The Guru’s March Madness Local/National Report Day 3: Rhode Island meets George Mason for A-10 Title; Villanova meets Seton Hall in a Big East Semifinal; The Four Majors Ticket Punching to Occur

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

HENRICO, Va. – The two teams who shared the regular season championship of the Atlantic 10 — Rhode Island (27-4) and George Mason (23-8) — will play for the tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA championship here at the Henrico Sports & Events Center Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. (ESPN2).

For the second straight year, the preseason favorite, Richmond (26-7), which was third just a game behind in the final standings, was dispatched in Saturday’s semifinals, but unlike last year’s last second win by Saint Joseph’s, the Spiders were thoroughly chewed up by their geographic rival Patriots from up the road in suburban  Washington after taking a 12-8 lead out of the first quarter for a 60-45 victory.

In the opener, Rhode Island, coached by former Virginia star Tammi Reiss who shared the backcourt with Dawn Staley in the Cavaliers’ glory years, used a strong second half to finally break away from top-seed Davidson (21-12) to prevail 55-46.

George Mason, which ended up handling Saint Joseph’s in last year’s title game, gave Richmond the same treatment in a dominating fashion following Friday’s stirring overtime comeback on Dayton, winning before the game-clock expired, to advance.

The Patriots relied on their All-Conference First team duo of Zahirah Walton (24 points, nine rebounds) and Kennedy Harris (18 points) to take care of business while on the defensive side GMU was able to limit Richmond’s conference player of the year Maggie Doogan, out of Broomall in suburban Philadelphia and Cardinal O’Hara to 10 points on a 5-for-18 struggle from the field.

“The ladies were locked in today,” said George Mason coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis. “We knew we had to come out and be formidable on defense because they have a really good offensive squad.

“I really thought the ladies were locked in and Za and Ken put the nail in the coffin offensively.”

Richmond, with a big supporting crowd in the stands off the program’s near-by location, had more time to see their approaching demise opposed to the sudden sting of defeat 12 months ago applied by Saint Joseph’s finish.

“Obviously, a really tough one today both personally but also as a program,” said Richmond coach Aaron Roussell. “We wanted this and everybody knows how bad I wanted this for everyone in our program.

“When it ends it hits hard and it doesn’t feel good. We know we’re a really good team; it wasn’t our day today; we just didn’t have it. We went against a team that knows us very well. We had a sense it was going to to be one of those slugfests, but they made some big shots today and had some players step up.

In a make-or-miss sport, it didn’t go our way today.”

Following Richmond’s play in the opening period, George Mason harnessed the momentum in the next opening on an 8-0 run and applying the Spiders with a scoring drought of 5:40 that began late in the first period.

A 12-0 run in the third quarter by the Patriots provided a comfortable advantage and every time the Spiders would score as the game continued George Mason would come right back and answer the score.

“Before we left Fairfax, we said everybody had to be ready,” Blair-Lewis said. “This is everybody’s championship. This is everybody’s run run, so everybody has to be ready.

“There was no concern of putting Page (Greenburg) in nor would there have been anyone,” Blair said referencing a pair of rebounds enabling GMU to keep applying the heat.

“She knows the impact and what she has to do. She knew you have to rebound, especially this time in the game. Page has stayed ready.”

Rhode Island, meanwhile, is going back to the title game for the second time in three seasons, losing the previous one to Richmond’s first capture of Atlantic 10 bragging rights.

The Rams blitzed the conference going unbeaten on the league slate until La Salle delivered a stunner late last month in the game in Philadelphia.

Finland’s Albina Syla was the ticket in this one for Rhode Island scoring 22 points off 11-for-14 from the field, with 14 rebounds while the Rams’ fiesty guard Sophia Vital from Cambridge, Mass., added 10 points.

Davidson’s Charlise Dunn, who led the Wildcats in Friday’s tight quarterfinal victory over Saint Joseph’s, had 15 points, the only Davidson player scoring in double figures.

“The second half was our half,” Reiss said. “We got back to what we do discipline wise, and they executed a game plan to a T.

“I woke them up a little bit at halftime about what we had to do offensively and taking care of the basketball,” Reiss continued.

“Albina getting on the boards and starting us off, she just dominated the boards for us where no one else was going. We rode on her shoulders today. Soph was a one-man show, she was a gnat out there. They did a great job controlling the game.”

Davidson went into the halftime break up 29-25 off blockading URI from connecting from the field the final 5:32 of the half.

