The Guru Report: No. 11 Villanova Edges DePaul on Last Second Foul Shot While Drexel Takes Loss in Same Scenario
By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
PHILADELPHIA – In a weird juxtaposition, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen saved the No. 11 Wildcats’ promise in the NCAAs with a last second foul shot for a 71-70 victory over No. 7 DePaul Saturday night in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., while down here Drexel had a lead get away losing with 1.2 seconds left on a pair of foul shots 59-57 to new member North Carolina A&T in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
In Sunday night’s semifinal Villanova, the two seed, will meet No. 3 seeded Creighton at 5:30 p.m. (FS1), the Bluejays advanced in the final game of the night beating sixth-seeded Seton Hall 75-74 in overtime on Morgan Mally’s layup at the finish after grabbing an offensive rebound.
The two teams split their season series, Creighton (22-7) blasting the Wildcats on the Main Line in the league opener in December, and ‘Nova countering in mid-January in Omaha, Neb., on a night Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, broke the Villanova men’s and women’s scoring record held over three decades by Shelly Pennefather.
In the other two games, No. 9 UConn (27-5), looking the best the Huskies have played in months, celebrated the return of Azzi Fudd with a lopsided 69-39 win over ninth-seeded Georgetown, while fifth-seeded Marquette beat fourth-seeded St. John’s 57-47.
Both teams beat UConn during the season, the Huskies getting a chance to deliver the payback in the Sunday semifinal opener at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Drexel (21-8, 13-5 CAA) ended up tied for first in the regular season standings of the Colonial Athletic Association with Towson and Northeastern, but instead of the top seed in this week’s tourney at Towson in suburban Baltimore they will be the second seed.
Five losses are the most any top seed have ever had going into the conference postseason playoff for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I would say, disappointed with the end result,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We put ourselves in position to win it but we made mistakes we need to correct as we head into tournament play.
“To finish our regular season with a share of the title is certainly a win.”
It was also senior night and Keishana Washington, who was back in a tie for second with No. 7 Iowa’s Kaitlin Clark in scoring among Division I women behind Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, picked up another record, scoring 23, of which her 10th point was also her 770th on the season, a new program milestone.
She finished with 783 points, which is also a tie on the CAA season list for third.
Clark, by the way, scored 22 in Iowa’s semifinal Big Ten win over fifth-ranked and third seed Maryland at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Drexel will be the second seed with two byes playing either 7th seed Monmouth, another new member, or 10th seed Charleston at 5 p.m. in Friday night’s quarterfinals at Towson’s SECU arena in Maryland.
Delaware lost its final game on the road at new member Hampton 77-72 and will be the eighth seed, the Blue Hens (16-13, 9-9) in a tie for seventh, playing ninth-seeded again in the second round at noon on Thursday.
Towson (19-10, 13-5), under new coach Laura Harper, the former Maryland star from Cheltenham, got the No. 1 seed out of the deadlock out of the top while Northeastern (18-11, 13-5) will be the third seed.
Drexel split their season with both teams.
The Aggies (18-11, 12-6), the Dragons’ opponent in their only meeting on Saturday, tied for fourth and will be the fifth seed.
Freshman Kylie Lavelle scored 19 points with a team-high seven rebounds, while Maura Hendrixson dealt nine assists to have 219 on the season, good for eighth in that category in the CAA.
Jasmine Valentine tied a personal best with eight points.
Washington ran into foul trouble at times forcing her to the bench, though the first time, Drexel managed to hold their own.
The Dragons in the fourth stayed as many as six ahead, but the Aggies rallied back to a tie in less than a minute.
With the score tied and eight seconds left, Lavelle stole the ball from North Carolina A&T’s Maleia Bracone but she grabbed the ball off Washington in a few seconds and then got fouled by Lavelle.
Going to the line, Bracone sank both shots for the win.
Laila Acox got 14 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, while Chaniya Clark scored 11, and Bracone scored 10 with six assists.
Late Rally Carries ‘Nova to the Semifinals
Though this was not one of DePaul’s premier seasons, playing the high-scoring Blue Demons is always a challenge.
The second quarter proved so, DePaul (16-17) bolting to a 14-4 run and 28-24 lead at the outset, but the Wildcats (27-5) countered with a 16-4 surge of their own, hitting the break with a 40-32 lead.
The prospect of being a first-round host after landing fourth seeds in the two NCAA committee’s reveals began to fade when DePaul went up 70-64 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in regulation.
