COLUMBIA, S.C. — Bree Hall had 11 points and Chloe Kitts scored all her 10 points in the second half as top seed South Carolina pulled away after trailing at halftime to beat ninth-seeded Indiana 64-53 on Sunday in the women’s NCAA tournament and reach the Sweet 16 for the 11th straight time.
Kitts added 10 rebounds for the Gamecocks (32-3), who will take on either fourth-seeded Maryland or fifth-seeded Alabama in the Birmingham 2 Regional next week. Those teams play Monday night.
Not that anyone at Colonial Life Arena was locking South Carolina into that game after a dreadful first-half performance where they shot just 10 of 29 and trailed the Hoosiers 26-25 at the break. But the Gamecocks came out on fire in the third quarter, hitting nine of their first 10 shots for a 20-7 run to take control.
When Hall’s third 3-pointer closed the surge, the Gamecocks had the game in hand and improved to 18-1 in the past four NCAA tournaments.
Indiana couldn’t get closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Shay Ciezki had 12 points to lead Indiana.
Sania Feagin added 10 points for South Carolina, which improved to 18-0 in home NCAA tournament games.
DUKE 59, OREGON 53
DURHAM, N.C. — Ashlon Jackson scored 14 of her 20 points in the third quarter to power No. 2 seed Duke to a victory over 10th-seeded Oregon.
Duke (28-7) played without leading scorer Toby Fournier, the Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year who averages 13.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
The 6-foot-2 Canadian forward was dealing with an illness, ESPN reported.
Jackson shot 5 of 9 on 3-pointers and had four rebounds. Reigan Richardson added 13 points while Delaney Thomas scored 12.
In her eighth career game against Duke, former North Carolina guard Deja Kelly finished with 20 points on 8-for-18 shooting for the Ducks (20-12). Phillipina Kyei had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Oregon held a five-point advantage at halftime but came out cold in the second half, failing to make a field goal for the first six minutes of the third quarter. Meanwhile, Jackson had the hot shooting hand.
Beginning with a 3-pointer off a feed from Jadyn Donovan, Jackson broke off an 11-0 run of her own to help Duke take the lead. She capped off a 16-1 run for the Blue Devils by connecting on her fourth shot from behind the arc of the quarter, giving Duke a 10-point advantage.
TEXAS CHRISTIAN 85, LOUISVILLE 70
FORT WORTH — Agnes Emma-Nnopu scored 23 points with four 3-pointers, Hailey Van Lith had a double-double against her former team, and second-seeded TCU advanced to its first NCAA Sweet 16.
Van Lith had 16 points and 10 assists after going to a Final Four and two other Elite Eight games with Louisville from 2021-23. She played in her 19th tourney game, the most among active players, after going to another Elite Eight with Louisiana State last season.
Sedona Prince had 19 points and Donovyn Hunter 18, including three 3-pointers in a 17-0 run that put the Horned Frogs (33-3) ahead to stay.
Jayda Curry had a career-high 41 points for the Cardinals (22-11). She already had 15 of those when when she made a jumper that put them up 17-13 with 2:57 left in the first quarter.
KANSAS STATE 80, KENTUCKY 79
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Temira Poindexter hit a corner 3-pointer with 56 seconds left in overtime — her eighth 3 of the game — and fifth-seeded Kansas State dodged four misses by No. 4 seed Kentucky in the closing seconds to beat the host Wildcats.
Kentucky star Georgia Amoore missed a jumper with 21 seconds left, a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining, and then a baseline layup at the buzzer. Amelia Haslett also missed a 3 that would have put Kentucky ahead at Rupp Arena.
Poindexter missed her first six shots but finished 8 of 15 beyond the arc to score 24 points. Serena Sundell added 19 points, including a turnaround jumper with 8 seconds left to force overtime, and Ayoka Lee scored 16.
Kansas State (28-7) advanced to face either JuJu Watkins and top-seeded Southern California or No. 9 seed Mississippi State in the Sweet 16 in Spokane, Wash.
MISSISSIPPI 69, BAYLOR 63
WACO, Texas — Madison Scott scored 14 points, including a tiebreaking jumper in the final minute, and Mississippi advanced to the Sweet 16 with a victory over Baylor on the Bears' home court.
Sira Thienou, playing with gauze stuffed into one of her nostrils, scored 16 points as the Rebels (22-10) won twice in Waco three years after a first-round loss that was the first tournament victory for South Dakota.
Aaronette Vonleh scored 16 points for the Bears (28-8), who failed to advance to the Sweet 16 from their arena for the second time in four seasons under coach Nicki Collen. They had done so eight consecutive times under Kim Mulkey, who won three national championships at Baylor.
Ole Miss, which had the resume to be an early-round host, settled for the No. 5 seed, its highest since 1994, and moved on to the Spokane 1 Regional.
First Published March 24, 2025, 3:48 a.m.
