Top seed NC State beats Kansas State 89-57, into Sweet 16

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Kayla Jones scored 18 points to help top-seeded North Carolina State beat Kansas State 89-57 in Monday’s second round of the NCAA Tournament, earning a fourth straight trip to the Sweet 16. Raina Perez and Diamond Johnson each added 15 points for the Wolfpack (31-3), who won their 12th straight game behind a dominating second-quarter performance. N.C. State shot 55% and made 9 of 19 3-pointers, romping to a lopsided win in front of a loud Reynolds Coliseum crowd for the final time this season. The win sends N.C. State to the Bridgeport Region semifinal against Notre Dame on Saturday. The matchup of Associated Press second-team All-Americans Elissa Cunane of the Wolfpack and Ayoka Lee of the Wildcats never truly materialized due to foul issues. But the Bridgeport Region’s headliner instead showed off its deep roster by getting production off the bench and continuing to roll anyway. The 6-foot-5 Cunane headed to the bench less than 3 1/2 minutes into the game with her second foul and finishing with four points in 13 minutes. The 6-6 Lee needed a little longer to get her second before also taking a seat early at the end of the period. She finished with 12 points, well below her season average of 22.3, despite playing 31 minutes. NOTRE DAME 108, OKLAHOMA 64 NORMAN, Okla. (AP) – Dara Mabrey scored a season-high 29 points as No. 5 seed Notre Dame rolled past No. 4 Oklahoma. Mabrey made 11 of 19 field goals, including seven 3-pointers. Sonia Citron scored 25 points and Maya Dodson added 20 for Notre Dame (24-8). According to Stats by STATS, Notre Dame became the first team, men’s or women’s, to beat a higher-seeded team by at least 40 points. The win sends Notre Dame into the Bridgeport Region semifinal against top seed N.C. State on Saturday. Taylor Robertson scored 19 points for Oklahoma (25-9). Skylar Vann had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Liz Scott had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Sooners, who committed 28 turnovers and shot just 32.3%. WICHITA REGION MICHIGAN 64, VILLANOVA 49 ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – Naz Hillmon had 27 points, 11 rebounds and five steals to help third-seeded Michigan pull away from No. 11 Villanova. The Wolverines (24-6) earned a second straight trip to the Sweet 16 and will face 10th-seeded South Dakota on Saturday. Michigan took control with a 10-0 run over the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, turning what was a closely contested game into a lopsided victory. Leigha Brown had 20 points for the Wolverines. The Wildcats (24-9) led by three points after the opening quarter, but they simply could not stop Hillmon. Villanova also struggled to overcome Maddy Siegrist being held to single digits for just the sixth time this season. Siegrist, who ranked second in the nation with 25.8 points per game, had 12 points on 5-of 13-shooting. ___ More AP coverage of March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25