Following Reiss’ wake-up talk, the Rams took control in the third quarter as Syla scored 12 points and the Rams went into the final quarter up 41-38.

“I feel like I’m confident with everybody else, so I feel like it is time to be confident in myself,” Syla said of her performance. “That’s when you just get to turn it on and keep playing as hard as you can.”

The Rams went into a 12-2 run during the last period while Davidson was just under six minutes without a point as Rhode Island kept working to get further away from Davidson.

“We had these three goals at the beginning of the season and one of them was to have the best chemistry, to be the most together team and I think it is really showing,” Vital said. “We’re staying together and we’re really locked in on that one big goal, winning that championship.”

Villanova Takes Big East Opener on Bascoe’s Career Night

Out of a long break from Villanova’s season ender and the start of its play in the Big East tournament at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., earning a first-round bye, the second seeded Wildcats erupted in the third period and lived off Jasmine Bascoe’s career-best 31 points to have a cushion to sustain a late comeback from the Friars (15-18) and make it a 3-0 sweep on the season with a 73-65 victory as coach Denise Dillon’s team (24-6) moved into Sunday’s semifinals at 5 p.m. on Peacock, against Seton Hall (19-11).

The Pirates advanced on St. John’s 63-61 as Jordana Codio made two foul shots with a minute left for the winning points as Seton Hall played defense the rest of the way.

Codio was also hot with 35 points but will face Villanova having lost both games in the season series.

The Wildcats, who also got a double double from freshman Kennedy Henry with 13 points and 12 boards while Denae Carter was 5-for-8 from the field, as was Henry, scoring 10 points and grabbing six boards, will likely become a lock for the NCAA by advancing to the title game Monday night.

Henry also was 3-for-4 from distance.

On the other side, No. 1 UConn (32-0), the defending NCAA champion, continued to roll, easily dispatching Georgetown 84-39 to reach the semifinals playing Creighton (16-14), a 57-44 winner over Marquette (18-12).

Serah Williams, a transfer post player from Wisconsin, collected 12 of her 14 points in the first half, while Sarah Strong had 11 points, Azzi Fudd scored 10 to improve the winning streak to 48 games dating back to its launch last season following a loss at Tennessee.

KK Arnold added 12 points.

The Huskies have beaten the Hoyas 43 straight games, are also on 37-straight conference tourney game win streak.

Strong joined former Huskies Nykesha Sales, Jennifer Rizzotti, Rita Williams, Moriah Jefferson, and Gabby Williams as the only UConn players with 100 season steals on the women’s side.

The semifinal game involving coach Geno Auriemma,’s team is at 2:30 p.m. on Peacock.

Penn Gets Revenge While No. 23 Princeton Gets First

It was a bittersweet ending Saturday afternoon for the Penn women on senior day at The Palestra, the Quakers (17-10, 7-7) getting revenge with a 69-56 victory on Brown (16-10, 8-6), whose double overtime win earlier up at Providence knocked coach Mike McLaughlin’s team out of the four-team Ivy Madness this weekend at Cornell’s Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.

Katie Collins and Simone Sayer each scored 17 points, Mataya Gayle had 13 with a perfect 3-for-3 from deep, and Brooke Suttle scored 10.

Elsewhere as seeds were to be decided for the tourney, the day started with No. 23 Princeton (24-3, 12-2) and Columbia (20-7, 11-3) tied for first and Columbia off a 2-0 sweep of the Tigers.

But that’s not how it ended.

Princeton at home in Jadwin Gym got off to a ragged start on Yale but rallied for a 78-55 victory over the Bulldogs.

Fadima Tall scored 22 points and Madison St. Rose had 17 enabling the Tigers to make good on the preseason forecast with a No. 1 finish and top seed because Harvard (17-10, 10-4) upset Columbia 68-64 and will face the Lions in the semifinal game while Princeton plays Brown on Friday, winners meeting Saturday for the NCAA automatic qualifier.

Princeton is the only team capable of an at-large from the Ivies this season as opposed to three overall teams made history advancing last season.

Temple Closes Out Regular Season With a Bounceback Win

Once endangered recently from not making the American tournament this week on Tuesday, the Owls recovered from a rock bottom loss to South Florida in Tampa on Wednesday to beat FAU 84-56 and finish at 14-16 and 8-10 overall in seventh place.

Coach Diane Richardson’s team will open in Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday playing tenth seed Tulane (11-19, 6-12) at 3 p.m.

