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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Women’s NCAA Tournament: Notre Dame survives, beats Purdue in overtime

Notre Dame's Marina Mabrey (left) dribbles by Purdue's Dominique McBryde during the Irish’s overtime win in the second round on Sunday. (Robert Franklin / Associated Press)
Associated Press

Marina Mabrey scored 21 points, Arike Ogunbowale added 18 and No. 1 seed Notre Dame survived playing the second half without leading scorer Brianna Turner to beat ninth-seeded Purdue 88-82 in overtime Sunday night in South Bend, Indiana, advancing to the Sweet 16 in the Lexington Region.

The Irish used a 6-0 run in OT to open an 82-78 lead when Jackie Young and Lindsay Allen scored inside and Mabrey banked in a jumper. Purdue narrowed the lead to 82-80 when Bridget Perry, who finished with 22 points, made a pair of free throws with 34.2 seconds left. Mabrey then made two free throws for the Irish with 13 seconds left. Ae’Rianna Harris scored inside for Purdue (23-13) to make it 84-82.

Ogunbowale capped off the win with a pair of free throws with with 8.7 seconds left and two more with 0.1 seconds left.

The Irish (32-3) won despite Turner, who averages 15.5 points a game, leaving with a left knee injury after landing awkwardly trying to catch a pass in the final minute of the first half. Turner finished with 10 points and one rebound.

(3) Texas 84, (6) N.C. State 80: Brooke McCarty scored 23 points and No. 3-seed Texas got a put-back basket from Joyner Holmes with 4 seconds left to the send the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row with a win over North Carolina State in Austin, Texas. Lashann Higgs had given Texas a two-point lead when she made one free throw with 8 seconds left but missed the second. Holmes grabbed the rebound, missed her first shot, grabbed the rebound then made the second to seal the win. Holmes finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Texas (25-8) had to overcome a 31-point scoring effort by Wolfpack senior guard Miah Spencer, who fouled out with 1:03 to play when she tangled with McCarty, the Big 12 player of the year, away from the ball. Dominique Wilson added 27 points for the Wolfpack but a go-ahead basket with 8 seconds left was waived off with an offensive foul. North Carolina State (23-9) missed going to its first Sweet 16 since 2007.

(5) Ohio State 82, (4) Kentucky 68: Tori McCoy scored six straight points midway through the fourth quarter to help Ohio State withstand Kentucky’s furious rally from a 19-point second-half deficit and escape in Lexington, Kentucky. The Wildcats trailed 50-31 early in third but closed to 65-64 with 6:04 remaining. The Buckeyes answered with eight straight points behind McCoy. Ohio State (28-6) held on from there to earn its second straight Sweet 16 appearance in the Lexington Regional next week at Rupp Arena. McCoy finished with 14 points and a team-high 12 rebounds and Shayla Cooper scored 15 for the Buckeyes, who committed a season-low six turnovers. Makayla Epps had 21 points and Evelyn Akhator had 14 points with a career-high 23 rebounds in their final games for Kentucky (22-11), which had sought its second consecutive Sweet 16 berth at home.

Bridgeport Region

(3) Maryland 83, (6) West Virginia 56: Destiny Slocum nailed a 70-foot shot to cap a pivotal second quarter for Maryland, and the Terrapins went on to defeat West Virginia in College Park, Maryland. Brionna Jones had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Slocum scored 21 and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added 19 for Maryland (32-3), which will next face the winner of Monday’s game between No. 2 seed Duke and Oregon. Teana Muldrow led West Virginia (24-11) with 16 points. Leading scorer Tynice Martin was limited to 10 points on 3 of 18 shooting. The game turned in the second quarter, when Maryland outscored West Virginia 26-8 to take a 38-24 lead. After opening with a 23-4 run, the Terrapins gave up two straight baskets – the last with 4 seconds left – before Slocum reared back with both hands behind her head and launched a shot from just outside the opposite arc that hit nothing but net. The 5-foot-7 freshman was immediately swarmed by her teammates while the fans in Maryland’s home arena stood and cheered.

Oklahoma City Region

(2) Mississippi State 92, (7) DePaul 71: Blair Schaefer scored 18 points, Jazzmun Holmes added 14 and the Bulldogs beat the Blue Demons in Starkville, Mississippi. Mississippi State used a 14-0 run in the middle of the third quarter to turn a tight game into a 61-43 advantage. DePaul scored the next seven points to cut the lead to 61-50 by the end of the third quarter, but Mississippi State responded with the first eight points of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach and advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season. Mississippi State (31-4) had an unorthodox starting lineup for the second straight game, with usual role players like Schaefer, Ketara Chapel and Roshuna Johnson in the first five instead of Victoria Vivians, Dominique Dillingham and Chinwe Okorie. The strategy more or less worked, though the Bulldogs’ early lead quickly evaporated and a tight first half emerged. Mississippi State got a defensive stop on the final play of the second quarter to take a 38-37 advantage into halftime. DePaul (27-8) was led by Jessica January, who scored 18 points. Brooke Schulte added 16.

Stockton Region

(1) South Carolina 71, (Arizona State 68: A’ja Wilson scored 21 points, including the put back that gave South Carolina the lead for good and the free throws that sealed it, to help the Gamecocks beat Arizona State in Columbia, South Carolina. Sophie Bruner missed a heavily contested 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied it. Arizona State (20-13) scored 11 straight points to take a 68-67 lead with two minutes to go, but Wilson put back her own miss with 46.8 seconds to go that gave South Carolina (29-4) a 69-68 advantage. Kaela Davis had a steal on the Sun Devils’ next-to-last possession and Wilson converted the two free throws. Wilson also had 11 rebounds, while Davis added 20 points for South Carolina, which has advanced to the Sweet 16 for a fourth straight year. Brunner led Arizona State with 20 points and nine rebounds.

(3) Florida State 77, (6) Missouri 65: Shakayla Thomas scored 20 points and Florida State advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third straight season with a victory over Missouri in Tallahassee, Florida. Thomas, who also had 11 rebounds, was one of four Seminoles in double figures. Brittany Brown added 16 points while Imani Wright and Leticia Romero each scored 14. Florida State (27-6) will face second-seeded Oregon State in a regional semifinal game in Stockton, California on Saturday. Missouri (22-11) led 17-12 22 seconds into the second quarter on a Jordan Chavis 3-pointer before Florida State took the lead for good with a 17-2 run as Romero scored six points. The Seminoles led 32-27 at halftime but put the game out of reach by scoring the first eight points of the third quarter.

(2) Oregon State 64, (7) Creighton 52: Sydney Wiese scored 13 points in her final career game at Gill Coliseum and Oregon State moved on with a second-round victory over Creighton. Gabriella Hanson added 13 points for the Beavers (31-4), who are making a fourth consecutive appearance in the tournament. Last season the Beavers advanced to the Final Four before falling to eventual champion UConn. At center court after the game, Wiese blew kisses to the Gill crowd and danced to Abba’s “Dancing Queen.” Sydney Lamberty had 19 for Creighton (24-8), which trailed by as many as 15 points.