Indiana forward MacKenzie Holmes of Gorham grabs a rebound next to Belmont forward Conley China in the first half Wednesday. Ronald Cortes/Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — Grace Berger scored 17 points and Indiana used another suffocating defensive effort to beat Belmont 70-48 on Wednesday, sending the fourth-seeded Hoosiers to the program’s first Sweet 16 in the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Belmont was the first Ohio Valley Conference team to win a tournament game since 1990, but its chances of becoming the fifth No. 12 seed to advance to the regional semifinals were smothered by the Hoosiers’ defense and the Bruins’ own dismal 3-point shooting through the first three quarters.
Indiana (17-9) was just as efficient on offense as four players scored in double figures. Indiana advances to play North Carolina State, the No. 1 seed in the Mercado Region.
Destinee Wells scored 16 points to lead Belmont (21-6).
Indiana held VCU to 32 points in the first round and immediately applied its clampdown on Belmont.
After taking a 15-12 lead into the second quarter, the Hoosiers allowed just six more points until halftime, stretching the perimeter on Belmont shooters Wells and Tuti Jones. Wells scored eight points in the first half but Belmont went scoreless over the final 4:27, missed all 13 attempts from long range and made 2 of 17 shots in the quarter.
That gave Indiana the breathing room it needed to methodically push ahead. A 10-2 run to halftime, keyed by consecutive baskets from Patberg, stretched the Hoosiers’ lead to 30-18 by halftime.
Belmont finally hit from long range in third quarter when Jones struck twice, including in the early seconds. But Indiana kept choking off Wells’ attempts to the drive to the basket and Mackenzie Holmes of Gorham blocked her first shots of the quarter. Holmes finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds and one assist.
The Hoosiers then launched a 10-3 run behind six points from Nicole Cardano-Hillary that had the Hoosiers ahead by 15. Berger’s jumper sent Indiana into the fourth quarter ahead 51-33.
(2) TEXAS A&M 84, (7) IOWA STATE 82: Jordan Nixon banked in a short jump shot at the buzzer in overtime, giving her a career-high 35 points and lifting Texas A&M (25-2) to a win over Iowa State (17-11) in the second round.
Nixon scored seven of A&M’s nine points in OT, pushing the Aggies into the Sweet 16 for the third straight time. She also led the rally in the fourth quarter, scoring the last four points of regulation.
(3) ARIZONA 52, (11) BYU 46: Aari McDonald had 17 points with 11 rebounds and Arizona (18-5) outlasted BYU (19-6), advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since Coach Adia Barnes was a player for the Wildcats in 1998.
The Wildcats finally went ahead to stay on a 3-pointer by Sam Thomas with 3:47 left, not long after McDonald’s 3 cut their deficit to one. BYU had matched its biggest lead of the game – four points – on a layup by Shaylee Gonzales with just over five minutes left.
HEMISFAIR REGION
(2) MARYLAND 100, (7) ALABAMA 64: Maryland (27-2) and its offensive juggernaut are rolling fast and easy into the Sweet 16, getting 19 points from Angel Reese and overwhelming Alabama (17-10).
The Terrapins came into the women’s NCAA Tournament with the nation’s highest-scoring offense and have yet to take their foot off the gas. The Terps are averaging 99 points in their two tournament wins after scoring 91.3 per game in the regular season.
Maryland hit the 100-point mark for the seventh time this season. The Terps also played aggressive, suffocating defense against the seventh-seeded Crimson Tide. Maryland harassed ballhandlers in the backcourt, smothered briefly open shooters and controlled the rebounding.
Jasmine Walker led Alabama with 23 points.
The Terps ran out to a 30-9 lead after the first quarter, shot 68% over the first half and scored in every possible way. Mimi Collins scored her team’s first nine points. Maryland made four consecutive 3-pointers and Alabama looked bewildered just trying to find the ball.
By the second quarter, Maryland was pushing the ball inside for Reese, whose power moves and scoop layups in the post propelled a 24-point second quarter that built a 54-25 lead by halftime. Alabama paid for every mistake: Maryland turned 11 turnovers into 18 points in the first half.
Alabama finally showed some life to start the third quarter. Maryland missed its first two shots and consecutive 3-pointers from the Crimson Tide cut the lead to 22.
That was enough for Maryland Coach Brenda Frese, who won a national championship in 2006. After Frese called timeout, the ball pressure and quick ball movement returned and a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer from Chloe Bibby had the lead back to 29 in a blur.
ALAMO REGION
(2) LOUISVILLE 62, (7) NORTHWESTERN 53: Kianna Smith scored 16 points and Louisville (25-3) advanced to the Sweet 16 by rallying from an early 18-point deficit to beat Northwestern (16-9).
The Cardinals got off to another rough start, trailing 25-7 late in the first quarter. Louisville slowly started to chip away on offense and played stellar defense. The deficit was 40-28 midway through the third quarter before the Cardinals scored 17 straight points.
(6) OREGON 57, (3) GEORGIA 50: Sedona Prince scored 22 points, Nyara Sabally took over late and sixth-seeded Oregon (15-8) beat Georgia (21-7) in San Antonio to advance to its fourth straight Sweet 16.
Sabally scored six straight points – including a putback of her own missed shot – to break open a tie game and give the Ducks a 54-48 lead with less than a minute to go. She finished with 15 points, including 10 in the second half, and nine rebounds.
Oregon is in the tournament for the 16th time overall, but this Ducks team came in less heralded than those led by Sabrina Ionescu, who missed out on her final chance at a national title last year because of the pandemic.
Jenna Staiti had 18 points and nine rebounds for Georgia, which was looking to reach its first Sweet 16 since 2013.
(5) MISSOURI STATE 64, (13) WRIGHT STATE 39: Elle Ruffridge had a career-high 20 points with five 3-pointers, Jasmine Franklin had a double-double and Missouri State (23-2) advanced to its second consecutive Sweet 16 by knocking off Wright State (19-8) in San Antonio in matchup of mid-major teams.
The Lady Bears pulled away in the second half when Ruffridge had 17 of her points. Franklin had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Ruffridge and Franklin are among nine current Lady Bears who were also part of the Sweet 16 team two years ago that lost to Stanford, the same team they will play in the Alamo Region semifinal Sunday. Missouri State went ahead on two tiebreaking free throws by Brice Calip with 2 minutes left in the second quarter before Mya Bhinhar swished a 3-pointer for a 24-19 halftime lead. Sydney Manning’s 3-pointer capped a 12-3 run to start the second half. That trio was also on the last Sweet 16 team.
Angel Baker and Shamarre Hale each had 10 points for the 13th-seeded Raiders, who got outscored 40-20 after halftime. They had gotten their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory in the opening round against Arkansas on Monday.
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