AMES, Iowa - Jenna Staiti scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Georgia defeated Dayton 70-54 in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night.
Que Morrison added 16 points for the Lady Bulldogs (21-9) and also collected eight rebounds, while Jillian Hollingshead scored 15 points. Georgia is the No. 6 seed in the Greensboro Region.
Makira Cook scored 21 points to lead the 11th-seeded Flyers (26-6), who shot 36% from the floor.
The first half included six lead changes and four ties before Georgia seized control.
Morrison scored to give the Lady Dogs a 25-20 advantage, and Hollingshead followed with a jumper and a layup that pushed the margin to 29-22. A 3-pointer by Morrison extended the advantage to 38-26 with 2:31 left in the second quarter.
Dayton continued to struggle with the Lady Dogs' size as Hollingshead and Staiti, both 6-foot-4, continually found defensive mismatches. The duo connected on back-to-back baskets to give Georgia a 54-41 lead with 2:07 left in the third quarter.
Georgia is making its 35th NCAA tournament appearance in the event's 40-year history, tying the Lady Dogs with Stanford for second on the all-time list. Tennessee, which has never missed the tourney and plays Saturday in Knoxville, tops the list.
South Carolina 79, Howard 21
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Aliyah Boston scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for South Carolina, the All-America junior's 25th straight double-double, and the Gamecocks' stifling defense held Howard to the lowest scoring total in NCAA women's tourney history.
The 21 points also matched the fewest South Carolina has allowed in its history and broke the dubious tournament record held by Kansas State, which scored 26 in a loss to Connecticut in 2012. The Gamecocks (30-2), the overall No. 1 seed, held Howard (21-10) to an NCAA tournament record-low output in the first half as they took a 44-4 lead into the locker room at intermission.
It was a total mismatch, even for a No. 1 versus No. 16 seed. The Gamecocks had 30 offensive rebounds to just six for Howard. The Bison turned the ball over 20 times and were outscored 38-8 in the paint.
Thirteen of the 14 South Carolina players who got in the game scored, but the Gamecocks shot 35% from the field and were 8-for-38 from 3-point range.
Iowa 98, Illinois State 58
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Caitlin Clark had 27 points and 10 assists, and Monika Czinano added 18 points as second-seeded Iowa defeated 15th-seeded Illinois State.
Gabbie Marshall and Tomi Taiwo had 13 points apiece for the Hawkeyes (24-7), the Big Ten tournament champions.
It was the 16th double-double of the season for Clark, a first-team All-American who leads the nation in scoring at 27.4 points per game. The sophomore guard had a 15-minute scoreless stretch in the second and third quarters, but she had six assists in the span during which Iowa extended its lead from nine points to 20.
JuJu Redmond led Illinois State (19-14) with 25 points and Mary Crompton had 11.
It was the ninth game of 90 or more points for the Hawkeyes, who are second in the nation in scoring at 84.5 points per game.
Miami 78, South Florida 66
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Karla Erjavec scored 14 points to lead a balanced Miami offense as the eighth-seeded Hurricanes moved past ninth-seeded South Florida.
Miami (21-12) shot 54%, and all 10 Hurricanes who were on the court for more than a minute scored to help the team to its ninth win in the past 11 games.
The Hurricanes led by as much as 19 before halftime, but South Florida (24-9) kept hanging around. The Bulls twice cut the deficit to nine in the second half but couldn't get any closer.
Elena Tsineke led South Florida with 21 points and Elisa Pinzan added 19.
Creighton 84, Colorado 74
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Morgan Maly matched a career high with 20 points, and Lauren Jensen and Molly Mogensen each added 16 as 10th-seeded Creighton defeated No. 7 seed Colorado.
Emma Ronsiek added 10 points for the Bluejays (21-9), who are making their first NCAA appearance since 2018. Creighton led 63-61 with 6:54 left in the fourth quarter, then pulled away with a 7-0 run.
Creighton shot 50.9% in the game, including 53.6% in the first half.
Jaylyn Sherrod had a career-high 27 points for Colorado (22-9). Hollingshed, the Buffaloes' leading scorer this season, had 15 points, 13 in the second half, and Quay Miller scored 12.
The Buffaloes grabbed an 11-2 advantage and led almost the entire first half before the Bluejays rallied with a 9-0 run to close the period and lead 36-31 at the break.
Iowa State 78, UT Arlington 71
AMES, Iowa - Ashley Joens scored a season-high 36 points as third-seeded Iowa State rallied to beat the University of Texas at Arlington.
