NCAA Tournament First Round: Friday Roundup Part 1

Here’s Part 1 of our roundup of Friday’s action:

No. 8 seed South Florida Bulls over No. 9 seed Marquette Golden Eagles, 67-65 (OT)

Marquette’s Mackenzie Hare had a three that would have given the Golden Eagles a one-point lead roll around and out at five seconds remaining in overtime. Marquette wasn’t able to get another shot off before time expired.

Hare missed a three at eight seconds remaining as well. Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu got the defensive rebound off that miss, was fouled and made a 1-of-2 free throws to give South Florida the 67-65 lead. Fankam Mendjiadeu finished with 22 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks and broke the USF single-season rebound record in the contest.

Jordan King notched 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and five steals in defeat.

The Bulls shot just 2-of-18 from distance and lost the turnover margin by seven, but were 19-of-23 at the stripe.

No. 10 seed Georgia Lady Bulldogs over No. 7 seed Florida State Seminoles, 66-54

Playing without Ta’Niya Latson, FSU came out and won the first quarter 18-13. However, the Seminoles couldn’t keep it up, losing the second 22-12 and the fourth 21-14 en route to the 66-54 loss.

Diamond Battles paced Georgia with 21 points. Erin Howard fought for 19 points and nine boards in defeat. The Seminoles shot just 26.9 percent from the field and were outrebounded 48-38.

No. 6 seed Michigan Wolverines over No. 11 seed UNLV Lady Rebels, 71-59

Emily Kiser (18 points, 2-of-3 from three, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals), Leigha Brown (17 points, seven assists), Maddie Nolan (18 points, 4-of-6 from three) and Laila Phelia (eight points, 11 rebounds) all came to play for the Wolverines, who won the first quarter 17-9. Essence Booker dropped in 16 points to go along with four assists in defeat.

Michigan attempted 10 fewer threes but won 3-point efficiency 40 percent to 28 percent. It attempted nine more free throws and made seven more. Rebounding went in favor of the Wolverines, 41-31.

No. 7 seed Arizona Wildcats over No. 10 seed West Virginia Mountaineers, 75-62

Arizona scored 28 points in the first quarter and its star Cate Reese finished with 25 points, six rebounds and three assists. JJ Quinerly posted 19 points, eight boards and three steals in defeat and West Virginia trailed by just seven at the break, but the Mountaineers weren’t able to take the Wildcats down to the wire.

Arizona won field goal percentage 46.2 to 31.3, while both teams struggled from beyond the arc. The Wildcats won the battle on the glass 49-35. West Virginia lost despite turning the ball over just seven times.

No. 3 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish over No. 14 seed Southern Utah Thunderbirds, 82-56

Playing without Olivia Miles, who is out for the remainder of the season, the Irish won the first 27-10, and by the end of the game received 20 points, five assists, two steals and two blocks from Maddy Westbeld. Lauren Ebo added 14 points, 10 rebounds, three helpers and two blocks to the winning cause, while Sonia Citron posted 14 points, six assists and three steals and KK Bransford was good for nine points, eight boards and five helpers.

Megan Jensen managed 11 points and five rebounds in defeat.

Notre Dame shot just 3-of-14 from deep and attempted eight fewer free throws, but won rebounds 53-25.

No. 1 seed South Carolina Gamecocks over No. 16 seed Norfolk State Spartans, 72-40

South Carolina dominated the first and third quarters en route to the blowout victory. Aliyah Boston only needed to score seven points, as 12 Gamecocks found the scoring column and 14 saw the court. Zia Cooke and Laeticia Amihere were the high scorers for South Carolina with 11 apiece. Boston added a game-high nine rebounds, while Raven Johnson accumulated more assists (seven) than the entire Norfolk State team (six).

Kierra Wheeler was good for 13 points, eight boards and two steals in defeat.

The Gamecocks held the Spartans to just 26.2 percent shooting from the field. Their 38.9 percent shooting wasn’t great either, but they made 25 free throws and allowed just four. South Carolina won on the boards 49-33.

No. 2 seed Maryland Terrapins over No. 15 seed Holy Cross Crusaders, 93-61

Maryland had one of the most impressive first quarters imaginable, winning the opening frame 23-4. Twenty-four forced turnovers and a 9-of-19 effort from downtown were key to the victory.

Brinae Alexander was 4-of-7 from three with a game-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds. Shyanne Sellers had a phenomenal day distributing the basketball, dishing out eight assists to go along with 13 points.

Maryland won the second 29-17 to go up 31 at the break before winning the second half by just one.

Simone Forman paced Holy Cross with 13 points.

Iowa recap to come tomorrow morning from Zachary Draves, who was at the game live in Iowa City.