AMES, Iowa - Lexi Donarski scored 20 points as third-seeded Iowa State raced to its first Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA women's basketball tournament since 2010 with a 67-44 win over sixth-seeded Georgia on Sunday night.
Emily Ryan had 15 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Cyclones (28-6), and Ashley Joens added 12 points. Jenna Staiti scored 16 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs (21-10), who shot 31% from the floor and never had a lead.
Iowa State was ahead 11-0 less than five minutes in. Ryan, who made four of her first five shots, hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Cyclones a 17-7 advantage, and a 3 from Joens pushed the margin to 21-7.
"Georgia is a really talented team, and so it all started with defense," Donarski said. "We had to set the tone, especially defensively really early, and that just pushed us forward on offense."
Georgia shot just 3-of-16 in the first quarter and 8-of-31 in the first half (26%).
"We knew coming out strong tonight was huge for us, don't let them get any momentum," Ryan said. "I thought we did a good job of not letting them go on any big runs."
Iowa State finished the game with 45 rebounds, seven more than Georgia despite the Lady Dogs' height advantage with the 6-foot-4 duo of Staiti and Jillian Hollingshead.
"They did what they do well, and we didn't have an answer for it," Lady Dogs coach Joni Taylor said. "We knew that taking away the 3 was going to be really important and winning the rebound battle was going to be important. We didn't do either one of those things."
Georgia hasn't reached the Sweet 16 since an Elite Eight run in 2013.
South Carolina 49, Miami 33
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 16 rebounds for her 26th double-double in a row as overall No. 1 seed South Carolina used its strong defense to hold off eighth-seeded Miami.
The Gamecocks (31-2) again held an opponent without a field goal in the second quarter, and Miami (21-13) shot just 24% for the game as South Carolina coach Dawn Staley advanced to her eighth Sweet 16 in nine tournament appearances.
Kamilla Cardoso's 11 points paced the Gamecocks, who led throughout despite shooting only 30%. Cardoso also had eight rebounds and four blocks.
Miami's Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi scored a game-high 15 points.
Creighton 64, Iowa 62
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Lauren Jensen scored 19 points against her former team, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 12.9 seconds left that lifted 10th-seeded Creighton over second-seeded Iowa.
Iowa (24-8), which shared the Big Ten regular-season title and won the conference tournament, had two chances to tie in the final moments. Monika Czinano missed a layup with three seconds left, then Kate Martin missed a putback attempt as the buzzer sounded.
Jensen, who played at Iowa last season as a freshman, had a layup with 1:26 left to cut Iowa's lead to 62-60 before her 3 put the Bluejays ahead. After Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark missed a layup, Creighton's Emma Ronziek made the second of two free throws for the final margin.
The Bluejays (22-9) reached the Sweet 16 for the first time.
Monika Czinano led Iowa with 27 points. Clark, the nation's leading scorer at 27.4 points per game, finished with 15 on 4-for-19 shooting - including 0-for-8 in the second half.
AP photo by Timothy D. Easley / Louisville's Hailey Van Lith (10) attempts to block the shot of Gonzaga guard Kayleigh Truong during an NCAA tournament second-round game Sunday in Louisville, Ky.WICHITA REGION
Louisville 68, Gonzaga 59
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Playing in front of a loud home crowd for the last time this season, Hailey Van Lith scored 21 points, and the top-seeded Cardinals (27-4) led 14-0 less than 4:30 into the game, thanks to a pressure defense that sped up the ninth-seeded Bulldogs.
Gonzaga (27-7) weathered the storm and answered with a 12-0 run to stay in the fight.
However, Van Lith scored eight straight points in a 1:45 stretch of the third quarter that started a 15-3 run, capping it with two free throws to make it 51-33 with 3:00 left in the period. Gonzaga, led by Kayleigh Truong's 14 points, didn't get within eight the rest of the way.
South Dakota 61, Baylor 47
WACO, Texas - Hannah Sjerven scored 16 points and Chloe Lamb 15 as 10th-seeded South Dakota shocked second-seeded Baylor to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time.
The Coyotes (29-5), the Summit League champion, scored the game's first 11 points and led throughout against the 12-time Big 12 regular-season champion Bears (28-7), who had won 17 consecutive NCAA tourney games played on their home court since 2011.
Queen Egbo had 13 points for the Bears (28-7), who had made 12 straight Sweet 16 trips.
AP photo by Tony Avelar / Stanford guard Hannah Jump (33) celebrates after making a 3-pointer against Kansas in the second round of the NCAA tournament Sunday in Stanford, Calif.SPOKANE REGION
Maryland 89, FGCU 65
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Diamond Miller scored 24 points as fourth-seeded Maryland used a 19-0 run spanning halftime to pull away from 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast University.
Angel Reese added 21 points and Ashley Osusu had 20 for the Terrapins (23-8), who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 10th time under coach Brenda Frese. Miller and Reese grabbed nine rebounds apiece.
Kendall Spray scored 17 points in the first half but none in the second for FGCU (30-3). Kierstan Bell added 14 for the Eagles.
Texas 78, Utah 56
AUSTIN, Texas - Aaliyah Moore scored 21 points, and second-seeded Texas shut down seventh-seeded Utah's prolific 3-point shooting.
The Longhorns (28-6) shot 71% in a blistering first half that opened a 14-point lead, then stretched it as high as 26 in the third quarter.
Kennady McQueen's 18 points paced the Utes (21-12), who made 15 3-pointers in a first-round win over Arkansas but were just 6-of-20 from long range against Texas.
Stanford 91, Kansas 65
STANFORD, Calif. - Lexie Hull scored a career-high 36 points with six 3-pointers and made six steals, leading No. 1 seed Stanford past eighth-seeded Kansas.
With the win, the reigning national champion extended its winning streak to 22 games and secured a trip to the Sweet 16.
Cameron Brink added 13 points, 12 rebounds and four assists as the Cardinal (30-3) used a dominant third quarter to pull away.
Zakiyah Franklin scored 13 points to lead Kansas (21-10), which was back in the tourney for the first time since 2013.