SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Audi Crooks scored 12 of her 27 points in the fourth quarter, Addy Brown added 22 points and Iowa State rallied from a 15-point, second-half deficit then held off Princeton 68-63 in the opening game of the NCAA tournament on Wednesday night.
The First Four victory in the matchup of 11th seeds advances the Cyclones (23-11) to a matchup with sixth-seeded Michigan on Friday. The win was No. 800 for coach Bill Fennelly, third most among active coaches in women’s basketball.
Crooks, named to the Associated Press All-American third team released Wednesday, dominated the paint where the Cyclones outscored the Tigers 46-28, making 12 of 21 shots. Brown was nine for 16 with eight assists and seven rebounds. Emily Ryan had six assists in tying the Big 12 career record with 988, matching Niya Johnson’s total at Baylor from 2013 to ’16.
Fadima Tall scored 19 points, Ashley Chea had 15 but none in the second half, Skye Belker added 11 and Parker Hill had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Princeton (21-8), which, like Iowa State, was making its sixth straight tournament appearance.
After three quarters of big runs, the scoring went back and forth in the final period with the Cyclones’ lead varying between seven and four. When Belker’s three-point try spun out of the basket with about nine seconds left, Crooks secured the rebound and the win.
Princeton hit the first basket of the second half for its largest lead of 15, then went the next eight minutes without a field goal. The Cyclones shot 58% and outscored the Tigers 27-9 in the third quarter to lead 52-47 with Brown scoring 11 points.
After making only one of 10 shots to end the first quarter and trailing by seven, Princeton used a 9-0 run to wipe out the deficit then closed the half with 14 straight points for a 38-25 lead, outscoring Iowa State 27-7.
Southern beats UC San Diego for its first NCAA tournament win
Soniyah Reed came off the bench to score 19 of her 24 points in the first half when Southern built a big lead that it was able to ride to a 68-56 NCAA Tournament First Four win over UC San Diego on Wednesday night.
The 16th-seeded Jaguars (21-14) won for the first time in seven tournament appearances and go up against overall No. 1 seed UCLA in the round of 64 on Friday.
Reed, who came in averaging under 11 points a game, made eight of 10 shots including three three-pointers. Aniya Gourdine shot seven of 14 and added 17 points and seven rebounds. Tionna Lidge scored 12 points on six-of-eight shooting. The Jaguars shot 49%.
Sumayah Sugapong led UCSD (20-16) with 19 points, making three three-pointers, and had six assists. Parker Montgomery hit four three-pointers and added 15 points. The Triton duo combined for 25 second-half points. UCSD, which reached the tournament in its first year of eligibility, shot 34%.
A three-pointer by Sabrina Ma and a bucket from Junae Mahan got the Tritons within six with a minute to go before Southern’s free throws accounted for the remainder of the scoring.
Montgomery and Sugapong hit a pair of three-pointers apiece and combined for all but two of UCSD’s 20 third-quarter points to cut a 20-point deficit to nine heading into the final period.
The game was tied only at 2-2. Reed, who entered midway through the first quarter, made a trio of three-pointers and added another bucket in leading the Jaguars to a 19-11 first-quarter edge. Gourdine had a pair of three-pointers and Reed eight straight points in the second quarter when Southern outscored UCSD 21-9.