RALEIGH, N.C. — Kiara Leslie had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and North Carolina State pulled away to beat Kentucky 72-57 on Monday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Freshman Elissa Cunane added 13 points and 15 rebounds, DD Rogers had 11 points and 11 boards, and the third-seeded Wolfpack (28-5) dominated the glass while earning their second straight trip to the Sweet 16. N.C. State beat UMaine in the first round on Saturday, 63-51.
N.C. State – which had a 50-31 rebounding advantage – will play second-seeded Iowa (28-6) on Saturday in the semifinals of the Greensboro Region.
Freshman Rhyne Howard scored 21 points and Maci Morris had 18 for the sixth-seeded Wildcats (25-8). They were 3 of 16 in the fourth quarter – all three field goals belonged to Morris – while the Wolfpack pulled away.
NOTRE DAME 91, MICHIGAN STATE 63: Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and two teammates had double-doubles as the top-seed Irish (32-3) ran away from the visiting Spartans (21-12) in the second round of the Chicago Regional.
Jackie Young gave Coach Muffet McGraw and the Purcell Pavilion crowd a scare when she fell hard to the floor just seconds before the end of the third quarter. She was OK and finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Fighting Irish, who are in the Sweet 16 for the 10th straight season. They will play No. 4-seed Texas A&M Saturday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
UCLA 85, MARYLAND 80: Michaela Onyenwere scored a career-high 30 points, Japreece Dean added 22 and the Bruins (22-12) squeezed past the host Terrapins (29-5) to earn their fourth consecutive berth in the Sweet 16.
Dean, the smallest player on the court, sank two free throws with 25 seconds remaining to make it 83-79, and the Bruins held on to beat the Terrapins.
UCLA will next face second-seeded UConn (33-2) on Friday in the semifinal round of the Albany Region.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 75, SYRACUSE 64: Madison Guebert scored 18 of her 20 points on 3-pointers, including two critical 3s in the fourth quarter, to lead the Jackrabbits (28-6) to a win over the Orange (25-9) at Syracuse, New York.
The victory sends the Jackrabbits to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. They will face No. 2 Oregon on Friday in the regional semifinals at Portland, Oregon.
BASEBALL
ST. JOSEPH’S SPLITS WITH HAMILTON: Drew Healey drove home Hunter Richardson with a fourth-inning sacrifice fly, and then scored Jared Gagne with a grounder to second during a three-run sixth to lead St. Joseph’s (13-3) to a 4-1 second-game win and a split of its doubleheader against the Continentals (7-6) at Winter Haven, Florida.
Hamilton won the opener 12-7 after building a 9-4 lead over the first four innings. Healey and Noah McDaniel each had three RBI in the loss for the Monks.
SOFTBALL
KALAMAZOO 11, COLBY 2: Hayleigh Alamo hit a pair of two-run singles for Kalamazoo (4-4) during the Hornets’ five-inning victory over Colby (1-4) at Clermont, Florida.
Kalamazoo opened a 5-0 lead over the first two innings before putting the game away with a six-run fourth. Alamo and Nina Szalkiewi had two-run singles during the fourth-inning surge.
Ashley Ketchum singled home Hailey Rohall, and Carly Swartz singled home Lucie Cunningham, during the bottom of the fourth for the Mules.
COLBY 8, LEWIS & CLARK 7: Paige Hartnett scored the winning run on a bases-loaded two-out fielder’s choice out during the seventh inning to complete a comeback as Colby (1-3) topped the Pioneers (6-14) at Clermont, Florida.
GYMNASTICS
Courtney Christoforo, an Ithaca College sophomore from Saco, won the individual Division III national championship in the uneven bars while competing for the Bombers at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association championships at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, over the weekend.
Christoforo turned in her finest collegiate performance, executing her uneven bars routine to near perfection en route to posting the top score of 9.675.
Christoforo edged Sierra Beaver of Wisconsin-Stout and Bailey Fitzpatrick of Wisconsin-Whitewater, who tied for second with a 9.650.
Christoforo’s finish also earned her Div. III All American status.
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