Duke guard Reigan Richardson (24) celebrates with teammates after the Blue Devils beat Ohio State, 75-63, in the second round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. Aaron Doster/Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Reigan Richardson scored 28 points and added seven rebounds as No. 7 seed Duke rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to beat No. 2 seed Ohio State 75-63 on Sunday and earn a spot in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008.
Richardson hit a 3-pointer from the wing to put Duke up 59-57 with 5:21 left. That sparked a 13-2 run by the Blue Devils that began to put the game out of reach.
Ashlon Jackson scored 13 points and Taina Mair added 11 for the Blue Devils (22-11), who move on to Portland, Oregon, to play next weekend against the winner of Syracuse and UConn.
Cotie McMahon paced the Buckeyes with 27 points. Most of those were in the paint. Ohio State attempted just nine 3-pointers and didn’t make one until only 12.2 seconds remained.
Celeste Taylor, who transferred to Ohio State from Duke before the season, scored just six points before fouling out with 6:38 left.
Ohio State’s pressing defense caused problems for Duke early as the Buckeyes built a 16-point lead. But the Blue Devils came roaring back. A 12-2 run cut the lead to 36-32 at halftime.
SOUTH CAROLINA 88, NORTH CAROLINA 41: Freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 20 points, including four 3-pointers, Kamilla Cardoso had a double-double in her return from a one-game suspension, and the Gamecocks (34-0) powered into their 10th straight Sweet 16 with a victory over the Tar Heels (20-13) in Columbia, South Carolina.
The Gamecocks, seeded No. 1 overall, needed everything they had to escape with single-digit wins the past two times they faced the Tar Heels. This time, South Carolina used a 15-0 first-quarter run to take control and get within four victories of a perfect championship season.
The Gamecocks will play either No. 4 seed Indiana or No. 5 seed Oklahoma on Friday in the Albany Region.
Cardoso, a 6-foot-7 center from Brazil, sat out the tournament opener Friday after her ejection for fighting in the Southeastern Conference title game two weeks ago. She finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds – her 14th double-double this season.
The Tar Heels tried to keep things close. But the Gamecocks, at full strength and playing like their potent selves, outscored North Carolina 43-11 during a 14-minute stretch in the first half and were up 56-19 at the break.
LSU 83, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 56: Angel Reese had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Tigers (30-5) responded to a nine-point third-quarter deficit with a dominant finish to defeat the upstart Blue Raiders (30-5) in the second round in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Flau’Jae Johnson scored 21 points for the Tigers and played a central role in helping LSU surge to a comfortable second-half lead that ended the Blue Raiders’ 20-game winning streak.
The decisive victory came one day after LSU Coach Kim Mulkey railed against the Washington Post – and threatened potential legal action – for what she described as an impending “hit piece” against her and promised that it would not derail her team’s preparation for NCAA Tournament games.
MTSU led 41-32 and looked primed to widen the gap when Reese tripped over a fallen teammate on an attempted layup and crashed hard to the court, sending the Blue Raiders on a 5-on-4 fast break the other way.
But Jalynn Gregory’s open 3-point attempt bounced off the back rim to LSU guard Last-Tear Poa, who fired the ball down court, where Reese had just gotten to her feet, and she made an uncontested layup.
That play spawned a 10-0 run, fueled in part by Mikaylah Williams’ pull-up jumper in transition and her left corner 3-pointer that put the Tigers back in front, 42-41.
Later in the quarter, Johnson forced a turnover by tying up Ta’Mia Scott, followed up that play with a 3-pointer, and later hit a bail-out, fall-away jumper as the shot clock expired.
TEXAS 65, ALABAMA 54: Aaliyah Moore matched her career best with 21 points, had 10 rebounds and made a timely defensive play in the fourth quarter to help the Longhorns (32-4) beat the Crimson Tide (24-10) in Austin, Texas.
Freshman Madison Booker also scored 21 for Texas, which will face the Utah-Gonzaga winner in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Portland, Oregon. Booker wears No. 35 in honor of Kevin Durant, who was at the game.
Texas has its most victories since finishing 32-3 in 1987-88.
DeYona Gaston had seven of her nine points, and six of her seven rebounds, in the second half. Taylor Jones had four of the Longhorns’ 11 blocked shots.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.