored 17 points in the first half but none in the second for FGCU, and the Eagles (30-3) couldn’t follow their first-round win over Virginia Tech with another victory.
TEXAS 78, UTAH 56
AUSTIN, Texas — Aaliyah Moore scored 21 points and Texas shut down Utah’s prolific 3-point shooting as the Longhorns earned another trip to the Sweet 16.
The Longhorns shot 71% in a blistering first half that opened a 14-point lead, then stretched it as high as 26 in the third quarter.
The Utes made 15 3-pointers in a first-round win over Arkansas but were just 6 of 20 from long range against Texas.
Kennady McQueen led No. 7 Utah ( 21-12) with 18 points.
Texas (28-6) will play the winner of Monday’s LSU-Ohio State game.
WICHITA REGION
LOUISVILLE 68, GONZAGA 59
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Hailey Van Lith scored 21 points and Louisville advanced to the Sweet 16 after a 68-59 win over Gonzaga.
Playing in front of a loud home crowd for the last time this season, the top-seeded Cardinals (27-4) jumped out to a 14-0 lead less than 4:30 into the game, thanks to a pressure defense that sped up the Bulldogs. The Zags (27-7) not only weathered the storm but also answered with a 12-0 run of their own.
Van Lith scored eight straight points in 1:45 stretch of the third quarter that started a 15-3 run, capping it with two free throws to make it 51-33 with 3:00 left in the period. Gonzaga (27-7) never got back within eight points the rest of the way.
Emily Engstler had 12 points, 11 rebounds and five steals for Louisville, Kianna Smith scored 12 and Olivia Cochran added 11.
Kayleigh Truong led Gonzaga with 14 points, and Melody Kempton added 13.
Louisville will play the winner of Monday’s Belmont-Tennessee game.
SOUTH DAKOTA 61, BAYLOR 47
WACO, Texas — Hannah Sjerven scored 16 points and Chloe Lamb had 15 as 10th-seeded South Dakota shocked Baylor to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever.
The Coyotes (29-5) scored the game’s first 11 points and led throughout against the 12-time Big 12 regular-season champion Bears, who had won 17 consecutive NCAA tourney games played on their home court since 2011.
Summit League champ South Dakota was the second No. 10 seed to beat a No. 2 seed on Sunday, after Creighton won 64-62 at Iowa earlier in the day.
Queen Egbo had 13 points while two-time AP All-America forward NaLyssa Smith matched her season low with 10 points for the Bears (28-7), who saw the end of their streak of 12 consecutive Sweet 16 appearances. Smith and Jordan Lewis each had eight rebounds.
South Dakota will play the Villanova-Michigan winner on Saturday.
