AUSTIN, Texas

The message on the whiteboard in the Texas locker was simple and direct: Rebound!

The No. 2 seed Longhorns did that and a whole lot more — just about anything they wanted to, really — in dismantling No. 15 Maine 83-54 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Jatarie White scored 17 points and the Longhorns overwhelmed the Black Bears early in bolting to a 45-18 lead by halftime. The Big 12 runners up smothered the America East Conference tournament champions Saturday night with a combination of dominant rebounding and speed in transition led by guards Lashann Higgs and Brooke McCarty. Higgs scored 15 and Ariel Atkins scored 16 for Texas.

“We were really locked in,” Texas coach Karen Aston said. “It didn’t surprise me that we were ready, but we were pretty sharp.”

Texas used brute force and scalpel-like precision to quickly end this one.

The Longhorns (27-6) didn’t let Maine (23-10) grab a rebound for the first eight minutes. Higgs had 11 points and Atkins scored 10 by halftime as the Longhorns emptied their bench early in the second quarter. Texas shot 68 percent and outrebounded Maine 25-4 in the first half.

Atkins, Higgs and White had their pick of shots near the basket or on 3-pointers. By midway through the third quarter, those three combined for 16 of 20 shooting.

The Longhorns are hosting the first two rounds for the third straight season and advanced to the second round for the fifth straight year. Another win would send them to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year.

Tanesha Sutton scored 16 points for Maine, which hadn’t been to the tournament since 2004.

“It frustrating when you had a good possession and you played good defense then they finally miss a shot and they get the offensive rebound and put it in. That seemed to be the story,” Maine coach Amy Vachon said.

Sunday results

KNOXVILLE Tenn. — Tennessee lost for the first time at home in women’s NCAA Tournament history when Marie Gulich had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead Oregon State to a 66-59 victory in the Lexington Region.

The third-seeded Lady Vols had been 57-0 at home with most of those victories coming under late Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, who led the team to eight national championships. It’s the second straight season that Tennessee lost in the second round of the NCAAs and will miss the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the program’s 37-year tournament history.

Louisville 90, Marquette 72

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Myisha Hines-Allen had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Asia Durr scored 19 points and Louisville quickly pounced on Marquette on the way to a victory.

Baylor 80, Michigan 58

WACO, Texas (AP) — Lauren Cox had 18 points with 16 rebounds, and Baylor is going to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the 10th year in a row after a win over Michigan.

Spokane Region
Notre Dame 98,
Villanova 72

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — With top-seed Notre Dame struggling to a halftime tie against Villanova on Sunday in a second-round women’s NCAA Tournament game, a visibly angry Muffet McGraw had seen enough.

Oregon 101, Minnesota 73

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu had 29 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and Oregon advanced to the Sweet 16 with a victory over Minnesota.

Texas A&M 80, DePaul 79

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Freshman Chennedy Carter hit a 3 with 3.2 seconds left, capping a 37-point performance, to help Texas A&M rally from a 17-point second-half deficit and beat DePaul.

Kansas City Region
N.C. State 74,
Maryland 60

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Kiara Leslie had 21 points and 11 rebounds against her former team, and North Carolina State beat Maryland.

Leslie, who spent three seasons at Maryland before graduating and transferring to N.C. State, finished one point shy of a career high.

Albany Region
South Carolina 66,
Virginia 56

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A’ja Wilson had 25 points and 11 rebounds in her last-ever college home game to lead South Carolina to its fifth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 with a victory over Virginia.

Wilson, the three-time Southeastern Conference player of the year, posted her 23rd double-double of the season.