South Carolina’s Zia Cooke, front, and Aliyah Boston look at a loose ball Friday during a 79-21 win over Howard in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbia, S.C. Sean Rayford/Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Aliyah Boston scored 10 points and had 12 rebounds while top-seeded South Carolina’s stifling defense held Howard to the fewest points ever in a women’s NCAA Tournament game in a 79-21 victory Friday.
It was the All-American’s 25th straight double-double, and one of the biggest cheers of the second half on her home floor came when she pulled down her 10th rebound with 7:10 to go in the third quarter.
The 21 points for the Bison broke the record held by Kansas State, which scored 26 in a loss to UConn in 2012. The Gamecocks (30-2) held Howard (21-10) to a tournament record low four points in the first half as they took a 44-4 lead.
The defense helped mask an off shooting night for the tournament’s overall top seed. The Gamecocks shot 35% and made just 8 of 38 3-pointers.
It was a total mismatch, even for a No. 1 versus No. 16 seed. The Gamecocks had 30 offensive rebounds to just six for Howard. The Bison turned the ball over 20 times and were outscored 38-8 in the paint.
MIAMI 78, SOUTH FLORIDA 66: Karla Erjavec scored 14 points to lead a balanced offense for Miami (21-12) in a win over South Florida (24-9) at Columbia, South Carolina.
The No. 8 seeded Hurricanes shot 54% as they advanced to face No. 1 South Carolina in the second round of the Greensboro Region.
The Hurricanes scored 24 points in the first quarter and led by as much as 19 before halftime. Ninth-seeded South Florida kept hanging around, twice cutting the deficit to nine in the second half, but couldn’t get any closer.
CREIGHTON 84, COLORADO 74: Morgan Maly matched a career high with 20 points and Lauren Jensen and Molly Mogensen each had 16 as 10th-seeded Creighton (21-9) defeated No. 7 seed Colorado (22-9) in Iowa City, Iowa.
Emma Ronsiek added 10 points for the Bluejays, making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018.
Creighton will play No. 2 seed Iowa in the second round of the Greensboro Region on Sunday.
Creighton led 63-61 with 6:54 left, then pulled away with a 7-0 run. That burst was helped by cold shooting by the Buffaloes, who missed 10 of 11 shots during one stretch.
IOWA 98, ILLINOIS STATE 58: Caitlin Clark had 27 points and 10 assists and Monika Czinano added 18 points as second-seeded Iowa (24-7) defeated No. 15 Illinois State (19-14) at Iowa City, Iowa.
Gabbie Marshall and Tomi Taiwo each added 13 points for the Hawkeyes.
It was the 16th double-double of the season for Clark, an Associated Press first-team All-American who leads the nation in scoring at 27.4 points per game. Clark had a 15-minute scoreless stretch in the second and third quarters, but had six assists in that span as Iowa extended its lead from nine points to 20.
JuJu Redmond led Illinois State with 25 points.
GEORGIA 70, DAYTON 54: Jenna Staiti scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds as sixth-seeded Georgia (21-9) defeated No. 11 Dayton (26-6) in Ames, Iowa.
Que Morrison added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs and also collected eight rebounds, while Jillian Hollingshead scored 15 points.
Makira Cook led the Flyers with 21 points.
IOWA STATE 78, UT ARLINGTON 71: Ashley Joens scored a season-high 36 points and third-seeded Iowa State rallied to beat No. 14 seed UT Arlington in Ames, Iowa.
The Mavericks (20-8) were bidding to be the first 14-seed to ever win a game in the tournament and led by 12 in the first half before the Cyclones (27-6) came back.
Emily Ryan made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 64 and followed with a layup to give the Cyclones the lead. Joens hit a 3-pointer that gave Iowa State a 73-67 cushion with 1:43 left.
WICHITA REGION
LOUISVILLE 83, ALBANY 51: Hailey Van Lith scored 17 of her 20 points in the first half and top-seeded Louisville routed America East champion Albany in a first-round game in Louisville, Kentucky.
Louisville (26-4) used runs of 13-0, 14-0 and 9-0 in the first half to build a 48-20 halftime lead. Albany (23-10) went into the tournament allowing just 48.6 points per game, the second-best defense in the country, and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating Maine in the America East final, 56-47.
Emily Engstler added 17 points, seven rebounds and seven steals for Louisville, which will face Gonzaga in a second-round matchup Sunday.
GONZAGA 68, NEBRASKA 55: Kayleigh Truong scored a career-high 20 points to lead ninth-seeded Gonzaga (27-6) past No. 8 Nebraska (24-9) in Louisville, Kentucky.
Truong, a junior guard, scored 15 of her points in the second half, after she landed awkwardly in a second-quarter collision with Nebraska’s Jaz Shelley and missed the final five minutes of the first half.