The winner faces sixth-seed UTSA Wednesday at 3 p.m.

In the win Saturday over FAU, Kelian Cedano scored 16 points for a career-high and Savannah Curry shot 4-for-6 from the field for 12 points.

“I thought we played well,” Richardson said. “I thought our defense was great and we all played together.”

Drexel Earns Third Seed for Coastal Athletic Association Tournament

The Dragons’ winning ways were blunted Saturday in the regular season final, Towson, coached by former Maryland star and Philly great Laura Harper, winning 74-58.

As a result, Drexel (20-9, 13-5) will drop one spot lower to third, still with a double bye into Friday’s quarterfinals in the Coastal Athletic Association in the nation’s capital.

In the loss to Towson, Ameris Baker scored 25 points while Julia Garcia Roig dealt six assists.

Charleston will be the No. 1 seed and ECU the second seed.

Delaware, which lost its season finale the previous day, will open in Game #1in the Conference USA tourney as the eighth seed facing ninth seed Kennesaw Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

The National Scene

The first team into the field of 68 NCAA women’s tournament will be Western Illinois, which became the Ohio Valley champion Western Illinois, which beat Lindenwood 71-65.

On Sunday, the Power 4 conference champion entries into the national field will be decided.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference 12th ranked Louisville (27-6) meets 13th ranked Duke, the Blue Devils advanced with a slim 65-63 win over Notre Dame (22-10) as the Fighting Irish missed three straight shots in the final 11 seconds.

Taina Mair had 16 points for Duke with eight rebounds and Toby Fournier had 14 points and eighth boards while Hannah Hidalgo scored 24 points for Notre Dame with eight rebounds.

Louisville beat third seed North Carolina 65-57 to advance as Imari Berry scored 22 points and collected 10 rebounds.

Saint Joseph’s transfer Laura Ziegler had 13 points for the winning Cardinals.

In the Big 12, defending champion No. 10 TCU (29-4) goes against No. 15 West Virginia (26-6) at 5 p.m. on ESPN.

TCU downed Cinderella Kansas State 74-62 in Saturday’s semifinals as Marta Suarez, a Cal transfer, scored 14 of her 22 points in the third quarter.

Jordan Speiser had 16 points for the Wildcats.

On the other side, No. 15 West Virginia (26-6) got a go-ahead shot score from deep in the final minute from Gia Cook, who had 14 points in the Mountaineers’ 48-47 win over Colorado.

In the Big Ten, No. 2 ULA (30-1) kept pace nationally with the Big East’ UConn, beating No.11 Ohio State 72-62 in Indianapolis where the Bruins on Sunday will face No. 9 Iowa (26-5), which advanced with a 59.

Kiki Rice led UCLA with 17 points, with four teammates also scoring in double figures. The Hawkeyes (26-5) eliminated No. 8 Michigan 59-42 as Ava Heiden scored 16 points and Hannah Stuelke and Chazadi Wright each scored 13 points.

Iowa will meet UCLA at 2:15 p.m. on CBS.

In the Southeastern Conference, No. 3 South Carolina (31-2) meets No. 4 Texas (30-3) after Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks on Saturday continued to beat No. 6 LSU (27-5) as Raven Johnson scored a career-high 22 points and Joyce Edwards scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half.

Texas handled No. 24 Ole Miss 85-68 as Madison Booker had 31 points and 11 rebounds.

The Rebels had advanced to face the Longhorns upsetting No. 5 Vanderbilt.

In MAAC semifinals Sunday in Atlantic City, N.J., No. 25 Fairfield plays Merrimack, the two-time defending champions on the verge of returning the title game again Monday and facing last year’s opponent Quinnipiac, which meets Iona at noon on ESPN+ before the Stags play at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

In the Southern Conference at noon on ESPNU Chattanooga plays Samford, while in the Summit League South Dakota State and North Dakota State play for the title at 4 p.m. on CBSSN.

The Big South winner gets determined between Radford and High Point at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guru’s March Madness Local/National Roundup Day 2: Saint Joseph’s and La Salle Fall in A-10 Tourney; Second-Seed Villanova set to open Big East play meeting Providence; No. 5 Vanderbilt Stunned by Ole Miss in SEC

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

HENRICO, Va. – Valentines Day for 2026 is almost a month passed by but here at the Atlantic 10 women’s basketball tournament in Friday’s quarterfinal action at the three-years-old Henrico Sports & Events Center in suburban Richmond it was heartbreak city for fifth seed Saint Joseph’s and seventh-seed Dayton in two of the four games.

