BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Haley Cavinder scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and made what proved to be the decisive free throw with 8.9 seconds left to pull off a 17-point second half rally Saturday that gave ninth-seeded Miami a 62-61 victory over eighth-seeded Oklahoma State.
The comeback was tied for the fifth-largest comeback in tourney history. But it wasn’t over until Naomie Alnatas’ 10-footer rolled off the rim at the buzzer following a 5-second call on the Hurricanes.
Miami (20-12) will play top-seeded Indiana on its home court Monday night with a ticket to the Sweet 16 at stake.
Cavinder also had eight rebounds and six assists while Jasmyn Roberts added 12 points and Destiny Harden had 11 points and five rebounds.
Anna Gret Asi led Oklahoma State (21-12) with 16 points and four 3-pointers including one with 5.3 seconds to go that gave the Cowgirls a shot to win it.
No. 1 INDIANA 77, TENNESSEE TECH 47
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Sydney Parrish scored 19 points and had eight rebounds to lead Indiana past Tennessee Tech.
All-American center Mackenzie Holmes cheered on her Indiana teammates from the bench while resting a sore knee. Grace Berger had 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks and Lilly Meister added seven points and three blocks in her first career start.
Indiana (28-3) faces the winner of Saturday’s second game between eighth-seeded Oklahoma State and ninth-seeded Miami.
Maaliya Owens had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead Tennessee Tech (23-10), which had won its previous eight games.
No. 12 FLORIDA GULF COAST 74, No. 5 WASHINGTON STATE 63
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Maddie Antenucci’s 3-pointer bounced four times before going through the net as part of her game-changing spree from beyond the arc that sent Florida Gulf Coast into the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a win over Washington State.
Sha Carter scored 24 points and Tishara Moorehouse had 16 for the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament champion Golden Eagles (33-3).
The Eagles sent the Shania Twain karaoke club out of Washington State (23-11) home early after a surprising run to win the Pac-12 Tournament. Tara Wallack led the Cougars with 16 points.
No. 4 VILLANOVA 76, No. 13 CLEVELAND STATE 59
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Maddy Siegrist became the fifth women’s player in NCAA history to score 1,000 points in a season and the first-team AP All-American had 35 points to lead Villanova into the NCAA Tournament’s second round with a win over Cleveland State.
The Wildcats (29-6) will play No. 12 seed Florida Gulf Coast (33-3) on Monday for the right to advance to the Sweet 16. The Eagles topped Washington State 74-63 in Saturday’s first game.
Villanova’s 29 wins this season tie the 1981-82 team for most in program history.
The two-time Big East Player of the Year, Siegrist got hot early and reached her milestone 1,000th-point bucket in style. Siegrist followed her shot after she missed a jumper from the elbow, crashed the boards and stripped the ball from a Cleveland State defender that had grabbed the rebound. She tossed up a fadeaway and banked in the bucket.
Destiny Leo scored 25 points for the Horizon League Tournament champion Vikings.
GREENVILLE 1 REGION
No. 4 UCLA 67, No. 13 SACRAMENTO STATE 45
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kiki Rice had 15 points, Emily Bessoir added 14 and UCLA rolled over Sacramento State in the first round.
Charisma Osborne had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Bruins (26-9), who will face fifth-seeded Oklahoma on Monday with the winner advancing to the Greenville 1 Regional.
Isnelle Natabou had 16 points and eight rebounds for Sacramento State (25-8). Kahlaijah Dean scored 11 points, but was 3 of 19 from the field.
No. 5 OKLAHOMA 85, No. 12 PORTLAND 63
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aubrey Joens and Taylor Robertson each scored 14 points and Oklahoma took control in the third quarter to defeat Portland.
Madi Williams added 13 points for the Sooners (26-6).
Alex Fowler led Portland (23-9) with 18 points while Emme Shearer and Lucy Cochrane had 12 apiece. The Pilots were 3 of 19 on 3-pointers.
SEATTLE 3 REGION
No. 2 UCONN 95, No. 15 VERMONT 52
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Aaliyah Edwards scored a career-high 28 points, Dorka Juhasz added a double-double and UConn routed Vermont, giving the Huskies a 29th straight win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Juhasz scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, the Hungarian’s 13th double-double this season for the sixth-ranked Huskies.
Caroline Ducharme added 12 points, helping Connecticut (30-5) to its 26th, 30-win season during Geno Auriemma’s 38 years as coach.
Catherine Gilwee scored 14 points, while Emma Utterback and Maria Myklebust each had 13 for Vermont (25-7), which had its 17-game winning streak snapped.
No. 7 BAYLOR 78, No. 10 ALABAMA 74
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Ja’Mee Asberry scored 26 points, including three key foul shots in the final minute, and Baylor overcame an early 18-point deficit to beat Alabama.
Sarah Andrews and Caitlin Bickle each added 14 for the Bears (20-12), whose rally tied for the third biggest comeback in tournament history. Baylor closed the game on a 7-0 run, all from the foul line.
The Bears will face No. 2 seed UConn in the second round Monday night.
Brittany Davis tied a career high with 33 points for Alabama (20-11), which closes its season on a five-game losing streak.
No. 4 TENNESSEE 95, No. 13 SAINT LOUIS 50
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jordan Horston scored 21 points and Rickea Jackson added 18 as Tennessee Lady remained perfect when opening the NCAA Tournament on their home court, routing Saint Louis.
