Roundup: South Florida women rally to beat Marquette in OT

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu scored 22 points and Elena Tsineke’s jumper with 31.2 seconds left in overtime put South Florida ahead for good in a 67-65 victory over No. 9 seed Marquette to start the women’s NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The Golden Eagles had a final look to win, but Mackenzie Hare’s 3-pointer went inside the rim and rolled out with a second to play.

“What a way to start the NCAA Tournament,” said South Florida coach Jose Fernandez, who’s team is playing out of the Greenville 1 region.

The Bulls, who didn’t lead for the game’s first 38 minutes, rallied several times including from 47-36 down in regulation to tie their mark for wins in a season.

Breaking the record this year won’t be so easy as South Florida will face the No. 1 overall seed and defending champion South Carolina in the second round.

“We have one day to prepare for them, they have one day to prepare for us,” Fernandez said. “So we’ll see.”

GREENVILLE 1

SOUTH CAROLINA 72, NORFOLK STATE 40: Zia Cooke scored 11 points as No. 1 South Carolina moved five wins away from a perfect season with a victory over No. 16 seed Norfolk State.

The Gamecocks improved to 33-0 and won their 39th straight dating back to last year’s run to the NCAA title.

Kierra Wheeler led Norfolk State with 13 points. The Spartans came in shooting almost 40% on the season, but were held to 16 of 61 (26%) by the Gamecocks.

NOTRE DAME 82, SOUTHERN UTAH 56: Forward Maddy Westbeld scored 20 points and led No. 3 seed Notre Dame to a win over No. 14 seed Southern Utah.

Guard Sonia Citron chipped in 14 points and a season-high six assists. The team’s leading scorer, she transitioned into the team’s primary facilitator with second-team Associated Press All-American guard Olivia Miles out the remainder of the season with an undisclosed knee injury.

Megan Jensen led Southern Utah with 11 points.

ARIZONA 75, WEST VIRGINIA 62: Cate Reese scored 25 points and Esmery Martinez had a double-double against her former team to help lift the seventh-seeded Wildcats in College Park, Md.

Arizona started fast and never trailed. They entered the tournament on a three-game losing streak. Martinez had 13 points and 12 rebounds. JJ Quinerly led West Virginia with 19 points.

MARYLAND 93, HOLY CROSS 61: Abby Meyers scored 16 points and Diamond Miller added 13 points and eight rebounds as the second-seeded Terrapins rolled in College Park, Md.

Maryland scored the game’s first 14 points and was able to give its top players plenty of rest, with Miller, Meyers and Shyanne Sellers each playing a little over half the game. Sellers had 13 points and eight assists, and Brinae Alexander led Maryland in scoring with 18 points.

Holy Cross was led by Simone Foreman’s 13 points.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 81, CREIGHTON 66: Jerkaila Jordan scored 20 and led No. 11 seed Mississippi State to a win against No. 6 Creighton. Jessika Carter, the 6-5 Bulldog center, took advantage of the Bluejays’ undersized front court, with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Lauren Jensen scored 22 points to lead Creighton (22-9), which made a run to the regional final last season.

GREENVILLE 2

MICHIGAN 71, UNLV 59: Emily Kiser had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Maddie Nolan added 18 points, and sixth-seeded Michigan beat 11th-seeded UNLV. The Wolverines ended the Rebels’ 22-game winning streak.

Leigha Brown scored 17 points for Michigan, which had lost three of its previous four games. The Wolverines used their advantages in size and physicality to build and keep a double-digit lead for much of the game. Essence Booker scored 16 points for UNLV.

LSU 73, HAWAII 50: Angel Reese had 34 points and 15 rebounds — her 29th double-double this season — and third seeded LSU defeated No. 14 seed Hawaii. Flau’Jae Johnson scored 10 for LSU.

The Tigers raced to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and maintained a comfortable lead most of the way. Kallin Spiller and Daejah Phillips each scored 13 for Hawaii, which was held 10 points below its average scoring total for the season.