In a grind all 40 minutes in game two, the Hawks from Philadelphia and fourth-seed Davidson went at, neither building much of a lead after the Wildcats’ 17-10 first quarter, but late in the game the Philly folks went on an 8-0 run and moved into a 56-53 lead with 3:17 left in regulation.

That was to be it from the field for coach Cindy Griffin’s team but not quite yet the end off a tenacious defense.

Down 60-57 with 27 seconds left in regulation, Aleah Snead made two from the line and then Faith Stinson made a steal putting the Hawks in position take the rubber match after splitting the season series with Davidson.

Snead drove for the basket, the ball dropped in the net but Davidson’s Charlise Dunn moved into position to take a charge sending possession back to the Wildcats (21-11), who finished up at the line to take a 64-59 victory and move on to Saturday’s semifinals in the 11 a.m. opener (CBSSN) against top-seed Rhode Island (26-4), which held off a feisty effort from eighth-seed Loyola, Chicago for a 71-64 victory.

Saint Joseph’s (20-11) is likely to extend the season participating in either the three-old WBIT or WNIT but won’t be pursuing any home games due to athletic staffing situation involved hosting an opening set of weekend games in the men’s NCAA at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philadelphia.

Snead was one off her career high scoring 23 points and tied her personal best with five steals for Saint Joseph’s, while Faith Stinson had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Rhian Stokes scored 12 points.

Davidson’s Dunn, a native of Australia, scored 12 points while Katie Donovan, also an Aussie, had a team-high 13 points helped by some timely long-range shooting with three makes from deep, while Dunn had two of the Wildcats’ other three from distance.

“A total team win, everybody that went into the game scored and we needed all of them,” said Davidson coach Gayle Fulks.

“I’m very proud of the way we came back, we had a lot of comeback situations today,” said Griffin, in her 25th season coaching her alma mater. “Just didn’t have enough at the end.

“I am proud of our players for believing we could win today. I thought we had a great game plan today and executed what we needed to execute. Davidson did an unbelievable job; they made those threes and that I think was the difference. That was tough to recover from. I am proud of the way we came out and fought back.”

When seventh seed Dayton, coached by former UConn star Tamika Williams-Jeter, took the floor for game three against George Mason (22-8), the entire tournament in all previous games saw the higher seed win each of them, some in closely fought contests.

For a long while, the Flyers (17-14) seemed poised to pull the first upset, several times leading by double digits until the defending conference tournament champs mounted and stirring rally and got the game into overtime where Louis Volker beat the end of period clock to give the Patriots an 87-85 victory and area matchup  with preseason favorite Richmond (26-6) in the 1:30 p.m. contest.

The Spiders, who were the third seed, easily dispatched the other Philly team entry La Salle (18-13), winning 70-51 leaving Explorers coach Mountain MacGilivray hopeful to keep his season alive in one of the other two secondary tournaments to the 68-team NCAA women’s national championship.

“Some once the season ends (being out of the NCAA mix) are ready to move on to the next season, not me, I just loved coaching these kids,” MacGilivray said.

Off George Mason’s cliffhanger, Volker said of her winning shot, “I did not want to lose. I’m glad we get to keep dancing, but this is what March is about. I think we’re all on the same page and really excited to play tomorrow.”

Coach Vanessa Blair paid tribute to Volker in her opening statement: “As proud as I am of those who scored 20-some points, I’m super proud of Lou. (She) sacrifices those moments offensively to be a defensive player, for us and she still can score.

“For Lou to end up with that last shot to win the game, I am super proud of her.”

Kennedy Harris scored 22 for George Mason while Zahirah Walton scored 20, with seven rebounds. Maliyah Johnson collected 13 points.

“Y’all awake now,” Blair quipped to open her postgame podium appearance. “It’s always that first game in the tournament you have to get going and it took us until two minutes in the fourth quarter to get our groove. They never quit or got their head down.”

Dayton’s Fatima Ibrahim scored 18 points with nine boards. Ajok Madol scored 15 points while Nayo Lear scored 14, as did Molly O’Riordan while Nicole Stephens scored 13 points.

“I think it was a heavyweight fight tonight,” Williams-Jeter said. “George Mason definitely came as the heavyweight, coached by someone I really look up to.

