SAN ANTONIO — Paige Bueckers scored 20 points and Aaliyah Edwards added 19 to help No. 1 seed UConn beat eighth-seeded Syracuse 83-47 in the River Walk Region on Tuesday night and advance to the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Once again the Huskies were missing Coach Geno Auriemma, who is recovering from COVID-19. Chris Dailey filled in for the Hall of Fame coach, who celebrated his 67th birthday on Tuesday and could potentially rejoin the team this weekend for its next game.

The UConn players sang “Happy Birthday” to Auriemma earlier Tuesday in a video posted on Twitter. They also gave him a present by again showing how well they could play without him.

The Huskies (26-1) got off to a slow start, a bit flummoxed by Syracuse’s zone defense.

With the game tied 8-8, Christyn Williams banked in a deep 3-pointer as the shot clock expired and then Bueckers scored off a steal to give the Huskies a five-point lead. They led 19-14 after one quarter and slowly pulled away from the Orange (15-9) to a 15-point halftime lead.

Bueckers, the freshman All-America guard, had 16 points in the half.

In the second half, the Huskies tore the zone apart with precision passing that led to easy layups. While Bueckers wasn’t scoring as much in the second half, she was passing the ball. She had a nifty no-look pass for a layup and foul, pumping her fist in celebration.

The Huskies led 64-35 after three quarters and cruised into the Sweet 16 for the 27th straight year.

Syracuse was led by its own talented freshman in 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso. She had 12 points and seven rebounds.

The loss ended the stellar career of Syracuse guard Tiana Mangakahia, who returned from breast cancer this season. She finished as the Orange’s all-time assist leader and one of the best players in school history.

She finished the game with seven points.

(2) BAYLOR 90, (7) VIRGINIA TECH 48: Moon Ursin and DiJonai Carrington both had 21 points as reigning women’s national champion Baylor (27-2) beat Virginia Teach (15-10) to advance to its 12th consecutive NCAA Sweet 16.

Queen Egbo had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, along with seven blocked shots for the Lady Bears. DiDi Richards had nine assists.

All-America forward NaLyssa Smith finished with 15 points, all but two of those coming after halftime for Baylor. Smith got her second foul only seven minutes into the game, and didn’t return until getting two quick layups after the break.

Georgia Amoore had 18 points with four 3-pointers to lead Virginia Tech.

(5) IOWA 86, (4) KENTUCKY 72: Freshman Caitlin Clark finished with 35 points after outscoring Kentucky (18-9) on her own in the first half, and the Hawkeyes (20-9) advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 with a win at San Antonio.

The Hawkeyes scored the game’s first 11 points and led throughout to advance past the second round for only the third time in their 14 NCAA appearances during Coach Lisa Bluder’s 21 seasons. They went to the Elite Eight in the last tourney two years ago before losing to eventual champion Baylor.

Two-time AP All-American guard Rhyne Howard finished with 28 points to lead the Wildcats.

(6) MICHIGAN 70, (3) TENNESSEE 55: Leigha Brown scored 23 points and Naz Hillmon added 19 to lead Michigan (16-5) to its first Sweet 16 appearance.

The Wolverines had been 0-5 in the second round before pulling off the victory over the Lady Vols. As the final buzzer sounded, the Michigan players jumped into a group hug at center court and sang “it’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine.”

Leading 18-16 with eight minutes left in the first half, Michigan held Tennessee to just one field goal the rest of the second quarter and built a 28-19 halftime lead. The Lady Vols missed their final seven shots of the period and ended their drought 1:18 into the third quarter. The Lady Vols’ deficit grew to 17 points as Michigan went on a 22-7 run spanning the quarters.

Tennessee (17-8) trailed by 15 heading into the fourth quarter and was able to cut its deficit to 54-44 with under 5 minutes left before a 3-pointer by Danielle Rauch and a steal and layup by Brown restored the 15-point cushion. Tennessee couldn’t get closer than nine the rest of the way.

Hillmon, the Big Ten Player of the Year, also had 15 rebounds as the Wolverines more than held their own on the glass against the Lady Vols, outrebounding them 42-40.

