WoMEN’S Tournament basketball Roundup Saturday’s other games

Mississippi State 71, Texas 63

COLUMBUS — Alexis Rack was perfect in eight trips to the foul line down the stretch, and 11th-seeded Mississippi State was 21 of 22 as a team in upsetting Texas. Rack finished with 20 points, her 13th straight game in double figures, while Chanel Mokango scored 15 and Mary Kathryn Govero added 11 off the bench for the Lady Bulldogs (23-9), who blew an 11-point lead with 5 minutes left but hung on in the Berkeley Regional. Earnesia Williams had 17 points, Brittainey Raven 15 and Kathleen Nash 11 for Texas (21-12), which closed the season with losses in seven of their last nine games.

Pittsburgh 64, Montana 35

SEATTLE — Shavonte Zellous could use some help from her teammates as Pittsburgh progresses in the NCAA tournament. In the first-round against Montana, Zellous by herself was more than enough. Zellous scored 15 of her 31 points in the first half to keep Pitt even with energized and inspired Montana, and the superior talent of the fourth-seeded Panthers took over in the second half of a 64-35 win on Saturday night in the first-round of the Oklahoma City Regional. Zellous carried Pitt in the first half and the Panthers defense did the rest. Pitt held 13th-seeded Montana to just 10 second-half points, tying the tournament record for fewest points allowed in a half. Connecticut gave up just 10 to Long Island in the second half of a first-round game in 2001.

Vanderbilt 73, Western Carolina 44

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Make it 3-0 at The Pit for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Christina Wirth scored 23 points and Jennifer Risper had 11 points and nine rebounds as fourth-seeded Vanderbilt beat No. 13 Western Carolina, ending the Lady Catamounts’ 10-game winning streak. Vanderbilt (25-8), in the NCAA tournament for the 10th straight year, made its second straight trip to Albuquerque. Last year, the Commodores beat Montana and West Virginia to advance to the regional semifinals. Lauren Powell led Western Carolina (21-12) with eight points. The Lady Catamounts shot just 28 percent (16-of-57) from the floor.

Arizona State 58, Georgia 47

DULUTH, Ga. — Arizona State held Georgia to 20 first-half points, winning despite fill-in Kate Engelbrecht scoring only three points in place of injured guard Dymond Simon. Arizona State (24-8) led 27-20 at halftime and stretched the lead to 44-28. Christy Marshall scored for No. 11 seed Georgia (18-14) with 4:45 remaining to cut the lead to 48-41. Kayli Murphy, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds, scored Arizona State’s next three baskets to push the lead back to double digits. Lauren Lacey and Becca Tobin also had 12 points each for Arizona State. Angel Robinson, Angela Puleo and Porsha Phillips each had 9 points for Georgia, playing in its 15th straight NCAA tournament.

Florida State 83, North Carolina A&T 71

DULUTH, Ga. — Alysha Harvin scored 18 points to lead five players in double figures and Florida State pulled away from the 14th-seeded Aggies. Tanae Davis-Cain added 16 points for the third-seeded Seminoles (26-7), who will face Arizona State on Monday night. North Carolina A&T (26-7) trailed only 51-48 about seven minutes into the second half and finished with a 33-30 edge in rebounds. The Aggies, who appeared to tire in the second half, lacked the depth to keep up with Florida State.

North Carolina 85, Central Florida 80

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Heather Claytor scored a season-high 17 points while Italee Lucas and Jessica Breeland added 17 each to lead third-seeded North Carolina. The Tar Heels (28-6) improved to 15-3 all-time in first-round games but never led by more than 14 against pesky UCF whose roster’s filled with only sophomores and freshmen. Chelsie Wiley led UCF with 22 points, Emma Cannon had 18 and Marshay White 12. The Knights (17-17) won the Conference USA tournament title with four wins in four days to make their third NCAA trip ever and first since 1999.

Purdue 65, Charlotte 52

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Danielle Campbell scored 12 points to help sixth-seeded Purdue to its 12th straight first-round win. Purdue (23-10) hasn’t lost in the opening round since 1996. The Boilermakers will play No. 3 seed North Carolina on Monday night in the teams’ third meeting in their past four NCAA trips. Charlotte (23-9) missed on making school history with an NCAA win in its second trip, and the 49ers can blame themselves. A team averaging 19.4 turnovers per game had 20 in the first half alone and finished with 28, one off its worst of the season.

Aysha Jones had a game-high 24 points for Charlotte, and Danielle Burgin had 10.

Auburn 85, Lehigh 49

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — DeWanna Bonner scored 26 points and led an early 21-3 spurt that carried the second-seeded Tigers to an easy win over Lehigh. Whitney Boddie had eight points and nine assists in becoming the career assists leader at Auburn (30-3). Trevesha Jackson added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, who opened an 18-point lead in the first eight minutes and never looked back. Erica Prosser had 14 points and Alex Ross 10 for Lehigh (26-7), the regular-season and tournament champion of the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks were crushed by Connecticut 103-35 in their other NCAA tournament appearance in 1997. The Tigers will face Rutgers on Monday night for a trip to the regional.

Rutgers 57, VCU 51

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Epiphanny Prince scored 26 points, including 10 during a decisive run in the second half, to lead seventh-seed Rutgers past Virginia Commonwealth. Quanitra Hollingsworth had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead VCU (26-7), which was playing in its first NCAA tournament game. Radoslava Bachvarova added 16 points.

California 70, Fresno State 47

LOS ANGELES — In a game with two players named Ashley Walker, only one stood out. California’s Ashley Walker always saves her best for the NCAA tournament, and the senior did so again. Walker scored 21 points and Cal’s defense overwhelmed Fresno State in a 70-47 first-round victory in the Trenton Regional. The Bears (26-6) advanced to a second-round game against either fifth-seeded Virginia or 13th-seeded Marist.

Associated Press