“We wanted to throw punches and we did. I wanted the players to respond because we’ve been through a lot this year, and they did. For us we wanted to win the battle in the paint against a team that doesn’t give that up,” she continued.

“We forced them to make a lot of tough twos. We executed pretty decent to throw punches. I have a senior group that has built culture, confidence and leaves a phenomenal foundation from where we wore four years ago.”

Dayton went 14-for-15 from the line and collected 46 Flyers points in the paint.

Williams-Jeter was optimistic over her team’s progress despite the tough loss.

“She used to beat me by 40,” the Dayton coach said.

Walton said that her team never doubted the win when trailing the Flyers late in regulation.

“We did everything we could and never gave up. We knew the game was ours and we just  had to play hard.”

Richmond coach Aaron Roussell was pleased to give some of his other players down the bench a lot of experience in this one and them playing well was a good enough reason to not find it necessary later in the game to bring his stars such as Broomall’s Maggie Doogan, the A-10 player of the year, back into action with the outcome  long determined before the final buzer.

Doogan led Richmond with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Ally Sweeney scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds. Tierra Simon scored 11 points, and Rayne Wright scored 10.

“I thought it was important today to get our young kids some experience early and I think they did a good job,” Roussell said. “So we just rolled with that. The way the team played and the energy that we played with was great tonight and bodes well for the future as well.”

Richmond’s depth was key outscoring the Explorers 34-2.

La Salle’s Aryss Macktoon scored scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Ashleigh Connor had a game-high 18 points and Joan Quinn reached double figures with 12 points.

“I’ve held the position that Richmond is the best team in the conference all season long and they showed that tonight,” MacGillivray said. “We would’ve liked a better showing the first half and put some game pressure on them, but really pleased and proud of what these young ladies have shown this season to this point, and we hope it’s recognized and hope to keep playing. Returning your entire backcourt from a season before, having that experience that’s why we’re in the position that we were in this year to compete in these games. We didn’t have a good shooting night, so it didn’t happen for us tonight, but we’re not letting that diminish where we got to this year and what we want to keep doing.”

Richmond and George Mason split their series, each winning their games at home.

The Rest of the Locals

In the Big East tournament up at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., near New London, Villanova (23-6), second seeded, will play the third of the four quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m., meeting Providence (14-17), the seventh seed, who advanced in Friday’s first-round games beating DePaul 69-55.

Uconn, the lone undefeated Division I team and defending NCAA champions, get the four-game Saturday card started at noon hosting eighth-seed Georgetown (14-16), a 62-58 winner over Butler.

The entire tournament is being broadcast on NBC’s Peacock.

If Villanova wins, the Wildcats playing for 500 wins in program history, in one of the two semifinals, will meet the winner between Seton Hall and St. John’s.

Delaware (12-18, 6-12) concluded its regular season, which had the Blue Hens debut in Conference USA, losing at Liberty 71-64 in Lynchburg, Va., in a game in which the Blue Hens’ Safi Kolliegbo scored her 1,000th point, while the opposition finished 17-12 and 11-7 in the league, whose bracket for next week’s tournament will be announced after Saturday’s games are concluded.

The Fightin’ Blue Hens got 19 points and 10 rebounds from Lay Fantroy, while  Kailah Correa scored 12 points, shooting 5-for-12 from the field. Ande’a Cherisier scored 10 points as did Trinity Vance.

The four seeds will be determined in final season games Saturday for Ivy Madness, next weekend at Cornell’s Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.

Penn won’t be part of the action, having been eliminated last weekend in a loss at Harvard.

But the Quakers, hosting Senior Day at 2 p.m. (ESPN+), can finish a game behind Brown in fifth place with a win that would atone for the upset loss to the Bears early in the Ivy schedule.

No. 23 Princeton, tied with Columbia for first but on the losing end of the tiebreaks off a series sweep by the Lions, hosts Yale at 2 p.m. at Jadwin Gym at home, while hosts Harvard at 2 p.m., the Crimson holding third in front of Brown.

Temple finishes regular season play hosting FAU at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) at the Liacouras Center ahead of next week’s American Conference tournament in Birmingham. Seeding will be announced Saturday.

Next week in the Patriot League, whose tourney sites are all at higher seed matchups throughout the three rounds, fourth-seed Lehigh on Monday hosts fifth-seed Loyola, Md., at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., at 6 p.m. while sixth seed Lafayette is at third seed Army at 6 p.m., all tourney games on ESPN+, except the championship.