Siegrist’s layup got the ‘Cats to within four at 70-66 with 1:33 left.
Then the Demons’ Kendall Holmes got fouled but missed both shots from the line and Olsen got ‘Nova within a basket.
A defensive stop the other way got the ball back into the Wildcats’ hands and Siegrist tied it with a 15-foot jumper 70-70 with 22 seconds left.
Anaya Peoples got fouled on the ensuing possession with seven seconds remaining but missed both opportunities, Villanova grabbed the rebound, calling time to advance the ball.
Feeding Olsen, the sophomore drove to the basket and got fouled with 0.7 left and went to the basket, downing the game-winner and missing the second on purpose to chew up the clock.
“My teammates had my back,” she said. “They’re all, `You’re good; you do this every day in practice; baskertball is fun; just shoot it; you’ll make it; you’re good.”
Siegrist had another double-double with 26 points, keeping her perfect record of 20 or more points in every game this season, and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-22 from the field.
Olsen had 19 points and seven assists, while Christina Dalce had 12 points and six boards.
Maddy Burke scored 10.
DePaul’s hot scorer Aneesah Morrow had 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Holmes scored20 and Peoples had 17 points and six rebounds.
“It was an amazing game,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “You expect tournament play for it to be a battle. DePaul, they were on fire today. They were feeling really good. I’m really proud of our group.”
Said Women’s Hall of Fame DePaul coach Doug Bruno about the turn of events in the game, “You put it all together and we blow the game, basically. We had the game in control.
“I am really proud of our players for putting ourselves in position,” he said, “but you’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish. And Nova did. Nova moves on. We go home.”
A win over Creighton not only should clinch a four seed for the Wildcats and right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 15 other teams but with No. 10 Notre Dame losing to unranked Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal, Dillon’s group should jump over the Irish into the top 10 in the new Associated Press women’s poll to be released Monday afternoon, which would be the highest ranking for the program.
Rider Tops Marist
As much as a struggle the regular season has been Rider celebrated its seniors and captured its last game of the regular season, beating Marist at home 66-63 in overtime at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Really pleased with the win today,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “To get a tough, hard-fought battle on your home floor, last game of the season for our seniors.
“We’ve had some tough losses on that floor this year, and to end the season in the fashion did, I’m really proud, and it makes it special.
Victoria Toomey had 19 points for the Broncs (9-20, 6-14 MAAC) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game, while Makayla Firebaugh had 16 points, including her 1,000th in the overtime. Raphaela Toussaint scored 12.
Zaria Shazer had 25 for the Red Foxes (12-17, 8-12), while Kiara Fisher scored 14.
Brian Giorgis is retiring from Marist at the end of this season after a long run.
With the completion of the regular season, the MAAC’s women’s bracket was released Saturday night for this week’s tournament at Jim Whalen Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Rider as the 10th seed and Marist as the seventh will be right back together again on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Iona is the top seed playing a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s 10:30 a.m. match between 8th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s, a new member, and 9th-seeded Canisius.
The Rider/Marist winner will face No. 2 Niagara Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the No. 6-Manhattan-No. 11 Saint Peter’s Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., winner meets No. 3 Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 1 p.m.
The entire tournament will be on ESPN+ except the championship, which airs 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+.
Nationally Noted: Upsets and Chilling Finishes Mark Bids in Conference Tourneys
A bunch of givens went by the boards in the power conferences and a few other places Saturday so let’s take it group by group.
SEC: Tennessee rally eliminates LSU
The season-long given still is though the next stop in the Southeastern Conference championship Sunday afternoon is where Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad got tripped up a year ago by Kentucky on the way to the Gamecock’s second NCAA title.
They haven’t lost since, including Saturday afternoon beating third-seeded Ole Miss 80-51 to run the Gamecocks’ record to 31-0 and 37 straight.
The bench showed its stuff, Laeticia Amihere scoring 17 points with six rebounds, while former Syracuse star Kamilla Cardoso had 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Rebels (23-8). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Zia Cooke scored 14 and Brea Beal scored 13.
Ole Miss’ Madison Scott scored 15.
In the other semifinal, however, there will not be the attention-gathering collision in the championship after unranked Tennessee used a 17-point rally to down No. 4 LSU 69-67 snapping a season-long 0-9 mark against ranked teams.
LSU (27-2) was well on its way in Greenville, S.C., to getting a second shot in Sunday’s championship, holding a 27-10 lead.
