Irish Get Through in Overtime

Fifth-seeded Notre Dame, a basketball team that has been unbeatable on its home court this season, barely escaped the first round Sunday in the NCAA Women’s East Regional.

The Irish came away with a 69-65 victory in overtime over 12th-seeded Southwest Missouri State at South Bend, Ind., despite going 12:11 without a field goal after opening a 16-point lead midway through the first half.

Courtney LaVere was the key for Notre Dame, scoring four of her 11 points in overtime and making a key block.

Jacqueline Batteast led the Irish (20-10), which improved to 14-0 on their home court, with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bears (28-4) led twice by two points late in the second half, but needed a driving layup by Morgan Hohenberger past Batteast with 28 seconds left to force overtime.

In the extra period, Monique Hernandez gave the Irish the lead with a baseline jump shot. LaVere scored inside with 2:02 left to make it 63-59, then blocked a shot inside by Meg Tierney. LaVere then put the Irish ahead, 65-59, with a basket inside with 40 seconds left.

Notre Dame will take on 13th-seeded Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday night.

Jenni Lingor and Kari Koch had 15 points each for the Bears (28-4).

Middle Tennessee State 67, North Carolina 62 -- Patrice Holmes scored 18 points, including two free throws with 8.3 seconds left, to lead the Blue Raiders (24-7) at South Bend.

Krystle Horton added 16 points for Middle Tennessee (24-7). Camille Little led the fourth-seeded Tar Heels (24-7) with 19 points.

North Carolina outrebounded the Blue Raiders, 46-37, and outscored them inside 48-34, but the Tar Heels couldn’t overcome their 17 turnovers.

Middle Tennessee scored 20 points off North Carolina’s turnovers, and North Carolina had only 10 points off 14 turnovers by the Blue Raiders.

In other first-round games:

MIDEAST REGIONAL

Duke 103, Northwestern State 51 -- Reserve Jessica Foley scored 18 points to lead top-seeded Blue Devils (28-3) at Durham, N.C.

Iciss Tillis added 17 points and 11 rebounds for Duke (28-3), which will play ninth-seeded Marquette on Tuesday night.

Alana Beard, Duke’s leading scorer, had only eight points, but took the game in stride as the Blue Devils blocked nine shots and scored 22 points off 19 turnovers.

Diamond Cosby scored 17 points for Northwestern State (24-7).

Marquette 67, Old Dominion 64 -- Christina Quaye scored 24 points and made the go-ahead layup with 5.8 seconds left for the Golden Eagles (22-9) at Durham, N.C. Quaye had 11 points in the final six minutes for Marquette. Shareese Grant scored 19 points for the Monarchs (25-7).

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In a late Mideast Regional game Saturday, Louisiana Tech rallied to defeat Montana, 81-77, in the first round at Missoula, Mont.

EAST REGIONAL

Connecticut 91, Pennsylvania 55 -- Diana Taurasi had 18 points and nine assists for the two-time defending champion Huskies (26-4) at Bridgeport, Conn.

Taurasi’s favorite targets were Jessica Moore and Barbara Turner, usually wide open in the post.

Turner had 17 points, all in the first half, and Moore finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

“I think that after sitting out for so long and just waiting for the tournament to start, there was no possible way that we weren’t going to come out with some kind of emotion, no matter who we were playing,” Moore said.

Second-seeded Connecticut will face seventh-seeded Auburn on Tuesday night. Jewel Clark led Penn (17-11) with 16 points.

“We pretty much played it the way we wanted to play it,” Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma said. “Penn’s kids shot the ball like they expected every shot to go in. They didn’t have enough good players like we do. But I’m glad we won because we played well, not just because we’re a better team.”

The Huskies shot 59% in the first half and used a 20-5 run to take a 66-49 lead at the break.

Auburn 79, North Carolina State 59 -- Natasha Brackett scored 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting to lead the Tigers (22-8) at Bridgeport. Mandisa Stevenson added 18 points and 10 rebounds Auburn. Rachel Stockdale had 15 points for the Wolfpack (17-15).

Penn State 79, Hampton 42 -- Kelly Mazzante scored 18 points and Tanisha Wright added 16 for the top-seeded Nittany Lions (26-5) at Blacksburg, Va.

Penn State will play eighth-seeded Virginia Tech on its home court Tuesday night.

Lynetta Sullivan led Hampton (17-13) with eight points. The Pirates made 26.7% (16 for 60) of their shots.

Virginia Tech 89, Iowa 76 -- Ieva Kublina had 26 points and four blocks, and Carrie Mason added 19 points for the Hokies (23-7) at Blacksburg. Jennie Lillis led Iowa (16-13) with 22 points.

WEST REGIONAL

Texas 92, Southern 57 -- Freshman forward Tiffany Jackson scored 21 points to lead the top-seeded Longhorns at Austin, Texas.

Jamie Carey added 18 points to help Texas (29-4) extend the nation’s longest home winning streak to 35.

The Longhorns advanced to face eighth-seeded Michigan State on Tuesday night.

Rolanda Monroe and Ashley Blake each scored 16 points for Southern (17-13).

Michigan State 72, Arizona 60 -- Lindsay Bowen scored 18 points to lead the Spartans (22-8) at Austin.

Liz Shimek added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Michigan State. Shawntinice Polk’s 23 points led Arizona (24-9), which strugged against Michigan State’s tough matchup zone defense. The Spartans had a 41-31 edge in rebounding and forced 18 Wildcat turnovers.

Purdue 78, St. Francis 59 -- Shereka Wright and Erin Lawless scored 17 points apiece for second-seeded Boilermakers (28-3) at Ames, Iowa. Trailing by two with less than six minutes to play in the first half, Purdue finally took control with a 15-2 run to set up a second-round game Tuesday night against seventh-seeded Villanova.

Beth Swink led St. Francis (25-6) with 28 points.

Villanova 66, Mississippi 63 -- Jackie Adamshick scored all of her 15 points in the second half, and Liad Suez added 11 for the Wildcats (23-6) at Ames. Amber Watts scored 23 points for Mississippi (17-14).

Maryland 86, Miami 85 -- Delvona Oliver and Chrystal Washington each scored 22 points for the 12th-seeded Terrapins (18-12) at Baton Rouge, La. Shay Doron added 19 points for Maryland, which will face fourth-seeded Louisiana State on Tuesday night. Chanivia Broussard led Miami (22-7) with 22 points.

Louisiana State 83, Austin Peay 66 -- Seimone Augustus scored 21 points to lead the Tigers (24-7) at Baton Rouge, La. Temeka Johnson had 17 points and 12 assists. Kera Bergeron led the Austin Peay (23-7) with 20 points.