No. 10 seed Virginia beats second-seeded Iowa 83-75 in double-overtime stunner

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Kymora Johnson scored 28 points as 10th-seeded Virginia became the first First Four to reach the regional semifinals after an 83-75 double-overtime win over No. 2 seed Iowa on Monday in a women’s NCAA Tournament second-round game.

The Cavaliers (22-11) won three games in five days, defeating Arizona State 57-55 in Thursday’s First Four game, following that with an 82-73 overtime win over Georgia in Saturday’s first-round game, and then the Hawkeyes (27-7), who were playing in front of a sellout home crowd of 14,332.

It’s the first time Virginia has advanced to the second weekend of the tournament since 2000. It’s also the first time a 10-seed has reached the Sweet 16 since Creighton did it in 2022. The Bluejays also beat Iowa in the second round that year to advance.

Iowa had chances to win the game in regulation and at the end of the first overtime. Chazadi Wright’s turnaround jumper with one second left in regulation missed, then the Hawkeyes missed two shots at the end of the first overtime, a 3-pointer by Taylor Stremlow and a putback attempt by Ava Heiden.

FORT WORTH REGIONAL 1

NO. 1 UCONN 98, NO. 9 SYRACUSE 45

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Azzi Fudd scored 26 of her 34 points in the first half in her final game at Gampel Pavilion and UConn used a 31-0 run to roll to a win over Syracuse to advance to the women’s NCAA Tournament ’s Sweet 16 for the 32nd season in a row.

Fudd tied her career highs in points and 3-pointers and added five assists and four steals. Her eight 3-pointers are one short of the NCAA Tournament single-game record held by Purdue’s Courtney Moses, UConn’s Kia Nurse and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.

Sarah Strong had 18 points and nine rebounds as UConn (36-0) won its 52nd consecutive game. Blanca Quinonez added 18 points for UConn, which led 33-8 after one quarter and 65-12 at halftime as the Huskies advance to play North Carolina in the Fort Worth 1 regional semifinal on Friday.

Uche Izoje scored 12 points and Sophie Burrows had 10 for ninth-seeded Syracuse (24-9), which topped Iowa State in the first round.

NO. 2 VANDERBILT 75, NO. 7 ILLINOIS 57

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mikayla Blakes scored 25 points as Vanderbilt beat Illinois to advance to the Sweet 16 in the women’s NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.

Vanderbilt (29-4) now is one off matching the 30-win seasons of the 1993 Final Four squad and the 2001-02 Commodores for most wins in program history. The Commodores will play No. 6 seed Notre Dame, a winner over Ohio State earlier Monday, in the Fort Worth 1 Region on Friday in their 15th regional semifinal all-time.

Blakes just missed the first triple-double of her career. She checked out with 2:12 left with 10 rebounds and nine assists along with four steals. Justine Pissott scored 18 points, making four 3-pointers. Aubrey Galvan added 12.

Seventh-seeded Illinois (22-12) came in with the youngest team in this tournament after having to replace four starters. The Fighting Illini goes home still looking to end a Sweet 16 drought extending back to their last berth in 1998.

Berry Wallace led the Fighting Illini with 18 points, and Cearah Parchment and Jasmine Bown-Hagger each added 12.

NO. 6 NOTRE DAME 83, NO. 3 Ohio State 73

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Hannah Hidalgo put together another dominant performance with 26 points, 13 rebounds and eight steals as Notre Dame advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 15th straight time with a victory Ohio State.

It is the second time in the second-team AP All-American’s career she has had at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals in a game. Hidalgo had her eighth double-double of the season and the 16th of the junior’s career.

Fellow AP All-America pick Jaloni Cambridge tied a career high with 41 points for Ohio State (27-8), the second-most points by a Buckeye player in an NCAA Tournament game.

Ohio State becomes the first team in women’s tournament history to be eliminated three straight years at home.

Vanessa de Jesus scored 15 points and Cassandre Prosper 13 for the Fighting Irish (24-10), who have won 11 of their last 13.