Then the Lady Vols (23-10) came to life and, hard to believe that long, will be in their first championship in the SEC since 2015.
Indeed, the Tigers were still in control at the half 40-26.
Rickea Jackson scored 26 points and Jordan Horston scored 17 for the three-seed.
“It feels good,” Horston said on reaching the finals. “But the job is not done.”
LSU’s Angel Reese had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Alexis Morris scored 20.
Hall of Fame LSU coach Kim Mulkey had drawn raves making the Tigers into a national power returning to her home state last year having built Baylor into a force.
After the loss Saturday she said her squad can’t be called elite until they start winning championships.
With Arizona and Colorado suffering losses after named among the top 16 in the two NCAA committee reveals it’s possible both will be dropped, leaving the door opened for Tennessee and possibly UCLA, which upset top-seed Stanford in the PAC-12 semifinals in Las Vegas.
Big Ten: Ohio State Shocks Indiana
Early in the conference slate of the Big Ten, No. 14-ranked Ohio State had used a 19-0 start to reach number two in the AP women’s poll, only to slide and be replaced by Indiana.
That flipped in Minneapolis Saturday, the fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) rallied in the Target Center to beat the Hoosiers 79-75 and land in Sunday’s championship.
Indiana (27-3), enjoying its best-ever season, had been given a No. 1 seed in the recent reveal.
Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Cotie McMahon had 12 points and 14 rebounds, reserve Jacy Sheldon also scored 12, Rikki Harris and Taylor Mikesell each had 13 with Harris also dealing 6 assists.
Indiana’s Grace Berger scored 20 points, reserve Sara Scalia scored 15, Mackenzie Holmes had 12 points, Sydney Parrish scored 10 points while freshman Yarden Garzon grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes will play No. 7 Iowa, which had been roughed up two weeks ago by No. 5 Maryland but deprived the Terrapins of a title game appearance with an 89-84 triumph.
Besides Caitlin Clark’s 22 with nine assists, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock each scored 21 points, and the Hawkeyes (25-6) fired 15 3-pointers.
Monika Czinano had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Maryland (25-6) got 21 points each from Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller.
The Target Center crowd of 9,375 was just short of the Big Ten record 9,417 that attended the 2014 title game in 2014 in Indianapolis.
ACC: Upsets Send Louisville and Virginia Tech into Championship
After Louisville lost twice to 10th-ranked Notre Dame, who became the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, the Cardinals, in the unusual position of having been unranked most of the season as has been the SEC’s Tennessee, ousted the Irish 64-38 in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
Likewise, eighth-ranked Virginia Tech is headed to Sunday’s championship for the first time after sending second-seeded and 13th-ranked Duke home via 58-37 win.
In the win by Louisville (23-10), Hailey Van Lith scored 15 points while Notre Dame (23-5) was forced into 22 turnovers.
“What an unbelievable effort on the defensive end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz, noting more will be needed to succeed.
The Cardinals haven’t won since 2018.
Maddy Westbeld’s nine points were the top point total for Notre Dame.
In the win by the Hokies, Georgia Amoore had 24 points, fueled by six shots from deep.
“When I first got to Tech we were hoping to win games,” said Elizabeth Kitley. “It’s nice to be at the point where we expect to win these games. We want this next one really bad and we are all really excited for it.”
Kitley had eight points and 11 rebounds for Virginia Tech (26-4), which has won its last 10 games.
Duke (25-6) got nine points from Elizabeth Balogun.
The Blue Devils handled the Hokies by 16 points last month.
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis Stuns Rhode Island
The Rams’ rally to get to the title game in the A-10 fell short for the second straight season, this time to the surprising Billikens 59-56, at the 76ers CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Saint Louis was picked 12th in the preseason coaches’ poll and didn’t begin to make a run until a little way into the conference slate, now having won 10 of the last 11.
“It is very emotional, very exciting, thrilling even,” said Brooke Flowers. “I don’t think that anybody thought we would get here.
“We just continued to believe in each other and what we brought to the table. To be able to do this in my last year is so special.”
And there shouldn’t be any fear facing the reigning champion Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday, considering the Billikens had recently edged UMass.
Julia Martinez had a near triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Flowers had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy’s 15 points all in the first half got Saint Louis (16-17) off to a big start.
