Sports The 2025 NCAA Females’s Tournament may well wish appropriate tipped off on Friday, nonetheless brackets all around the country are already busted.
At some stage within the first few hours of the tournament, the No. 9 seed Indiana Hoosiers upset the No. 8 seed Utah Utes. Later within the day, No. 10 seed Oregon change into the first double-digit seed to draw when the Ducks beat No. 7 seed Vanderbilt in extra time. With extra upsets obvious to return, the stage is determined for some attention-grabbing matchups within the next spherical.
[Read more: 2025 Women’s March Madness Schedule: Dates, locations, channels, how to watch ]
Here are the total high moments from Day 1 of the girls’s tournament:
Duke locations the clamps on Lehigh for 86-25 (!) to find Oluchi Okananwa scored 15 points as second-seeded Duke’s defense powered it to a lopsided 86-25 victory over 15th-seeded Lehigh on Friday night time within the first spherical of the girls’s NCAA Tournament.
The kind of points scored by the Mountain Hawks are the second-fewest within the historical previous of the tournament.
Okananwa, the MVP of the ACC Tournament, moreover had seven rebounds, three steals and two assists in 20 minutes off the bench for the Blue Devils (27-7). Delaney Thomas and Toby Fournier every added 11 points.
Ella Stemmer led Lehigh (27-7) with eight points.
The Blue Devils’ skill and tenacity on the defensive live used to be obvious at some stage within the game nonetheless shined within the second quarter. They outscored the Mountain Hawks 20-2 to grab a cheerful 23-level halftime lead. In all, Lehigh had 30 turnovers and shot a season-low 19.6% from the flooring.
The Blue Devils will host No. 10 Oregon, which defeated No. 7 Vanderbilt in extra time, on Sunday.
Oregon recovers from blowing 19-level lead, tops Vandy in OT Deja Kelly scored 20 points, and No. 10 seed Oregon recovered in extra time after shedding a 19-level lead within the second half of to beat No. 7 Vanderbilt 77-73 on Friday within the first spherical of the NCAA Tournament at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Kelly — who had beforehand performed at Duke’s enviornment three times as a North Carolina Tar Heel — shot 6-for-16 from the flooring and added eight rebounds, three steals and three assists for the Ducks (20-11). Nani Falatea added 17 points and Peyton Scott scored 13 in Oregon’s first March Insanity victory since 2021.
Mikayla Blakes, the SEC freshman of the year, accomplished with 26 points for Vanderbilt (22-11). Khamil Pierre chipped in 17 points for the Commodores, while Jordyn Oliver had 10.
Oregon led by 11 points at halftime after which feeble a 12-4 to originate the third quarter to grab a forty eight-29 lead. Vanderbilt clawed wait on as Oliver had eight points within the fourth quarter because the Commodores outscored the Ducks 24-12 before Leilani Kapinus made her first subject just of the game on a layup in traffic with four seconds final to tie the game at 67.
In extra time, Blakes and Pierre were off the flooring within the final minute, each having fouled out. Free throws by the Ducks from Kelly, Scott and Amina Muhammad sealed the to find.
Oregon will play No. 2 Duke on Sunday.
South Carolina routs overmatched Tennessee Tech Freshman Joyce Edwards scored 22 points in her first girls’s NCAA Tournament sport as No. 1 seed South Carolina began its bustle at a second straight national title with a 108-forty eight victory over Tennessee Tech on Friday.
The Gamecocks (31-3) improved to 17-1 within the previous four girls’s tournaments, winning in 2022 and 2024. The lone defeat came to Caitlin Clark and Iowa within the national semifinals in 2023.
With Edwards, named to the all-Southeastern Convention first-team this season, main the system, the tip seeds of the Birmingham 2 Regional seemed poised for one other title in a pair of weeks.
South Carolina will face ninth-seeded Indiana on Sunday for a local within the Candy 16. The Hoosiers outlasted eighth-seeded Utah 76-68 earlier Friday.
Edwards scored six straight points to originate up the game because the Gamecocks went forward 31-11. The Golden Eagles (26-6), champions of the Ohio Valley Convention, seen their 17-sport to find run reach to an live.
Taris Thornton led Tennessee Tech with 13 points.
MiLaysia Fulwiley added 15 points as all 12 Gamecocks who performed scored baskets.
Kansas Convey cruises in Ayoka Lee’s return Ayoka Lee had 17 points and 10 rebounds in her return to the lineup, and fifth-seeded Kansas Convey beat Fairfield, 85-41, on Friday within the first spherical of the NCAA girls’s tournament.
Lee went 7-for-10 from the subject in her first sport since she performed appropriate four minutes in a 90-60 victory over Kansas on Feb. 22. The 6-foot-6 center has been hampered by foot accidents. She performed Quarter-hour against the Stags before departing with 2:15 final within the third quarter.
Kansas Convey made basically the most of its enormous dimension advantage. The Wildcats outrebounded the Stags 44-19 and outscored them within the paint 44-20.
Next up for the Wildcats (27-7) is a second-spherical sport against host Kentucky on Sunday.
[Read more: Who are the 10 best women’s college basketball players of all time? ]
Notre Dame rolls regardless of shedding Olivia Miles to distress Olivia Miles departed Notre Dame’s 106-54 victory over Stephen F. Austin within the NCAA Tournament on story of of a left knee distress, casting a shadow on the college’s dominant efficiency within the first spherical on Friday.
Miles fell to the court beneath the SFA basket with 8:44 left within the fourth quarter. The senior guard limped off the court and headed to the team’s locker room. Miles, a main-team All-ACC desire, accomplished with two points and eight assists. She omitted the 2023-2024 season on story of of a knee distress.
Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron every scored 24 points for third-seeded ND (27-5). Liza Karlen had 13 points. Hidalgo moreover had six rebounds and 5 assists. Citron grabbed seven rebounds.
Notre Dame compelled 28 turnovers, at the side of 18 steals, while committing handiest 11. The Battling Irish piled up a 38-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
Next up for the Irish is No. 6 seed Michigan (23-10) on Sunday.
Indiana wins its sixth straight tournament opener Yarden Garzon scored 17 points and Shay Ciezki added 16 as No. 9 seed Indiana won its opener for a sixth straight NCAA Tournament with a 76-68 victory over eighth-seeded Utah on Friday.
The Hoosiers (20-12) reached 20 wins for a sixth consecutive season. Their reward is a matchup with the Birmingham 2 Regional’s high seed in South Carolina.
Ciezki had 11 of her 16 points within the final two quarters as Indiana feeble a 15-4 bustle within the third duration to grab preserve an eye on. The Utes (22-9) obtained within 72-68 on Gianna Kneepkens’ 3-pointer with 1:05 left, nonetheless may receive no closer.
Kneepkens led Utah with 24 points, at the side of a four-level play within the fourth quarter.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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