Cardoso's 3-pointer at the buzzer keeps No. 1 South Carolina perfect with win over Tennessee
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Kamilla Cardoso banked in her first-ever 3-pointer at the buzzer and rescued No. 1 South Carolina’s perfect season with a 74-73 victory over Tennessee at the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals on Saturday.
The Gamecocks (31-0) had blown a 23-point lead and trailed the Lady Vols (19-12) 73-71 with 1.1 seconds left. But Raven Johnson’s pass found an open Cardoso at the top of the key and the team’s leading scorer and rebounder calmly shot it off glass and in.
Cardoso was mobbed by her joyous teammates as the large South Carolina crowd — the campus is only about a 100-mile drive from the Greenville arena — cheered in celebration.
Cardoso was playing in front of her mom and sister who came up from Brazil to celebrate senior day with her last weekend. This week was their first chance to see her play in person since she left the country at age 15.
The Gamecocks advance to their ninth tournament final in the past 10 seasons and will look for their eighth title in that span.
No. 3 IOWA 95, MICHIGAN 68
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark had 28 points to pad her all-time NCAA scoring total and matched a season high with 15 assists to lead third-ranked Iowa past Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
Hannah Stuelke scored 16 points, Kate Martin added 13 and Sydney Affolter had the best all-around game with 12 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and two steals as the Hawkeyes (28-4) moved within one win of a third straight conference tournament title.
Iowa will play Nebraska for the championship on Sunday. The fifth-seeded Huskers beat eighth-seeded Maryland on Saturday to reach the final for the first time in 10 years.
Laila Phelia had 21 points and seven assists for the Wolverines (20-13).
No. 6 TEXAS 75, KANSAS 60
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Madison Booker scored 21 points and Aaliyah Moore added 19 to help No. 6 Texas pull away from Kansas for a victory in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Texas (28-4) also got 15 points from Taylor Jones. Shay Holle scored the first eight points in the fourth quarter to help the Longhorns put the game away as they outscored Kansas 28-17 in the period. Holle finished with 10.
Kansas (19-12) was led by S’Mya Nichols with 20 points. Holly Kersgieter added 17 and Zakiyah Franklin added 13.
No. 8 LSU 75, MISSISSIPPI 67
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) —Flau’jae Johnson scored 21 points, Angel Reese had 21 points and 17 rebounds and LSU reached its first Southeastern Conference Tournament title game since 2012 with a victory over Mississippi.
The Tigers (28-4) will face regular-season champion in No. 1 South Carolina in Sunday’s final.
LSU had a scary moment in the fourth quarter when guard Last-Tear Poa fell hard beneath the basket. She was taken off the court on a stretcher. An LSU spokesman said Poa was taken to St. Francis Hospital for further evaluation.
Reese and LSU broke away from the Rebels (22-8) in the final period after Mississippi had cut an 11-point deficit to 52-51 late in the third quarter.
Reese scored her team’s next six points, including a three-point play. She then stole the ball for a breakaway layup and shook her head, shouting in celebration as LSU stretched the lead to 62-53.
Mississippi (22-8) got no closer than five points the rest of the way.
No. 9 UCONN 86, PROVIDENCE 53
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Paige Bueckers scored 29 points and top-seeded Connecticut (27-5) beat ninth-seeded Providence 86-53 in the Big East quarterfinals despite losing star center Aaliyah Edwards while up by just six points in the second half.
Freshman KK Arnold added 17 points and the Huskies, who went undefeated in the Big East during the regular season, advanced to a conference semifinal for the 36th straight season.
Edwards had 12 points before leaving the game in the second half with a facial injury. Her status for the rest of the tournament was unclear after the game.
UConn entered the tournament with just eight available players, having already dealt with five season-ending injuries.
Grace Efosa had 23 points and eight rebounds for Providence, which finished the season at 13-20.
No. 10 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 69, FLORIDA STATE 43
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Aziaha James scored 23 points, Mimi Collins added 17 points and 13 rebounds and North Carolina State beat Florida State to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game for the fourth time in five seasons.
River Baldwin chipped in with seven points and 11 rebounds for second-seeded NC State, which has rattled off four straight wins since consecutive double-digit road losses at North Carolina and Duke last month.
NC State outrebounded Florida State 58-32 and held the Seminoles to 25% shooting from the field.
The Wolfpack (27-5) will face No. 14 Notre Dame in Sunday’s championship game.
Ti’Naya Latson had 16 points for Florida State (26-6), which will now await its NCAA Tournament seeding.
No. 14 NOTRE DAME 82, No. 11 VIRGINIA TECH 53
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Sonia Citron scored 19 points, Maddy Westbeld added 18 and Notre Dame defeated Virginia Tech in the first semifinal of the ACC Tournament.