Nebraska started strong, jumping out to an 11-6 lead midway through the first quarter. However, Gonzaga’s defense settled in and slowed down a Husker offense that entered the tournament with the nation’s eighth-best scoring average (78.5 ppg).
SOUTH DAKOTA 75, MISSISSIPPI 61: Chloe Lamb scored 20 points and 10th-seeded South Dakota (28-5) earned its first NCAA Tournament victory, beating Mississippi (23-9) in Waco, Texas.
Fellow senior Hannah Sjerven had 20 points and seven rebounds as the Coyotes broke through in their fourth consecutive tournament appearance and fifth in 10 eligible seasons. Freshman Maddie Krull scored 13 points.
The difference in experience showed, with the Rebels making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 15 years. Seventh-seeded Ole Miss never led while shooting 27% in the first quarter and 39% for the game.
Shakira Austin, the leading scorer for the Rebels, was 3 of 16 from the field and finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. Angel Baker was the only Ole Miss player in double figures with 23 points.
BAYLOR 89, HAWAII 49: NaLyssa Smith had 21 points and 14 rebounds, Jordan Lewis scored 23 and second-seeded Baylor (28-6) won its 19th consecutive first-round game, overwhelming 15th-seeded Hawaii (20-10).
Smith and Lewis combined to score the first 27 Baylor points in the third quarter, when the Bears outscored the Hawaii 34-8 after taking a modest nine-point lead into halftime.
Amy Atwell scored 29 points but was limited to nine after halftime as Hawaii faded and fell to 1-7 in the NCAA Tournament.
Queen Egbo had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Bears, who will face South Dakota in the second round on Sunday.
SPOKANE REGION
FLORIDA GULF COAST 84, VIRGINIA TECH 81: Karli Seay made a 3-pointer from the corner with 26 seconds remaining, and 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast (30-2) ousted fifth-seeded Virginia Tech (23-10) in College Park, Maryland, despite a career-high 42 points by Elizabeth Kitley.
Kierstan Bell scored 22 points for FGCU, which showed exactly how dangerous it can be, overcoming a huge matchup problem against the 6-foot-6 Kitley.
Bell scored inside with just over a minute remaining to put the Eagles up 76-74. After a miss by Kitley, Seay connected from beyond the arc, and FGCU made enough free throws to hold on.
Kitley, a third-team All-American, scored Virginia Tech’s first 14 points of the fourth quarter. Her 42 points tied her for seventh on the tournament’s single-game scoring list.
MARYLAND 102, DELAWARE 71: Ashley Owusu scored 24 points and Diamond Miller added 23 to lift fourth-seeded Maryland (22-8) to a rout of 13th-seeded Delaware (24-8) in College Park, Maryland.
Jasmine Dickey led the Blue Hens with 31 points, but they couldn’t keep up with a Maryland team that advanced to face 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday.
UTAH 92, ARKANSAS 69: Kennady McQueen scored 20 points and seventh-seeded Utah (21-11) unloaded a barrage of 3-pointers to bolt to a big early lead and coast to a win over 10th-seeded Arkansas (18-14) in Austin, Texas.
The Utes were 15 of 31 from 3-point range.
KANSAS 77, GEORGIA TECH 58: Ioanna Chatzileonti had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Holly Kersgieter scored 19 points and eighth-seeded Kansas (21-9) beat ninth-seeded Georgia Tech (21-11) at Stanford, California.
Digna Strautmane scored 18 points to lead Georgia Tech.
TEXAS 70, FAIRFIELD 52: Aaliyah Moore scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and second-seeded Texas (27-6) overcame a gritty effort from 15th-seeded Fairfield (25-7) in Austin, Texas.
Texas smothered Fairfield early, holding the Stags under 10 points in each of the first two quarters while building a 39-18 lead.
Then Texas had to fight off the Stags, who cut the lead to 56-46 early in the fourth quarter. The Longhorns were looking tired and sloppy before Aliyah Matharu hit a much-needed 3-pointer. She then fed Moore for a layup over two defenders that created a 15-point cushion.
Rori Harmon, the Big 12 freshman of the year, had 10 points and 11 assists for Texas, which advanced to Sunday’s second round against No. 7 seed Utah.
STANFORD 78, MONTANA STATE 37: Francesca Belibi blocked a shot at the 3-point line, then drove the length of the floor and slammed the ball home with one hand for her third career dunk, thrilling her teammates in the second quarter of top-seeded Stanford’s home victory against 16th-seeded Montana State (22-13).
Belibi’s dunk was the first by a woman in the NCAA Tournament since Brittney Griner did it in 2013 and just the third overall. She finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks in 14 minutes.
Stanford began a daunting title defense by winning its 21st consecutive game. The Cardinal (29-3) will play Sunday against No. 8 seed Kansas (21-9).
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