Drexel finishes regular season play Saturday at Towson in the Coastal Athletic Association at 2 p.m. on FloCollege, the Dragons needing to win to take the second seed into next week’s tournament in Washington, D.C.

The Dragons have clinched one of the double byes. Pairings will be announced following Saturday’s games.

The National Scene

Upsets continued in the Power Four conferences Saturday highlighted by second seed and No. 5 Vanderbilt (27-4) losing in the Southeastern quarterfinals to No. 24 Mississippi (23-10) 89-78 after the winning Rebels got off to a 23-2 start and led by as many as 32 points in the third period.

Cotie McMahon scored 27 points for the winners, while Latasha Lattimore was one better at 28.

Mikayla Blakes scored 24 for the Commodores.

In Saturday’s semifinals in Greenville, S.C., OIe Miss will meet No. 4 Texas (29-3), which blasted Alabama 83-60 as Jordan Lee scored 16 points, and Madison Booker had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.

In the other two quarterfinals, No. 3 South Carolina (30-2) blasted No. 17 Kentucky, 87-64, as Joyce Edwards scored 21 points and Madina Okot had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The Wildcats fell to 23-10.

No. 6 LSU (27-4) romped 112-78 over No. 7 Oklahoma (24-7) as former South Carolina star MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 33 points with eight assists and Flo’jae johnson had 16 of her 21 points in the second half.

The Tigers and Gamecocks Saturday meet at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

In the Big Ten, No. 2 UCLA (29-1) won 78-60 over former Pac12 rival Washington in Indianapolis as Lauren Betts had 26 points and eight boards and Kiki Rice scored 18 while No. 11 Ohio State (26-6) downed No. 19 Minnesota 60-55 as Elsa Lemmila scored 17 points with 11 boards and Jaloni Cambridge added 17 points to send the two winners against each other in a Saturday semifinal at 2 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

The same carrier will air 8 Michigan against No. 9 Iowa at 4:30 p.m.

The Wolverines (25-5) advanced beating Oregon 80-58 while the Hawkeyes (25-5) edged Illinois 60-58 as Ava Heiden scored 16 points and Hannah Stuelke collected 13 points with five rebounds.

In the ACC in Duluth, Georgia, No. 13 Duke (11-8), the top seed, beat Clemson 60-46 as Toby Fournier had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Delaney Thomas had 14 points while Notre Dame got 25 points from Hannah Hidalgo and Iyana Moore scored 20 in an 81-63 win over N.C. State to set up one of Saturday’s semifinals at noon on ESPN2.

No. 16 North Carolina (26-6) will be in the other semifinals after Lanie Grant had a career-high 21 points and Nyla Harris had 19 points and 10 boards for an 85-68 win over Virginia Tech, while No. 12 Louisville (26-6) got 17 points from Taajianna Roberts and Mackenly Rudolph had 12 points and 10 rebounds in an 87-61 win over Syracuse to set up the other semifinal Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

And in the Big 12, Colorado (22-10) upset No. 20 Baylor 62-53 in Kansas City, Desiree Wooton scoring 21 points and Zyanna Walker 19 against the Bears (24-8) while No. 15 West Virginia (25-6) ended Arizona State’s run 67-54 as Sydney Shaw had five makes from deep and scored 19 points to set up a Saturday semifinal at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

That game follows the other semifinal at 4 p.m. on the same network between No. 10 TCU (28-4), the top seed, against Kansas State (18-16), which continued its upset run ousting four seed Oklahoma State 74-73 as freshman Jordan Speiser scored 18 of her career-high 21 points and Tess Heal scored the game-winner on a foul shot with 1.3 seconds left.

Kansas State is the first 12 seed to make the Big 12 semifinals.

TCU (28-4) easily dispatched BYU 63-46 as Marta Suarez scored 17 points with eight rebounds, and Taylor Bigby scored 11 of her 13 points in the opening period. Olivia Miles had 10 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists for the winning Horned Frogs.

On Saturday in the Ohio Valley championship, the winner between Western Illinois and Lindenwood will become the first team into the NCAA women’s tournament field.

In the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament in Atlantic City, N.J., Siena and Iona meet at noon and Merrimack and Mount Saint Mary’s follows, both on ESPN+ to send two winners into the semifinals Sunday against co-leaders Quinnipiac and two-time defending champion Fairfield, ranked No. 25 this week.