Maryland overwhelms Alabama; dangerous Terps on to Sweet 16

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Maryland and its offensive juggernaut are rolling fast and easy into the Sweet 16, getting 19 points from Angel Reese and overwhelming Alabama 100-64 on Wednesday. The second-seeded Terrapins (27-2) came into the women’s NCAA Tournament with the nation’s highest-scoring offense and have yet to take their foot off the gas. The Terps are averaging 99 points in their two tournament wins after scoring 91.3 per game in the regular season. Maryland hit the 100-point mark for the seventh time this season. The Terps also played aggressive, suffocating defense against the seventh-seeded Crimson Tide. Maryland advanced to play No. 3 UCLA or No. 6 Texas in the Hemisfair Region. Jasmine Walker led Alabama (17-10) with 23 points. ALAMO REGION MISSOURI STATE 64, WRIGHT STATE 39 Elle Ruffridge had a career-high 20 points with five 3-pointers, Jasmine Franklin had a double-double and fifth-seeded Missouri State is going to its second consecutive Sweet 16 after knocking off Wright State. The Lady Bears (23-2) pulled away in the second half when Ruffridge had 17 of her points. Franklin had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Ruffridge and Franklin are among nine current Lady Bears who were also part of the Sweet 16 team two years ago that lost to Stanford, the same team they will play in the Alamo Region semifinal Sunday. Missouri State went ahead on two tiebreaking free throws by Brice Calip with 2 minutes left in the second quarter before Mya Bhinhar swished a 3-pointer for a 24-19 halftime lead. Sydney Manning’s 3-pointer capped a 12-3 run to start the second half. That trio was also on the last Sweet 16 team. Angel Baker and Shamarre Hale each had 10 points for the 13th-seeded Raiders (19-8), who got outscored 40-20 after halftime. OREGON 57, GEORGIA 50 Sedona Prince scored 22 points, Nyara Sabally took over late and sixth-seeded Oregon beat No. 3 Georgia to advance to its fourth straight Sweet 16. Sabally scored six straight points – including a putback of her own missed shot – to break open a tie game and give the Ducks a 54-48 lead with less than a minute to go. She finished with 15 points, including 10 in the second half, and nine rebounds. Oregon (15-8) is in the tournament for the 16th time overall, but this Ducks team came in less heralded than those led by Sabrina Ionescu, who missed out on her final chance at a national title last year because of the pandemic. Louisville awaits Oregon in the regional semifinals. Jenna Staiti had 18 points and nine rebounds for Georgia (21-7), which was looking to reach its first Sweet 16 since 2013. LOUISVILLE 62, NORTHWESTERN 53 Kianna Smith scored 16 points and No. 2 seed Louisville advanced to the Sweet 16 by rallying from an early 18-point deficit to beat seventh-seeded Northwestern. The Cardinals (25-3) got off to another rough start, trailing 25-7 late in the first quarter. Louisville slowly started to chip away on offense and played stellar defense. The deficit was 40-28 midway through the third quarter before the Cardinals scored 17 straight points. The Wildcats (16-9) closed to 53-50 on Jordan Hamilton’s 3-pointer with 3:26 left. They had a chance to move closer, but Veronica Burton missed two free throws 30 seconds later. Hamilton scored 17 points for Northwestern. MERCADO REGION INDIANA 70, BELMONT 48 Grace Berger scored 17 points and Indiana used another suffocating defensive effort to beat Belmont, sending the fourth-seeded Hoosiers to the program’s first Sweet 16.