“What a game, anybody that was in this arena, it was incredible by both teams,” first-year Billikens coach Rebecca Tillet said. “For our group, it’s really the first time that we’ve been in that type of situation building that type of lead and then figuring out how to maintain it or what you do next.”
Sayawni Lassiter had 14 points for Rhode Island (24-6) and grabbed six rebounds, while Dolly Cairns had 11 points and Madison Hattix-Covington had 10 points. Maye Toure had nine points and niner rebounds.
Rhode Island fell behind by 21 points before rallying to within a point.
“Saint Louis came out and they came ready to play,” said Rams coach Tammi Reiss. “I am really proud of my team and the way they fought back. Being down 21, you can hang your head, you can duck, and they didn’t, they came out swinging.
“I thought it was an incredible second half by us, but we fell short.”
Having tasted a title a year ago, UMass (26-5) was ready for more in the 80-60 win over Richmond (20-10).
Destiny Philoxy scored 16 points for the winners, while Sam Breen, the two-time A-10 player of the year, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Ber’Nyah Mayo had 13 points and Makennah White 14 points.
“We came out and we had purpose here today,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi. “I’m super proud of the way we executed on both sides of the ball. It’s really hard to get this far.”
Addie Budnik had 25 points for the Spiders.
“It’s a good building block for the future,” Aaron Roussell said of his rebuilding effort after taking the job moving over from Bucknell. “And the future is very bright. I hope we are not done with the season, but this was a tough loss.”
Patriot League: Lafayette Season Ends
Eighth-seeded Lafayette couldn’t do much with its home court advantage falling to ninth-seeded Loyola, Md., 61-52, in a Patriot League opening round game in Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.
Makayla Andrews had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Leoapards (,10-19), whose season ended.
The Grayhounds (10-20) got 17 points and 21 rebounds from Lex Therien, while Devyne Newman also scored 17, Taleah Dixon scored 12, and Kelly Ratigan scored 10.
In the other opener, American in the nation’s capital as the seventh seed beat 10th-seeded Navy 78-71.
Third-seeded Lehigh had a bye, and the Mountain Hawks will host sixth-seeded Bucknell Monday at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The quarterfinal round will also see top-seeded Boston U. (22-7) host Loyola, Md. (10-20) at 6 p.m., while Colgate (16-13) will host Army (12-16) at 7 p.m., Holy Cross (21-8) will host American (9-21) at 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
All games will air on ESPN+
Ivy League: Seeds Coming Sunday after Columbia Rally Lands Tie for First
With Columbia getting a piece of the regular season title and Penn and Harvard sharing third the NCAA Net daily ranking numbers released for Sunday morning will determine the tiebreaks and seed order for this weekend’s tournament at Princeton.
Columbia fought back Saturday afternoon at home in Levien Gym in front of a second sellout crowd of 2,602 on New York’s Upper West Side to beat traveling rival Cornell 69-64 in overtime to stand alongside Princeton.
On Friday, Princeton used a strong second half to beat Penn at The Palestra to be No. 1 at the regular season finish for the fifth straight year.
The Lions (23-4, 12-2) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Abbey Hsu had 16 points in the game with 17 lead changes for the winners.
“Nothing’s going to be given to you,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “I tell our players that all the time. Life is just never that easy and if it is that easy, it’s coming for you later.
“Cornell came out with a mission. They could have ruined our season.”
Based on Saturday’s numbers, the speculation is that Princeton will be the one seed, Columbia the two, Penn the three, and Harvard the four.
Should Princeton and Columbia both land in the NCAAs, and Penn the three, the Quakers would have the automatic bid to the WNIT.
Ohio Valley: An Upset Leads to First Ticket Punched
The first of the 32 conference tournament championship rounds was held Saturday out of the Ohio Valley Conference in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., and top-seeded Little Rock fell to third-seeded Tennessee Tech 54-46.
The Arkansas school (21-10) had won the regular season spending its first in a different league.
Kiera Hill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (22-9).
The Trojans struggled with player of the year Sali Kourouma on the bench in foul trouble.
“I think our kids prepared themselves as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Trojans coach Joe Foley. “If we hadn’t gotten in the foul situation we had, I would have liked to have seen that outcome.”
Big 12: Texas and Oklahoma Tie
The Longhorns became a part of a tie at the top of the conference, the first knot since 2014, with Oklahoma the other team at the top.
The tournament opens Thursday in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
Iowa State will be the three seed.
And that’s the report.
posted by Mel Greenberg | 5:47 AM
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