The fourth-seeded Irish were 9 of 14 on 3-pointers and shot 52% overall to hand the Hokies, who were without three-time ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley, the worst loss ever by a top seed in the tournament. Kitley injured a knee in the regular-season finale.
Notre Dame, in the championship game for the first time since 2019, faces 10th-ranked North Carolina State.
Hannah Hidalgo scored 15 points for the Irish (25-6), who have won seven straight, the last four over ranked Virginia Tech, who they have beaten six straight, and Louisville. Anna DeWolfe added 14 points, hitting 4 of 5 on 3-pointers.
Georgia Amoore scored 24 points for Virginia Tech (24-7), which shot just 30%. Olivia Summiel had 10 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.
No. 16 KANSAS STATE 65, WEST VIRGINIA 62
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ayoka Lee had a double-double and became Kansas State’s all-time leader in rebounds, Serena Sundell added 14 points and eight assists and the Wildcats beat West Virginia in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Lee finished with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting with 11 rebounds, three blocks and a steal. The 6-foot-6 senior has 1,088 career rebounds, moving past Kendra Wecker (2001-05; 1,087) into first in Wildcats history.
Quinerly led No. 6 seed West Virginia (24-7) with 27 points, including five 3-pointers, and Jordan Harrison scored 16.
Gregory scored 11 points for third-seeded Kansas State (25-6).
IOWA STATE 67, No. 17 BAYLOR 62
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Audi Crooks scored 23 points including the go-ahead basket with 41 seconds left and Emily Ryan made all eight of her free throws in the fourth quarter to help Iowa State wrap up a win over Baylor in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
The fourth-seeded Cyclones (19-10) will take No. 19-ranked and top seed Oklahoma in Monday’s semifinals.
Crooks scored underneath to give Iowa State the lead and Ryan made four free throws from there to complete a 12-1 game-ending run while fifth-seeded Baylor missed its final nine shots.
Dre’Una Edwards hit a pair of 3s and Sarah Andrews hit another from deep to give Baylor (24-7) its largest lead, 61-55, with 3 1/2 minutes remaining. Those were Baylor’s lone field goals in the final period as the Bears went 3 of 24 in the quarter. Iowa State only put up seven shots, making four, but all 11 of their free-throw attempts came in the period and they made 10.
No. 19 OKLAHOMA 69, TCU 53
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Sahara Williams scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds and No. 19 Oklahoma advanced to its third straight Big 12 Tournament semifinal with a win over TCU.
The top-seeded Sooners will play fourth-seeded Iowa State on Monday.
Lexy Keys added 11 points for the Sooners (22-8), who led from early on but didn’t shake off TCU for good until the fourth quarter.
Madison Conner scored 19 points and Sedona Prince added 14 for the ninth-seeded Horned Frogs (20-11). The pair wasn’t available when the Horned Frogs lost at Oklahoma 72-55 in their regular-season meeting, but the duo was just a combined 11-of-31 shooting with the team finishing at 29% to 42% for the Sooners.
Aaliyah Roberson had 14 rebounds to go with six points for TCU.
No. 21 CREIGHTON 72, SETON HALL 65
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Morgan Maly scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Lauren Jensen scored nine of her 22 points in the fourth quarter and Creighton beat Seton Hall in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.
Molly Mogensen scored 14 points for No. 2-seed Creighton (25-4). The Bluejays have won five in a row against the Pirates, including a 72-65 road win in the regular season finale.
Maly converted a tiebreaking three-point play to close the third quarter and, after Kae Satterfield missed a short jumper, Jensen hit a 3-pointer. Mallory Brake stole a pass from Savannah Catalon and assisted on a fast-break layup by Jensen that gave Creighton its biggest lead of the game at 58-50 with 8:57 remaining. Brazil Harvey-Carr hit a 3- to reduce the deficit to five with 4:50 remaining. Sha’lynn Hagans made two free throws about 2 minutes later to make it 64-61.
Jayme Horan made two free throws to push the lead back to five with 1:30 left before Azana Baines made two quick layups to make it 68-65 almost a minute later befor Maly made 4 of 4 free throws to seal it.
Micah Gray scored 15 points for No. 7 seed Seton Hall (17-14).
No. 25 FAIRFIELD 83, RIDER 54
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) — Karly Fischer scored a career-high 16 points, Kaety L’Amoreaux added 15 and Fairfield ran its winning streak to 26, closing the regular season with a win over Rider for a perfect Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference record.
The Stags (28-1, 20-0) became the eighth team to run the MAAC table but joined the 2014-15 Quinnipiac teams to do it with a 20-game schedule.
Taylor Blunt had 11 points for Rider (9-20, 6-14) and Jessika Schiffer had 10.
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