The Mavericks were bidding to be the first No. 14 seed to ever win a game in the tournament and led by 12 in the first half before the Cyclones (27-6) came back.
Emily Ryan made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 64 and followed with a layup to give the Cyclones the lead. Joens hit a 3-pointer that gave Iowa State a 73-67 cushion with 1:43 left, and that was enough for Iowa State to avoid the upset.
Starr Jacobs finished with 19 points for the Mavericks (20-8).
AP photo by Sean Rayford / South Carolina guard LeLe Grissett (24) defends against Howard's Destiny Howell during an NCAA tournament first-round game Friday in Columbia, S.C.WICHITA REGION
Louisville 83, Albany 51
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hailey Van Lith scored 17 of her 20 points in the first half, and top-seeded Louisville never looked back as the Cardinals pushed past No. 16 seed Albany.
Louisville (26-4) used runs of 13-0, 14-0 and 9-0 in the first half to build a 48-20 lead at intermission. The Great Danes (23-10) came into the tournament having allowed just 48.6 points per game, the second-best defense in the country.
Emily Engstler added 17 points, seven rebounds and seven steals, and Kianna Smith scored 15 points - all in the first half - for Louisville, which shot 52.4%. Defensively, the Cardinals forced Albany into tying a season high with 26 turnovers.
Kayla Cooper led the Great Danes with 14 points, and Ellen Hahne added 11.
Louisville has advanced to the Sweet 16 in every NCAA tourney since 2017 and in 10 of the past dozen.
This first-round win came the same day the school announced a contract extension for women's coach Jeff Walz that will carry through to the 2028-29 season. Walz, in his 15th season, is the program's wins leader with a record of 411-112.
Baylor 89, Hawaii 49
WACO, Texas - NaLyssa Smith had 21 points and 14 rebounds for her school-record 25th double-double of the season, Jordan Lewis scored 23 and the second-seeded Bears (28-6) won their 19th consecutive NCAA tourney opener.
Smith and Lewis combined to generate the first 27 Baylor points in the third quarter, when the Bears outscored the Rainbow Wahine 34-8 after taking a modest nine-point lead into halftime.
Amy Atwell scored 29 points but was limited to nine after halftime as 15th-seeded Hawaii (20-10) faded and fell to 1-7 in the NCAA tourney. The program's lone victory was in 1990.
Queen Egbo had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Bears, who were coming off a loss to Texas in the Big 12 tournament championship game after winning their 12th consecutive regular-season title.
Gonzaga 68, Nebraska 55
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kayleigh Truong scored a career-high 20 points to lead ninth-seeded Gonzaga past eighth-seeded Nebraska.
Truong scored 15 of her points in the second half, and those came after the junior guard landed awkwardly in a second-quarter collision with Nebraska's Jaz Shelley and missed the final five minutes of the period. She scored the first two baskets of the second half as Gonzaga (27-6) earned its sixth straight win.
Yvonne Ejim and Melody Kempton added 14 points each for the Bulldogs, who shot 46.4% and outrebounded Nebraska 40-33.
Sam Haiby led the Cornhuskers (24-9) with a season-high 20 points.
South Dakota 75, Ole Miss 61
WACO, Texas - Chloe Lamb scored 20 points as South Dakota beat Ole Miss to earn the program's first NCAA tournament victory.
Fellow senior Hannah Sjerven matched her 20 points and also grabbed seven rebounds as the 10th-seeded Coyotes (28-5) broke through in their fourth consecutive appearance in the big bracket. The Summit League champions also got 13 points from freshman Maddie Krull.
The seventh-seeded Rebels (23-9), making their first NCAA appearance in 15 years, never led. Shakira Austin, their leading scorer this season, was 3-for-16 from the field and finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. Angel Baker was the only Ole Miss scorer in double figures and had 23 points.
The Coyotes took control with a 13-0 run in the second quarter for a 32-16 lead.
AP photo by Tony Avelar / Kansas guard Chandler Prater celebrates after scoring against Georgia Tech during an NCAA tournament first-round game Friday in Stanford, Calif.SPOKANE REGION
Kansas 77, Georgia Tech 58
STANFORD, Calif. - Ioanna Chatzileonti had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Holly Kersgieter scored 19 points and eighth-seeded Kansas beat ninth-seeded Georgia Tech.
