SAN ANTONIO: South Carolina coach Dawn Staley earned her 500th career victory when seed Aliyah Boston and the Gamecocks defeated Mercer 79-53 on Sunday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Staley is 328-102 in 13 seasons in South Carolina, after going 172-80 in eight seasons at Temple.
Boston had 20 points and 18 rebounds for South Carolina (23-4), who took the lead in earnest by closing the first half with a 16-5 run. Victaria Saxton also scored 20 points in the Hemisfair region game at the Alamodome.
The Gamecocks were national champions in 2017, when the Final Four was last played in Texas. They finished 32-1 last season, spent the last 10 weeks at No.1 and Staley was the AP Coach of the Year, but haven’t had the chance to win another title because the NCAA tournament has been canceled due to the pandemic.
Amoria Neal-Tysor had 15 points for Mercer (19-7).
The Gamecocks will be the winner of Oregon State and Florida State in the second round.
GEORGIA TECH 54, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 52, OT
SAN ANTONIO: Lorela Cubaj recovered from a frightening fall to score 14 points, including free throws in overtime, and fifth-seeded Georgia Tech overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to beat 12th favorite Stephen F. Austin.
The Yellow Jackets (16-8) will face the winner West Virginia-Lehigh.
Avery Brittingham had 16 points with 13 rebounds for the Ladyjacks (24-3).
MERCADO REGION
STATE NC 79, NORTH CAROLINA A&T 58
SAN MARCOS, TX: Jada Boyd scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half and the North Carolina State seed overcame a slow start to beat 16th seed North Carolina.
NC State (21-2) was making its fourth consecutive appearance at the tournament and was 26th overall, but won a No.1 seed for the first time. NC State will face the winner of South Florida and Washington State.
Chanin Scott led NC A&T (14-3) with 23 points.
RIVER WALK REGION
BAYLOR 101, JACKSON STATE 52
SAN ANTONIO: Moon Ursin scored a career-high 24 points and second-seeded Baylor routed Jackson State.
All-American NaLyssa Smith added 18 points on 8 of 9 shots and had 10 rebounds for the Bears (26-2). They will face Virginia Tech on Tuesday.
Keshuna Luckett led the 15th seeded Tigers (19-6) with 15 points.
VIRGINIA TECH 70, MARQUETTE 63
SAN MARCOS, TX: Elizabeth Kitley had 23 points and seventh-seeded Virginia Tech took a big lead and held out 10th-seeded Marquette.
Kitley also had eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks for Virginia Tech (15-9).
Van Kleunen led Marquette (19-7) with 18 points.
TENNESSEE 87, MOYEN TENNESSEE 62
AUSTIN, TX: Rennia Davis had 24 points and 14 rebounds and No.3 seed Tennessee used a dominant second half to beat 14th seed Middle Tennessee.
Rae Burrell scored 22 points and Jordan Walker had nine points and 14 rebounds for Tennessee (17-7). The Vols overtook the Blue Raiders (17-8) 56-21.
Tennessee will face Michigan in the second round.
Anastasia Hayes scored 26 points for Middle Tennessee.
MICHIGAN 87, GULF OF FLORIDA COAST 66
SAN ANTONIO: Leigha Brown scored 28 points, including 17 in a row for sixth-seeded Michigan, and the Wolverines defeated 11th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast.
Big Ten player of the year Naz Hillmon finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Wolverines (15-5).
Kierstan Bell had 25 points for Florida Gulf Coast (26-3). The Eagles have won 15 in a row.
KENTUCKY 71, IDAHO STATE 63
SAN ANTONIO: Rhyne Howard and Chasity Patterson each scored 14 points and fourth-seeded Kentucky beat 13th-seeded Idaho State.
Blair Green added 10 points for the Wildcats (18-8). They will go to Iowa in the second round.
Diaba Konate led the Big Sky Bengals champion (22-4) with 16 points.
IOWA 87, MICHIGAN CENTRAL 72
SAN ANTONIO: Freshman Caitlin Clark, the nations’ top scorer, had 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and fifth-seeded Iowa defeated 12th-seeded center Michigan.
Monika Czinano also scored 23 points for Iowa (19-9).
Micaela Kelly had 23 points for middle Michigan (18-9).
SYRACUSE 72, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 55
AUSTIN, TX: Emily Engstler scored 18 points and had three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and eight-seeded Syracuse retired to beat ninth-seeded South Dakota State.
Syracuse (15-8) will face the winner UConn-High Point.
Paiton Burckhard had 17 points for South Dakota State (21-4).
ALAMO REGION
OKLAHOMA STATE 84, WAKE FOREST 61
SAN ANTONIO: Natasha Mack had 27 points and 15 rebounds in the eighth-seeded Oklahoma States’ victory over ninth-seeded Wake Forest.
Mack was 13 of 22 in the field for Oklahoma state (19-8). JaMee Asberry added 18 points with four 3 points.
Oklahoma State will face the winner from Stanford-Utah Valley.
Christina Morra led Wake Forest (12-13) with 18 points.
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