Jordan Walker added 11 points and Tess Darby had 10 for the Lady Vols (24-11). They will try to advance to a second straight Sweet 16 in the Seattle 3 region.
The first NCAA Tournament appearance ended quickly for Saint Louis (17-18). The Billikens snapped the six-game winning streak that helped them win the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament after starting the season 6-16.
Brooke Flowers led Saint Louis with 17 points, and Kyla McMakin, who followed coach Rebecca Tillett from Longwood as a transfer, added 11. Camree Clegg added 12 off the bench.
No. 12 TOLEDO 80, No. 5 IOWA STATE 73
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Quinesha Lockett scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Toledo knocked off Iowa State.
Toledo became the second 12 seed to win Saturday, joining Florida Gulf Coast not long after its win over Washington State. Toledo now will play No. 4 seed Tennessee, a 95-50 winner over 13th-seeded Saint Louis, on Monday night for a spot in the Sweet 16 in the Seattle 3 region.
The Rockets (29-4) matched the program record for most wins for a second straight season by winning a record 17th straight game, topping the 16-game streak of 2000-01. They also posted their first NCAA win since 1996 in their ninth tournament appearance overall and first since 2017.
Iowa State (22-10) came in as the Big 12 Tournament champ for the first time since 2001 after stringing together upsets of a trio of NCAA Tournament teams in Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas. The Cyclones also had the Big 12 Player of the Year in Ashley Joens looking for a second straight Sweet 16 berth.
Joens led Iowa State with 23 points and 13 rebounds.
No. 3 OHIO STATE 80, No. 14 JAMES MADISON 66
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cotie McMahon scored 18 points to help Ohio State pull away for a win over James Madison.
McMahon made her team’s first 3-pointer with 5:18 left in the third quarter to give Ohio State (26-7) a 44-43 lead, and the Buckeyes didn’t give up the advantage from there on out. They trailed by as many as 16 in the first half before going on a 12-0 run.
Jacy Sheldon scored three of her 17 points during an 8-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter. Taylor Thierry shot 7 of 8 and fouled out with 15 points. Taylor Mikesell added 14 points.
James Madison (26-8) led 26-14 and was making 50% of its shots at the end of the first quarter. The Dukes shot 37.9% in the second half and turned it over 21 times, their most in 10 games.
Kiki Jefferson led the Dukes with 17 points and Jamia Hazell added 10.
No. 6 NORTH CAROLINA 61, No. 11 ST. JOHN'S 59
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Deja Kelly had a go-ahead three-point play with 2 seconds left and North Carolina hung on for a win over St. John’s.
The Tar Heels faced their first deficit of the game when Danielle Patterson sank a 3-pointer with 6:39 left to play.
The Red Storm led for the next four-plus minutes until Paulina Paris was fouled in transition and made the ensuing free throw to tie the game at 54.
The score tied twice in the final minute as Mimi Reid made a layup with 6 seconds left to knot the game at 58.
Kelly drove the left lane and made the free throw to complete the game-winning score. Patterson then was fouled after a timeout shooting a 3-pointer with just over a second left that gave the Red Storm one last chance.
She missed the first two free throws and then inexplicably made third one ending any chance the Red Storm had to tie the game.
SEATTLE 4 REGION
No. 4 TEXAS 79, No. 13 EAST CAROLINA 40
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Shaylee Gonzales scored 20 points and Texas rolled over East Carolina on the Longhorns’ home court.
Texas rallied from a poor start to the season to earn the role of host for the first two rounds and made quick work of the Pirates. Taylor Jones had 16 points, eight rebounds and five blocks for Texas (26-9).
Danae McNeal led East Carolina (23-10) with 13 points in the Pirates’ first NCAA Tournament game since 2007.
No. 5 LOUSIVLLE 83, No. 12 DRAKE 81
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Hailey Van Lith scored 13 points over the final five minutes, including five in a row in the final 16 seconds, and Louisville held off Drake's frantic March Madness upset bid.
Van Lith’s three-point play off a layup out of timeout put Louisville up by four before Drake answered with a 3-pointer by Sarah Beth Gueldner. Van Lith then made two more free throws to all but seal the win for the Cardinals.
Van Lith finished with 26 points and Mykasa Robison scored 14 for Louisville (24-11).
Katie Dinnebier scored 20 points for Drake (22-10), which confused Louisville’s defense early with a series of backdoor cuts that had the Bulldogs shooting layup after layup. Anna Miller scored 17 for Drake.
No. 6 COLORADO 82, No. 11 MIDDLE TENNESSEE 60
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Frida Formann scored 21 points and Colorado unleashed a torrid 3-point shooting display to roll past Middle Tennessee.
Colorado (24-8) will be in the second round for the first time since 2013.
Anastasiia Boldyreva’s 16 points, Savannah Wheeler’s 15 points and Kseniya Malashka’s 13 points led Middle Tennessee (28-5), which had won 10 in a row.
No. 3 DUKE 89, No. 14 IONA 49
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Celeste Taylor and Elizabeth Balogun each scored 13 points and Duke marked its return to NCAA Tournament action with a romp past Iona.
It was the first NCAA Tournament win for Duke since 2018, when it last had a spot in the tournament. Duke has won at least one NCAA Tournament game in all 25 seasons when it has been in the field.
Kennedy Brown and Jordyn Oliver added 10 points apiece as the Blue Devils (26-6) shot 57.1% from the field.
Ketsia Athias led No. 14 seed Iona (26-7) with 20 points. Juana Camilion had 12.
AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