UTAH 103, GARDNER-WEBB 77: Alissa Pili tallied 33 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to power second-seeded Utah past 15th-seeded Gardner-Webb. Jenna Johnson added 20 points and five assists for the Utes.

Pili and Johnson combined to make 22 of 31 shots as the Bulldogs struggled to keep the duo from relentlessly attacking the basket. Gardner-Webb had a 21-game winning streak snapped and fell to 0-3 against Power 5 opponents this season. Jhessyka Williams scored 20 points for the Bulldogs.

PRINCETON 64, NC STATE 63: Grace Stone scored 22 points, including her fifth 3-pointer of the game with 4.7 seconds remaining, to lift 10th-seeded Princeton to a thrilling win over North Carolina State.

Kaitlyn Chen, who also scored 22 points, made a 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining to cut the Tigers’ deficit to 63-61 and then Madison St. Rose and Stone both came up with steals in the final minute to give the Tigers a chance.

On the North Carolina State’s final possession, the Tigers created chaos, as they had all game long, and knocked the ball loose to prevent the seventh-seeded Wolfpack from getting a shot off. Mimi Collins scored 14 points for the Wolfpack.

SEATTLE 3

VIRGINIA TECH 58, CHATTANOOGA 33: Georgia Amoore scored 22 points, Elizabeth Kitley added 12, and top-seeded Virginia Tech rolled to a victory over No. 16 seed Chattanooga.

Kitley added 14 rebounds while Amoore hit five 3-pointers for the Hokies, who won their 12th consecutive game. Yazz Wazeerud-Din and Raven Thompson led Chattanooga with 10 points each. The Moccasins were held to their lowest point total of the season.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 62, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 57 (OT): Myah Selland scored 29 points to lead No. 9 seed South Dakota State to an overtime victory over eighth-seeded Southern Cal.

Selland scored 16 consecutive points spanning the fourth quarter and overtime for the Jackrabbits, who won their 22nd consecutive game despite shooting 35.2% (19 of 54) and committing 20 turnovers. Destiny Littleton led Southern Cal with 18 points.

SEATTLE 4

GEORGIA 66, FLORIDA STATE 54: Diamond Battles scored 21 points and Audrey Warren added 11 points as the Lady Bulldogs rolled in Iowa City, Iowa.

Jordan Isaacs had 10 points and Javyn Nicholson had 13 rebounds for 10th-seeded Georgia, which led 43-40 with 2:03 left in the third quarter before going on a 14-0 run that extended three minutes into the fourth quarter.

Erin Howard had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Florida State.

IOWA 95, SE LOUISIANA 43: Caitlin Clark had 26 points and 12 assists, and Monika Czinano added 22 points as Iowa beat Southeastern Louisiana.

Hannah Stuelke added 13 points for the second-seeded Hawkeyes. Clark, an Associated Press first-team All-American who was third in the nation in scoring at 27 points per game, added seven assists. Cierria Cunningham led Southeastern Louisiana with 15 points.

STANFORD 92, SACRED HEART 49: Haley Jones had 17 points and six rebounds for a top-seeded Stanford team missing star Cameron Brink because of a stomach bug, and the Cardinal beat 16th-seeded Sacred Heart.

Freshman Talana Lepolo dished out seven assists in her NCAA Tournament debut for Stanford. Freshman Ny’Ceara Pryor scored 12 points to lead cold-shooting Sacred Heart.

OLE MISS 71, GONZAGA 48: Snudda Collins scored 15 points and eighth-seeded Mississippi once again leaned on its stingy defense to get past No. 9 seed Gonzaga. Yvonne Ejim led the Zags with 19 points and eight rebounds but her star teammates were stymied.

Gonzaga came in shooting 42% from 3-point range and Brynna Maxwell held the second-best 3-point shooting percentage in the nation coming in at 49.43%, but the team finished just 1 for 17 and Maxwell scored four points on 1-of-10 shooting missing all five of her 3s.