Richmond picks up NCAA berth
Richmond captured its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2005 and its first Atlantic 10 Tournament championship ever, defeating Rhode Island 65-51 Sunday at the new Henrico Sports & Events Center.
With the tournament just a few miles from their campus, A-10 Coach of the Year Aaron Roussell and his top-seeded Spiders (29-5) delivered. They went ahead by scores such as 5-0 and 22-7, and the sixth-seeded Rams (21-14) couldn’t recover.
Richmond’s Maggie Doogan scored 18 points, Addie Budnik and Siobhan Ryan had 14 each and Grace Townsend had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Teisha Hyman led Rhode Island with 13 points, and Dee Dee Davis had 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists. The Rams are coached by Tammi Reiss, a former standout teammate of Dawn Staley with Virginia.
Sun Belt semifinal James Madison 64, Louisiana 54:
The defending champion Dukes returned to the championship game at Pensacola Bay Center by repelling several challenges by the Ragin’ Cajuns.
JMU outrebounded Louisiana 53-25, enabling the Dukes to overcome 21 turnovers to the Cajuns’ five. Former Lake Taylor High and Old Dominion player Ashanti Barnes had 14 rebounds, eight points and four assists for JMU.
Peyton McDaniel had 13 points and Kseniia Kozlova, who missed the last six regular-season games with a foot injury, had 12.
JMU went ahead 9-0 and led by as many as 11. Louisiana, led by Destiny Rice’s 13 points, closed to 39-38 but never caught up.
Big South final Presbyterian 60, Radford 37:
Bryanna Brady scored 21 points to help No. 5 seed Presbyterian win in High Point’s arena for its first NCAA bid. Presbyterian (20-14), which beat top-seeded High Point 59-50 in the semifinals, made its first appearance in the title game. Ashlyn Traylor-Walker, the only player to score in double figures for No. 3 seed Radford (15-17), had 14 points.
Big East semifinal No. 9 UConn 58, Marquette 29:
Paige Bueckers, with 27 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks, four assists and three steals, nearly outscored the Golden Eagles herself in Uncasville, Connecticut. The top-seeded Huskies (28-5) held Marquette (23-8) to 22.2% shooting (12 of 54).
Late Saturday
Big 12 quarterfinals No. 16 Kansas State 65, West
Virginia 62: Ayoka Lee had a double-double and became Kansas State’s all-time leader in rebounds. She finished with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting with 11 rebounds, three blocks and a steal. The 6-foot-6 senior has 1,088 career rebounds.
Lake Taylor High graduate JJ Quinerly had 27 points for WVU, shooting 5 of 8 from 3-point range.
SEC quarterfinal No. 8 LSU 75, Mississippi 67:
Flau’jae Johnson scored 21 points, Angel Reese had 21 points and 17 rebounds, and LSU (28-4) reached its first Southeastern Conference Tournament title game since 2012.
Big South semifinal Radford 61, USC Upstate 45:
Radford’s defense took center stage, holding the second-seeded Spartans to single digits in the first and second quarters. Ashlyn Traylor-Walker had 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Highlanders.