The second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday was jam packed with eight games. Yes, you read right, eight. Here’s a few highlights from the day.
No. 2 Duke vs. No. 10 Oregon
Starting at noon, No. 2 Duke beat No. 10 Oregon, 59-53 game to start off the second round.
Oregon started strong taking the jump and opening the game with a three. The Ducks took control and never trailed, maintaining control throughout the first half.
Deja Kelly led the Ducks with nine of her 20 coming in the first half to help hold the Ducks’ offense steady.
Defense was big for the Ducks, holding the Blue Devils to 1-6 shooting and forcing three turnovers in the first half.
Not to mention Ashlon Jackson was scoreless in the first half, and the Blue Devils were without their leading scorer Toby Fournier who was out with an illness.
Going into the half the Ducks were up five, the score being 28-23 but Duke came out swinging, led by Jackson who scored all 20 of her points in the second half. Jackson posted 11 straight out of the half to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the game, which they never lost.
Closing the fourth quarter Jackson, Reigan Richardson and Delaney Thomas finished in double digits with 20, 13 and 12 points respectively.
The Blue Devils continue dancing after their win and were the first team to solidify a Sweet 16 spot on the women’s side. They will play rivals North Carolina on the 28th on ESPN.
No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 Michigan
Just an hour later, Notre Dame dominated Michigan to make their fourth-straight Sweet 16 appearance to a sold out Purcell Pavilion.
The No. 3 Irish built a 20-point lead in the first quarter, outscoring the Wolverines 32-12 and maintained control for the rest of the game.
Three players chipped in eight points in the first quarter, being Hannah Hidalgo, Liatu King and Sonia Citron to create the separation that Michigan couldn’t come back from.
The offense of the Irish was too much for Michigan to handle, with the three players named above finishing in double digits. SLAM cover star Hidalgo put up her second 20 point game in the tournament, notching 21 points with three assists while teammate Liatu King had a historic game. King finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds being just the sixth Notre Dame player to have 15 or more boards in an NCAA Tournament game.
Michigan’s Olivia Olson had herself a game as well, putting up 20 points on the other side of the ball but was not enough to keep it within striking distance.
Notre Dame will play TCU, who they lost to during the regular season on March 29th. Get the popcorn ready because this will be a rematch for the ages.
No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Kansas State
Kansas State survived by the (no exaggeration) skin on their teeth in arguably the most entertaining game on the women’s side of things so far. K-State held off Kentucky in an overtime win by just one point to advance to the Sweet 16.
The four-five game had everyone watching on their toes, with the game being a back and forth battle from start to finish.
There were 21 lead changes over the course of the game with seven in the fourth quarter and four in overtime. Neither team was able to pull away with a margin bigger than the opening seven points that Kentucky had before K-State got on the board.
Kentucky outscored K-State 20-15 in the first, with K-State’s Serena Sundell scoring 11 of the 15, anchoring the offense.
Both teams traded buckets back and forth throughout the third and fourth quarters, scoring 26 a piece in the second half, tied at 69 forcing an overtime.
In OT, Kentucky found themselves up three at 77-74 with under two minutes to play.
K- State’s Temira Poindexter, who started off cold, sank the first of her two overtime triples, her seventh in the game overall to tie the game at 77’s with just 1:30 to go.
KU’s Georgia Amoore, who had played lights out, hit a jumper just after to put them back on top by two at 79-77.
K-State brought the ball down and was shocked to see Poindexter open in the corner for, you guessed it, another three. Her eighth and final triple put the Wildcats up one at 80-79.
KU had three second chance opportunities after securing three offensive rebounds on two misses from Amoore who finished with 18 points.
After securing a jump ball with just four seconds left, KU had a sideline out of bounds play which set up Amoore for a point blank layup, which she missed.
K-State’s defense held KU to zero for four in the last minute of the game, leading to the four seed upset.
For the first time since 2002, Kansas State University will advance to the Sweet 16.
No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 9 Indiana
Indiana gave No. 1 South Carolina a run for their money in their rematch of last year’s Sweet 16. South Carolina ended up winning 64-53 but didn’t start to run away until the second half.
Indiana was executing well on both the offensive and defensive ends, with good ball movement, key players knocking down shots and forcing 12 South Carolina turnovers by the end of the game.
The first half for the Gamecocks was rough to say the least after going 10-29 from the floor. In the first quarter, they were held to just nine points and were down by as many as eight after a 14-2 Hoosier run in the second before their offense picked up a bit, leaving them trailing by just one at the half.
The Gamecocks came out in the third quarter looking more like themselves, with relentless defense that sparked their offensive run, outscoring Indiana 26-14 in the quarter.
Senior Chloe Kitts arrived at the party after sitting early with foul trouble, posting a 10 point, 11 board double-double, all 10 coming in the second half.
Coach Dawn Staley emphasized the grit her team showed in the win. “It wasn’t pretty, at this time it doesn’t have to be. You just gotta score more points than the other team and work the kinks out as we advance into the tournament,” she said.
The Gamecocks will advance to their 11th straight Sweet 16 to face Maryland on March 28th.
No. 5 Ole Miss defeated No. 4 Baylor
Another four vs five seed battle took place where No. 25 Ole Miss took on No. 14 Baylor in another gripping upset with the Rebels on top 69-63. Having lost to South Dakota in the first round in Waco, Texas just three years ago it was the second visit for the Rebels that led them to securing a Sweet 16 position in this year’s tournament.
From the jump Ole Miss had the slightest edge on Baylor, having been in the lead for over 25 minutes of the game. But very rarely did we see any instances where it was more than a two or three possession game.
There were only four lead changes all game but 12 ties showing how often the two were going bucket for bucket, especially late in the fourth.
The pendulum of momentum was going from side to side all the way up to the last minute of the game where the Rebels finally started to pull away.
Tied at 61’s with 1:04 left to play, Madison Scott’s midrange silencer to give them a two point lead at 63-61 with 40 seconds left.
With the pendulum slowly leaning in favor of the Rebels going up 65-61, Jada Walker took a fighting drive. Hoisting up two of her 15 points to cut the lead back to two at 65-63, with 20 seconds left on the clock, it’s a one possession game.
The Bears stay up pressing, once again looking for a steal but begin to foul to stop the clock, sending Deans to the line three times, who sinks them all going six for six to close out the game.
“It was fitting.. My final year after losing here in the first round.. I wanted to come and lead my team to victory, I wanted to come and it be a different story this time,” Scott said during the postgame press conference.
The Rebels secured their second sweet 16 appearance in just three seasons under coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. They’ll meet No. 1 UCLA on the 28th in Spokane.