Taiyanna Jackson, the Jayhawks' 6-foot-6 junior center, made things difficult for the Yellow Jackets in the paint on both ends, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds. She also swatted away a pair of shots to extend her single-season school record to 92 blocks.
Kersgieter shot 6-for-13, and the Jayhawks (21-9) got out in transition at every chance, making one extra pass to find the high-percentage shots in a game with big runs by both teams in their first meeting.
Digna Strautmane scored 18 points to lead the Yellow Jackets (21-11). Lotta-Maj Lahtinen, who averaged 11 points this season, was held to seven on 3-for-12 shooting, making just one of her six tries behind the arc.
FGCU 84, Virginia Tech 81
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Karli Seay made a 3-pointer from the corner with 26 seconds remaining, and 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast University made enough free throws to hold on and oust fifth-seeded Virginia Tech despite a career-high 42 points by the Hokies' Elizabeth Kitley.
Kierstan Bell scored 22 points for FGCU, which was ranked in the AP Top 25 this week but received a double-digit seed in the 68-team bracket. The Eagles (30-2) showed exactly how dangerous they can be, overcoming a huge matchup problem against the 6-foot-6 Kitley, who scored Virginia Tech's first 14 points of the fourth quarter.
FGCU leads the nation in 3-point attempts by a wide margin, so this game was quite a contrast in styles. The Eagles went 15-of-38 from beyond the arc while Kitley dominated inside. FGCU took 15 of its 18 shots in the first quarter from 3-point range.
Maryland 102, Delaware 71
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Ashley Owusu scored 24 points and Diamond Miller added 23 to steer fourth-seeded Maryland to a rout of 13th-seeded Delaware.
Jasmine Dickey led the Blue Hens with 31 points, but they couldn't keep up with a Maryland team that looked healthy and ready. The Terrapins (22-8) had five scorers in double figures as Katie Benzan added 17 points, Angel Reese 15 and Chloe Bibby 11.
Depth is still a concern for Maryland, which used only seven players through the first three quarters, but the Terps were up 80-56 entering the fourth and tired legs didn't seem to be a problem at the end.
Delaware (24-8) also had a short bench - at least while the game was still competitive - and less balanced scoring. Dickey, who has already announced her intention to enter the WNBA draft, scored plenty but needed 32 shots to do it.
Utah 92, Arkansas 69
AUSTIN, Texas - Kennady McQueen scored 20 points and Utah unloaded a barrage of 3-pointers to bolt to a big early lead and coast past No. 10 seed Arkansas.
The seventh-seeded Utes built a 20-point lead in the first half, then used another burst of 3s to squelch an Arkansas rally in which the Razorbacks fought to get within 12 with six minutes left.
The Utes were long-range specialists all season as the Pac-12's highest-scoring team. On Friday they were 15-of-31 from 3-point range, and they have made at least nine 3s in 19 games this season.
Gianna Kneepkens added 16 points for the Utes (21-11), who led 10-0 and 15-4 and were up 44-27 at halftime. Amber Ramirez scored 24 points to lead Arkansas (18-14), which was 0-for-6 from long range in the first quarter.
Texas 70, Fairfield 52
AUSTIN, Texas - Aaaliyah Moore had 18 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double off the bench, and Lauren Ebo and Rori Harmon added 10 points apiece - Harmon also had 11 assists - as the second-seeded Longhorns beat 15th-seeded Fairfield.
Lou Lopez-Senechal scored 17 points to lead Fairfield (25-7), which committed 22 turnovers and got outrebounded 38-28.
Texas (27-6) led 39-18 at halftime before getting outscored 23-15 in the third quarter but responded in the fourth.
Stanford 78, Montana State 37
STANFORD, Calif. - Francesca Belibi blocked a shot at the 3-point line, then drove the length of the floor and slammed the ball home with one hand for her third career dunk, thrilling her teammates in the second quarter of top-seeded Stanford's win against 16th-seeded Montana State.
Belibi's dunk was the first by a woman in the NCAA tournament since Brittney Griner did it in 2013, and just the third overall along with Candace Parker's feat for Tennessee in 2006. A 6-foot-1 junior who routinely dunks in warmups and practice, Belibi had a pair of slams last season - on Dec. 13, 2020, at rival California in Berkeley and a week later at UCLA.
Belibi finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks for the reigning national champions, while Lexie Hull had 13 points and five assists, Hannah Jump scored 15 and Cameron Brink had 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for Stanford (29-3). It was the Cardinal's 21st straight victory.
Taylor Janssen scored 12 for the Bobcats (22-13).