A trip to the regional semifinals was just another first for the Wolverines this year. The team started 10-0 for the first time in school history. They were also in the rankings all season for the first time, as well as having Hillmon be the first player to earn All-America honors as a second-teamer.

Tennessee, which has a long storied NCAA tradition with eight national championships, fell to 28-3 in the second round.

Rennia Davis scored 12 points to lead the Lady Vols, who were playing Michigan for the first time.

MERCADO REGION

(1) N.C. STATE 79 (8) SOUTH FLORIDA 67: Jakia Brown-Turner scored 19 points and North Carolina State (22-2) shrugged off a challenge from South Florida (19-4) with a big third quarter, advancing to the Sweet 16.

Jada Boyd added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolfpack, who reached their third straight regional semifinal and 14th overall. They will face fourth-seeded Indiana or 12th-seeded Belmont.

USF led by a point early in the third quarter before N.C. State used two big runs to pull away and take a 12-point lead into the fourth.

The Bulls pulled within eight points with 3 1/2 minutes to go. But the Wolfpack scored the next five points, capped by a 3 from Brown-Turner that made it 73-60 with 90 seconds to go.

The game was played at the Alamodome in front of a handful of people, including NCAA President Mark Emmert, who has been on the defensive since players took to social media to point out inequities in the NCAA’s treatment of women’s teams.

Elena Tsineke had 22 points to lead the Bulls, who were in the tournament for the seventh time. They made six 3-pointers in the first half to spark hope of an upset, but hit just three more after halftime.

N.C. State overcame the absence of Kayla Jones, who injured her left knee on Sunday, and an off day by star center Elissa Cunane, who went 3 for 15 from the field. Cunane was 6 of 7 at the free-throw line and finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds as all five Wolfpack starters scored in double figures.

The Wolfpack used a 10-2 spurt, with four points from Boyd, to take a 47-40 lead midway through the third quarter. USF got within two before N.C. State erupted for a 12-0 run that made it 59-45 late in the quarter.

The Wolfpack took advantage of three turnovers in that stretch and USF coach Jose Fernandez received a technical foul to help them add to the lead.

HEMISFAIR REGION

(1) SOUTH CAROLINA 59, (8) OREGON STATE 42: Aliyah Boston scored 19 points and South Carolina (24-4) dominated after a close first quarter to beat Oregon State (12-8)  to advance to its seventh straight Sweet 16.

The Gamecocks led by a point after one quarter but had built a 12-point lead by halftime and were up 53-29 by the start of the fourth.

(5) GEORGIA TECH 73, (4) WEST VIRGINIA 56: Lotta-Maj Lahtinen scored 22 points, Lorela Cubaj had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and seed Georgia Tech (17-8) used a big third quarter to beat West Virginia (22-7) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at San Antonio.

The Yellow Jackets needed a second-half rally in the opening round against Stephen F. Austin – the fourth-largest comeback in tournament history – but had this game well in control with a 17-point lead over the Mountaineers to start the fourth. Their European inside-outside combo of Cubaj, from Italy, and Lahtinen, of Finland, led the way.

Lahtinen was 9 of 16 from the field and struck for 17 points in the first half to dig the Yellow Jackets out of an early hole.

Georgia Tech advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history and first since 2012.

ALAMO REGION

(1) STANFORD 73, (8) OKLAHOMA STATE 62: Haley Jones scored 17 points and Stanford (27-2) unleashed another barrage of 3-pointers to beat Oklahoma State (19-9) to book  yet another trip to the Sweet 16.

The Cardinal made 13 3-pointers after making 15 in their first-round win. All of those against Oklahoma State came in the first three quarters as Stanford built the lead as high as 20.

Stanford made the Sweet 16 for the 27th time in pursuit of its first national title since 1992. .

The Cardinal had four players score in double figures and all five starters made at least one 3-pointer as the Cowgirls struggled to cover every shooter.

Neferatali Notoa scored 14 for Oklahoma State.

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