Stanford Beats Michigan in Overtime

Stanford made nine of 10 free throws in overtime to defeat Michigan, 81-74, in an NCAA West Regional first-round game Saturday night at Athens, Ga.

Ninth-seeded Stanford (21-8) will play top-seeded Georgia Monday night in the second round.

Milena Flores led Stanford with 20 points, and Anne Thorius led Michigan (22-8) with 19 points.

Stanford led early in the overtime after layups by Flores and Bethany Donaphin. But Thorius completed a three-point play at the four-minute mark to close the gap to 68-67. Before Michigan scored again, Stanford scored five unanswered points.

Stanford could have won in regulation if it had made its free throws. With 1:05 left, Lindsey Yamasaki made one of two free throws to put Stanford ahead, 63-62. Flores, an 88% free-throw shooter, made only one of two with 15.4 seconds to play to make it 64-62. Thorius penetrated and made a leaning one-hander from the lane with 3.6 seconds left to tie the score.

Flores made all four of her other free throws in the game, and Sarah Dimson, a 47% free-throw shooter, was six for seven.

Georgia 74, Montana 46--The top-seeded Lady Bulldogs (30-3) overwhelmed the Lady Grizzlies (22-8) with a stifling defense and Coco Miller scored 16 points and Shala Crawford added 15 at Athens, Ga.

By halftime, Georgia led, 40-16.

MIDEAST REGIONAL

Arizona 73, Kent 61--Lisa Griffith scored 19 points and made three three-point shots during a second-half charge to lead the No. 21-ranked Wildcats (25-6) over the Mid-American Conference champion Golden Flashes (25-6) in a first-round game at Knoxville, Tenn.

Arizona, making its fourth consecutive tournament appearance, raced to a 23-point lead midway through the second half before Kent fought back.

Tennessee 90, Furman 38--The No. 2-ranked Lady Vols (29-3) used a record-setting defense to beat the Lady Paladins (20-11) at Knoxville.

Furman shot 20.3% (13 of 64)--the lowest field-goal percentage in the 19-year history of the NCAA tournament.

Tennessee led the Southern Conference champions, 34-4, at one point. It was the fewest points in Coach Sherry Carter’s 18 seasons at Furman.

Tennessee scored 29 points off 21 Furman turnovers and shot 53% (32 of 60). Semeka Randall was Tennessee’s leading scorer with 17 points.

Tulane 65, Vermont 60--Grace Daley scored 30 points and the Green Wave (27-4) overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to beat the Catamounts (25-6) at Lubbock, Texas.

Texas Tech 83, Tennessee Tech 54--Aleah Johnson led a balanced scoring attack with 22 points, and the Lady Raiders (26-4) beat Tennessee Tech (24-9) at Lubbock.

EAST REGIONAL

Oklahoma 86, Brigham Young 81--Phylesha Whaley scored a season-high 33 points and became Oklahoma’ career scoring leader as the Sooners (24-7) beat the Cougars (22-9) in the first round at West Lafayette, Ind.

Whaley, who has started a school-record 114 games in four seasons, came in with 2,119 points, 28 short of the record Molly McGuire set from 1980-83.

Whaley and LaNeishea Caufield, who had 22 of her 26 points in the second half, led a 16-3 run to start the second half, putting the Sooners ahead to stay.

Cady Williams scored 27 points for BYU.

Purdue 70, Dartmouth 66--Last-minute starter Mackenzie Curless made a short jumper in the final minute as the defending NCAA champion Boilermakers (23-7) held off the Ivy League champion Big Green (20-8) at West Lafayette.

The 13th-ranked Boilermakers had to rally in the closing minutes after wasting a 20-point first-half lead.

Curless started because Michelle Duhart was attending her grandfather’s funeral.

Western Kentucky 68, Marquette 65--ShaRae Mansfield made two free throws with 5.6 seconds to secure a first-round victory for the Lady Toppers (22-9) over the Golden Eagles (22-7) at Durham, N.C.

It was the second consecutive tight game for Western Kentucky. In the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship game, the Lady Toppers rallied from 21 points to force overtime only to lose to Louisiana Tech on a three-point shot at the buzzer.

Mansfield finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds as Western Kentucky, seeded 10th, advanced to the second round for the eighth time in 14 trips to the NCAA tournament. Natalie Powers had 15 points.

Lisa Oldenburg led Marquette with 21 points.

Duke 71, Campbell 42--Coming off a 12-day layoff, the Blue Devils (27-5) used defense to rout the Lady Camels (22-9) at Durham, N.C., and record their largest margin of victory in the NCAA tournament.

Duke had 20 turnovers and missed some easy shots, and Duke’s Georgia Schweitzer, the ACC player of the year, was held to 11 points. She has been playing since Feb. 14 with a divot fracture on an ankle bone. Lauren Rice added 10 points for Duke.

Campbell, of Buies Creek, N.C., won the Trans America Athletic championship to earn its first trip to the NCAA tournament.

MIDWEST REGIONAL

Southern Methodist 64, North Carolina State 63--Katie Remke’s free throw with two seconds remaining enabled 12th-seeded SMU (22-8) to pull of a first-round upset at Norfolk, Va.

Summer Erb’s layup for fifth-seeded North Carolina State (20-9) tied the game at 63-63 with 27 seconds left. Kaayla Chones then fouled Remke, who missed her first free throw but made the second.

D-dra Rucker led SMU with 18 points.

Old Dominion 94, Wisconsin Green Bay 85--Hamchetou Maiga scored 24 points and Lucienne Berthieu added 19 off the bench as the fourth-seeded Lady Monarchs (28-4) beat the 13th-seeded Phoenix (21-9) at Norfolk, Va.

Louisiana Tech 95, Alcorn State 53--Ayana Walker, playing only 22 minutes, had 14 points, 10 rebounds, five blocked shots and three steals as the Lady Techsters (29-2) beat the Ladybraves (22-9) at Ruston, La.

Vanderbilt 71, Kansas 69--Jillian Danker scored four of her seven points in double overtime as the Commodores (21-12) beat the Jayhawks (20-10) at Ruston. Ninth-seeded Vanderbilt will face top-seeded Louisiana Tech on Monday.