Ogunbowale, No. 4 Notre Dame roll past UNC into ACC semis
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Arike Ogunbowale scored 28 points, and No. 4 Notre Dame beat North Carolina 95-77 on Friday in an Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal.
Brianna Turner had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Jackie Young finished with 19 points and nine assists to help the top-seeded Fighting Irish (28-3) win their seventh straight and avenge one of their two league losses. They will play No. 18 Syracuse on Saturday in the semifinals.
Ogunbowale finished four points shy of her career high while hitting five 3-pointers. The Fighting Irish shot 58 percent — 65 percent in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Paris Kea scored 27 and Janelle Bailey finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds in her return from a one-game suspension for the eighth-seeded Tar Heels (18-14).
NO. 5 MISSISSIPPI STATE 83, TENNESSEE 68
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Anriel Howard scored 26 points, Southeastern Conference player of the year Teaira McCowan had 17 points and 13 rebounds and Mississippi State beat Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The Bulldogs (28-2) turned a close game into a runaway with a 24-7 run over the final eight minutes of the second quarter. They’ll take on No. 13 Kentucky or Missouri in Saturday’s semifinals.
Howard hits 11 of 15 shots, continually driving in for layups. Evina Westbrook had 19 points to lead the Lady Vols (19-12), who committed a season-high 26 turnovers.
NO. 8 MARYLAND 71, MICHIGAN STATE 55
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kaila Charles scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half and Maryland used a stifling defense to pull away from Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.
The Terrapins (27-3) head into Saturday’s semifinal game with 12 wins in their last 13 games and chasing their fourth league tourney crown in five years. They’ve already won the Big Ten’s regular-season title.
Jenna Allen had 19 points and seven rebound to lead Michigan State, which made only seven baskets in the second half. The Spartans (20-11) have lost two of their last three as they wait to find out their postseason plans.
MISSOURI 70, NO. 13 KENTUCKY 68
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Sophie Cunningham scored 29 points, including seven in overtime, and Missouri beat Kentucky to advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals for the first time.
Cunningham took a pass from Lauren Aldridge to score the go-ahead basket for a 65-63 lead with 55 seconds left in overtime.
Cunningham was 7-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers and sank 12 of 14 free throws.
Rhyne Howard scored 25 points but missed all six of her 3-point tries with the fourth-seeded Wildcats (24-7) failing to hit a 3-pointer on all 16 attempts.
Missouri (23-9), which has won four straight, faces top-seeded and fifth-ranked Mississippi State on Saturday.
NO. 18 SYRACUSE 92, NO. 16 MIAMI 85
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Tiana Mangakahia had 25 points and 13 assists, and Syracuse made an ACC Tournament-record 14 3-pointers to beat Miami in a quarterfinal.
Miranda Drummond added 19 points, Gabrielle Cooper and Digna Strautmane had 15 each and Kiara Lewis 10 for the fifth-seeded Orange (24-7), who lost at home to Miami 84-71 in the teams’ only regular-season meeting.
Beatrice Mompremier scored 27 points with 10 rebounds, Emese Hof added a season-high-tying 25 points and Mykea Gray had 13 for the fourth-seeded Hurricanes (24-8).
NO. 25 UCLA 73, NO. 20 ARIZONA STATE 69
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Japreece Dean scored 24 points and Michaela Onyenwere added 20 to help UCLA beat Arizona State in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.
The fourth-seeded Bruins (20-11) were up 14 points in the third quarter before the Sun Devils (20-10) rallied to within 57-56 at the end of the period.
Dean and Kennedy Burke combined for the team’s first eight points of the fourth quarter to extend the advantage to 65-58 with 4:15 left.
Kianna Ibis scored 14 points to lead Arizona State, which has a school-record six straight 20-win seasons. The Sun Devils now await an NCAA Tournament bid.