Angel Reese, defending champion LSU ride 2nd-half surge to win over Middle Tennessee

Angel Reese had 20 points and 11 rebounds and third-seeded LSU responded to a nine-point third-quarter deficit with a dominant finish to defeat upstart No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee 83-56 in the second round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Sunday in Baton Rouge, La.

Flau'Jae Johnson scored 21 for the defending champion Tigers (30-5) and played central role in helping LSU surge to a comfortable second-half lead that ended the Blue Raiders' 20-game winning streak.

The decisive victory came one day after LSU coach Kim Mulkey railed against the Washington Post — and threatened potential legal action — for what she described as an impending "hit piece" against her and promised that it would not derail her team's preparation for NCAA Tournament games.

MTSU (30-5) led 41-32 and looked primed to widen the gap when Reese tripped over a fallen teammate on an attempted layup and crashed hard to the court, sending the Blue Raiders on a 5-on-4 fast break the other way.

But Jalynn Gregory's open 3 bounced off the back rim to LSU guard Last-Tear Poa, who fired the ball down court, where Reese had just gotten to her feet and made an uncontested layup.

That play spawned a 10-0 run, fueled in part by Mikaylah Williams' pull-up jumper in transition and her left corner 3, which put the Tigers back in front, 42-41.

Later in the quarter, Johnson forced a turnover by tying up MTSU's Ta'Mia Scott, followed that up with a 3, and later hit a bail-out, fall-away jumper as the shot clock expired.

LSU wound up outscoring Middle Tennessee 27-8 during the final 8:22 of the third quarter to take a 59-49 lead on Reese's layup and pulled away from there, going up by as many as 30 points.

Savannah Wheeler, the Conference USA Player of the Year, scored 21 and Scott scored 15 for Middle Tennessee, which lost for the first time since Dec. 30.

Jada Grannum of Mississauga, Ont., pitched in 10 rebounds for MTSU.

Aneesah Morrow scored 19 points and Williams added 16 for LSU, which jumped out to a 24-15 lead that got the Pete Maravich Assembly Center crowd roaring early.

Duke upsets Ohio State

Reigan Richardson scored 28 points and added seven rebounds as No. 7 seed Duke rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to beat No. 2 seed Ohio State 75-63 on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, and earn a spot in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008.

Richardson hit a three-pointer from the wing to put Duke up 59-57 with 5:21 left. That sparked a 13-2 run by the Blue Devils that began to put the game out of reach.

Ashlon Jackson scored 13 points and Taina Mair added 11 for the Blue Devils (22-11), who move on to Portland, Oregon, to play next weekend against the winner of Syracuse and UConn.

Emma Koebel of Port Colborne, Ont., had an assist and a steal for Duke coming into action off of the bench.

Cotie McMahon paced the Buckeyes with 27 points. Most of those were in the paint. Ohio State attempted just nine three-pointers in the game and didn't make one until there were 12.2 seconds left in the game.

Celeste Taylor, who transferred to Ohio State from Duke before the season, scored just six points before fouling out with 6:38 left in the game.

Ohio State's pressing defence caused problems for Duke early as the Buckeyes built a 16-point lead. But the Blue Devils came roaring back. A 12-2 run cut the Buckeyes lead to 36-32 at halftime.

In the first round on Friday, Ohio State routed No. 15 seed Maine 80-57. Duke rallied in the second half to beat No. 10 seed Richmond.

The season ends for Ohio State, which had advanced to the regional final last season.

South Carolina cruises into Sweet 16

Freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley had 20 points including four three-pointers, Kamilla Cardoso had a double-double in her return from a one-game suspension and unbeaten South Carolina powered into its 10th straight Sweet 16 with an 88-41 victory over eighth-seeded North Carolina in the women's NCAA Tournament on Sunday in Columbia, S.C.

The top overall seed Gamecocks (34-0) needed everything they had to escape with single-digit wins the past two times they faced the Tar Heels (20-13). This time, South Carolina used a 15-0 first-quarter run to take control and get within four victories of a perfect championship season.

The Gamecocks will play either No. 4 seed Indiana or No. 5 seed Oklahoma on Friday in the Albany 1 Region.

Cardoso, a six-foot-seven centre from Brazil, sat out the tournament opener Friday after her ejection for fighting at the Southeastern Conference Tournament title game two weeks ago. She finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, her 14th double-double this season.

The Tar Heels tried to keep things close. But the Gamecocks, at full strength and playing like their potent selves, outscored North Carolina 43-11 during a 14-minute stretch in the first half and were up 56-19 at the break.

The youngest, newest Gamecocks led the charge. Freshman Tessa Johnson hit two straight rainbow 3s and Fulwiley also hit from deep as South Carolina went ahead 28-8 after 10 minutes.

Chloe Kitts, a sophomore who hit all nine of her field goals for 21 points in the first round, scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting in the first half of this one. She finished with 12 points.

North Carolina got no closer than 31 points in the final two quarters. Maria Gadkeng, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's win over Michigan State, picked up three first-half fouls. Leading scorer Deja Kelly had two fouls and five of the Tar Heels' 11 first-half turnovers.

Alyssa Ustby led North Carolina 12 points.

North Carolina was held to its fewest points in its 81-game NCAA Tournament history. The Tar Heels' previous low was a 55-46 loss to George Washington at the old Carolina Coliseum in Columbia 27 years ago.

The Gamecocks extended their program record with their 59th straight win at home in their final game of the season at Colonial Life Arena, where they averaged an NCAA-best 16,489 fans.

Walker powers Baylor past Virginia Tech

Jada Walker scored 26 of her career-high 28 points in the second half to lead Baylor to a 75-72 victory over Virginia Tech in the second round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Sunday in Blacksburg, Va.

Fifth-seeded Bears (26-7) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2021. Playing in her home state, Walker connected on 9 of 16 from the floor and 9 of 10 from the foul line.

Walker made the big plays down the stretch for the Bears, who won for the eighth time in the past nine games. She scored the team's final nine points, and none were bigger than her three-point play with 19.1 seconds left that gave Baylor a 73-69 lead.

Following a 3-pointer by Amoore with 16 seconds remaining, Virginia Tech fouled Walker, who hit two free throws with 5.9 seconds remaining that gave the Bears a 75-72 lead. Virginia Tech was unable to get a shot off in the final seconds.

Sarah Andrews added 16 points for the Bears, and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs finished with 10.

Stanford beats Iowa St. in overtime

Brooke Demetre hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in overtime and Kiki Iriafen scored 11 of her career-high 41 points in OT, securing No. 2 Stanford a place in the Portland Regional with a thrilling 87-81 win over seventh-seeded Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.