FORT WORTH REGIONAL 3

NO. 3 LOUISVILLE 69, NO. 6 ALABAMA 68

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Elif Istanbulluoglu had 18 points and a key steal with 1:42 remaining that led to Reyna Scott’s one-handed jumper as the shot clock expired, Imari Berry added two free throws with 8.2 seconds left and Louisville held off Alabama.

The Cardinals (29-7) reached their first Sweet 16 since 2023 despite several missed late free throws. Istanbulluoglu made 1 of 2 foul shots and Scott missed both with 2.3 seconds to go to give the Crimson Tide one last chance for a desperation basket.

Diana Collins grabbed the rebound and launched a shot from midcourt that bounced off the backboard, sending Louisville to a matchup Saturday against No. 2 seed Michigan in the Fort Worth 3 regional. The Cardinals will make their 13th overall appearance in the Sweet 16.

Tajianna Roberts also scored 18 points while Laura Ziegler added 12 for Louisville, which won despite making just 8 of 16 from the foul line and 7 of 26 from 3-point range.

NO. 5 KENTUCKY 74, NO. 4 WEST VIRGINIA 73

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Teonni Key scored 19 points, Clara Strack had 18 points and 15 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season and Kentucky nearly gave up a big lead and held on to beat West Virginia to advance to the NCAA women’s Sweet 16 for the first time in a decade.

No. 5 seed Kentucky (25-10) will meet top-seeded and Southeastern Conference rival Texas on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. Kentucky will make its seventh trip to the regional semifinals in program history and its first since 2016.

No. 4 seed West Virginia (28-7) nearly stormed back from a double-digit deficit. Sydney Shaw scored 11 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter and two Jordan Harrison free throws with 1:20 left brought the Mountaineers within 72-71. But West Virginia never retook the lead.

Kierra Wheeler added 16 points for West Virginia.

SACRAMENTO REGIONAL 2

NO. 1 UCLA 87, NO. 9 OKLAHOMA STATE 68

LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA led all the way, repelling Oklahoma State’s lone run in the third quarter, and the Bruins won to reach the Sweet 16 of March Madness for the fourth consecutive year.

Lauren Betts had a career-high 35 points on 15-of-19 shooting and nine rebounds for the Bruins (33-1), who led by 25 points in the first half at Pauley Pavilion, where Dwyane Wade and wife Gabrielle Union watched with their 7-year-old daughter.

Betts received a standing ovation when she left with a minute to go in the final home game of her career.

Seeking a return trip to the Final Four, the Bruins advanced to play fourth-seeded Minnesota (24-10) in a matchup of Big Ten opponents Friday in Sacramento.

UCLA’s 53-point victory over Cal Baptist in the opening round was the biggest postseason win in program history. The Bruins repeatedly blew out opponents in the regular season, too.

Achol Akot scored 23 points for the Cowgirls before fouling out with 24 seconds remaining. Jadyn Wooten added 18 points and six assists.

SACRAMENTO REGIONAL 4

NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 101, NO. 9 SOUTHERN CAL 61

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP— — Joyce Edwards had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Madina Okot added her 22nd double-double this season with 15 points and 15 rebounds and South Carolina advanced to its 12th straight Sweet 16 with a 1victory over Southern California.

The Gamecocks (33-3) opened with a 13-0 run, were ahead 51-21 at halftime and cruised to their 18th straight NCAA win at home. They’ll get a rematch at the Sacramento 4 regional when they face fourth-seeded Oklahoma, one of two teams to defeat South Carolina this season.

Okot, the 6-foot-6 Mississippi State transfer, had 10 points and 11 rebounds before halftime while fifth-year point guard Raven Johnson, playing her final game at Colonial Life Arena, reached 1,000 career points in the opening half.

South Carolina’s defense locked down hard on the Trojans, especially freshman leading scorer Jazzy Davidson, who had 31 points .

Davidson finished with 16 points, but made 5 of 15 from the field. Londynn Jones led USC with 20 points.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness