Women’s basketball: South Carolina tops Oregon State to reach Sweet 16

Aleighsa Welch had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Tiffany Mitchell added 20 points and 10 boards, and top-seeded South Carolina (29-4) used its size and athleticism to overwhelm No. 9 seed Oregon State 78-69 on Tuesday in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Seattle.

The Gamecocks are headed to the Sweet 16 and will face No. 4 seed North Carolina in the Stanford Region semifinals on Sunday.

Jamie Weisner of Clarkston led Oregon State (24-11) with 21 points.

Connecticut 91, Saint Joseph’s 52: Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had the third triple-double in school history as the Huskies (36-0) moved into their 21st straight NCAA regional semifinal with a rout of the Hawks (23-10) at Storrs, Conn.

Mosqueda-Lewis had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Maryland 69, Texas 64: Alyssa Thomas scored all 16 of her points in the second half, and the Terrapins (26-6) squeezed past the cold-shooting Longhorns (22-12) at College Park, Md., to reach the Sweet 16.

The fourth-seeded Terrapins next face Tennessee in the Louisville Regional

Penn State 83, Florida 61: Maggie Lucas and Dara Taylor each scored 22 points to send the Lions into the Sweet 16 with a win over the Gators (20-13) at State College, Pa. Third-seeded Penn State (24-7) will play at No. 2 Stanford on Sunday.

North Carolina 62, Michigan St. 53: Freshman Diamond DeShields had 24 points and a season-high 12 rebounds to help the Tar Heels (26-9) beat the Spartans (23-10) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Texas A&M 85, James Madison 69: Courtney Williams scored 23 points and Karla Gilbert added 20 points with 15 rebounds to help the Aggies (26-8) beat the Dukes (29-6) at College Station, Texas.

Louisville 83, Iowa 53: Shoni Schimmel had 26 points, seven assists and five steals to help the Cardinals (32-4) thump the Hawkeyes (27-9) at Iowa City, Iowa, to earn their fifth trip to the Sweet 16.