Notre Dame women too strong for Stanford in regional semifinal

Lindsay Allen scored a career-high 28 points to help top-seeded Notre Dame defeat Stanford, 81-60, in the NCAA women’s round of 16 on Friday night at Oklahoma City.

Jewell Loyd scored 17 of her 21 points in the second half for the Fighting Irish (34-2), who advanced to play Baylor (33-3) on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four. The Fighting Irish beat Baylor, 88-69, in a regional final last year.

Bonnie Samuelson scored 17 points, and Erica McCall and Amber Orrange each added 12 for fourth-seeded Stanford (26-10), which made only 35.4% of its shots.

It was the first postseason meeting for veteran coaches Tara VanDerveer of Stanford and Muffet McGraw of Notre Dame, and just the third ever meeting between the schools. Stanford won the previous meetings in 1990 and 1991.

Notre Dame will play Baylor in the regional final.

Baylor 81, Iowa 66: Led by Sune Agbuke’s career-high 23 points, the No. 2-seeded Bears dismissed the third-seeded Hawkeyes (26-8) and earned a trip to the Elite Eight for the fifth time in six years. Iowa’s season ended after the Hawkeyes had reached the round of 16 for the first time since 1996.

Iowa limited Nina Davis, the Big 12 Conference player of the year, to 20 points, but Agbuke — who entered the game averaging 5.9 points per game —provided 23 points and 12 rebounds. It was enough to overcome a triple-double by Hawkeyes point guard Samantha Logic, who finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.

Greensboro

South Carolina 67, North Carolina 65: For the second consecutive year, the top-seeded Gamecocks (33-2) trailed late against the Tar Heels, but this time Tiffany Mitchell drove to the basket and scored with 4.2 seconds left to lift South Carolina into the regional final at Greensboro, N.C. Fourth-seeded North Carolina (26-9) led 63-60 with 90 seconds left, but the Gamecocks responded with a three-pointer from Olivia Gaines and a defensive stop followed by two free throws from Alaina Coates with 46.1 seconds left for a 65-63 lead after a tussle for a rebound. The Tar Heels tied it with Jessica Washington’s jump shot before Mitchell’s layup polished off the victory for South Carolina. The Gamecocks will play Florida State in the regional final.

Florida State 66, Arizona State 65: The second-seeded Seminoles (32-4) nearly let an 11-point halftime lead fade away, but they hung on for the victory over the third-seeded Sun Devils (29-6) at Greensboro. Leticia Romero scored a career-high 21 points to pace Florida State, which advanced to the Elite Eight for only the second time in program history.

Katie Hempen had 22 points for the third-seeded Sun Devils (29-6), who had a chance to win it at the buzzer after Florida State’s Emiah Bingley missed the front end of a one and one with 5.2 seconds left.

Hempen inbounded to Peace Amukamara, who dribbled downcourt but lost control of the ball near the free-throw line. Adut Bulgak snatched it for the Seminoles as the horn sounded.

Bulgak finished with 15 points and Maegan Conwright added 11 for Florida State.