Fifth-seeded Wolfpack sent packing

Middle Tennessee St. stuns N.C. State in closing seconds, 60-58

? Patrice Holmes hit the game-winning jumper with 1.6 seconds left, giving No. 12 seed Middle Tennessee another upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 60-58 victory Saturday night over fifth-seeded N.C State.

Last season, the Raiders were a No. 13 seed when they knocked off fourth-seeded North Carolina, 67-62.

The loss ended the postseason run for N.C. State coach Kay Yow. In January, she began treatment for a recurrence of breast cancer that forced her to skip two games, her first absences in 30 years of coaching.

Middle Tennessee players and a few fans rushed the floor after the victory. The Raiders (24-8) trailed the Wolfpack (21-8) by as many as 10 in the second half before pulling off what might be the most dramatic victory in the school’s history.

Philadelphia Regional

Texas Tech 69, Texas-Arlington 49

Dallas — LaToya Davis had a career-high 26 points and added 14 rebounds to lead fourth-seeded Texas Tech to a first-round victory.

Helping spoil the first NCAA appearance in school history for Texas-Arlington, Davis shot 11-of-14 from the floor and scored 19 of her points in the second half. The 6-foot-1 junior also had two blocks and three steals.

She was given a standing ovation by a crowd dominated by Texas Tech fans, who watched Davis fall just one rebound shy of tying her career high in that category.

It was the 14th straight first-round victory for Texas Tech (23-7). The Red Raiders were upset in the second round last year.

Chattanooga Regional

Texas 64, Oral Roberts 47

Dallas — Playing despite a broken pinkie, Nina Norman scored 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting with five assists to lead third-seeded Texas.

The Longhorns (22-8) won for the 13th time in 15 games since a January slump raised concerns about a team that started the season ranked No. 2 with three senior starters. Oral Roberts (22-9) was in the tournament for only the third time, all without a victory.

Jamie Carey, one of the Texas seniors, scored 13 points with three three-pointers. Sophomore Tiffany Jackson also had 13 points, along with nine rebounds. Elisha Turek had 21 points and seven rebounds for Oral Roberts.

Georgia 75, Rice 49

Dallas — Cori Chambers scored 19 points, while Sherill Baker had 14 points, Janese Hardrick added 13 and Tasha Humphrey 12 to help sixth-seeded Georgia (23-9) advance. Rice (24-9) made only its second NCAA Tournament, while Georgia has missed just two of the 24 tournaments.

Kansas City Regional

Kansas State 70, Bowling Green 60

Seattle — Kendra Wecker, the Big 12 Conference player of the year, scored 18 of her 25 points in the second half to lead fourth-seeded Kansas State past 13th-seeded Bowling Green.

Laurie Koehn added 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting from three-point range to get within three of the NCAA record held by Brigham Young’s Erin Thorn, who had 391.

Kansas State (24-7) will face Vanderbilt in the second round Monday night.

Liz Honegger led the Mid-American Conference champion Falcons (23-8) with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Ali Mann scored 13 points, and Kate Acher added 10 for Bowling Green, which made its first tournament appearance since 1994.

Vanderbilt 67, Montana 44

Seattle — Abi Ramsey scored all 13 of her points in the first half, and Ashley Early scored 15 of her 21 in the second half as the fifth-seeded Commodores beat 12th-seeded Montana. Since losing three straight in January, Vanderbilt (23-7) has won 10 of its last 12 games, its only two losses coming to Tennessee.

Utah 73, Iowa State 61

Fresno, Calif. — Kim Smith had 22 points and eight rebounds, and 10th-seeded Utah rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit to beat Iowa State.

Julie Wood made three three-pointers after halftime to finish with 17 points, and Shona Thorburn added 15 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and five steals for the Utes (26-7).

Anne O’Neil scored 14 and Lyndsey Medders 12 for the Cyclones (23-7).

Utah has won eight of its last nine.

Stanford 94, Santa Clara 57

Fresno, Calif. — Candice Wiggins played brilliantly in her NCAA Tournament debut, scoring 16 of her 29 points in a dominant second-half outburst that carried the top-ranked Cardinal (30-2) to their 21st straight victory.

Wiggins, the first freshman to win Pac-10 Player of the Year, shot 8-for-14, had five rebounds, two steals, and converted all 11 of her free throws before sitting down for good with 7:17 left.

Michigan State 73, Alcorn State 41

Minneapolis — The No. 1-seeded Spartans struggled with turnovers and tepid shooting early, then got going in the second half behind Liz Shimek. Shimek led Michigan State (29-3) with 18 points and added 13 rebounds. Michigan State ran its winning streak to 13 with its 17th victory in the last 18 games.

Southern California 65, Louisville 49

Minneapolis — Playing in its first NCAA Tournament in eight years, ninth-seeded USC showed off its balance, depth and quickness to beat eighth-seeded Louisville. Chloe Kerr scored 14 points, Camille LeNoir contributed 13, Kim Gipson added 12, and Jamie Funn had 10 for Southern Cal (20-10), which reached 20 wins for the first time since 1997 — the last time it won a tournament game.

Tempe Regional

Baylor 91, Illinois State 70

Seattle — Sophia Young scored 21 points, and Steffanie Blackmon added 13 to help Baylor breeze past the first round.

The second-seeded Bears scored the first 17 points and coasted from there. Illinois State (13-18) missed its first eight shots and made just nine of 29 attempts in the first half as Baylor (28-3) built a 20-point halftime lead.

It was Baylor’s 15th straight victory, with its last loss coming Jan. 22 at Texas, 69-55.

Oregon 58, TCU 55

Seattle — Cathrine Kraayeveld scored 23 points, and Brandi Davis hit two critical three-point baskets to help lead the 10th-seeded Ducks to the upset. Kraayeveld made two free throws to put Oregon (21-9) ahead 57-53 with 16.9 seconds left before Vanessa Clementino responded with a layup for TCU (23-10) with 11 seconds go to. Davis made a free throw with 10.1 seconds left, and TCU’s Ashley Davis missed a three-point attempt as the buzzer sounded.

Minnesota 64, St. Francis, Pa. 33

Minneapolis — Jamie Broback had 17 points and three steals, and Janel McCarville had 12 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks for third-seeded Minnesota (25-7), which gets to stay in town for the second round, playing Monday against sixth-seeded Virginia.

Virginia 79, Old Dominion 57

Minneapolis — Brandi Teamer scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half, Takisha Granberry hit two key three-pointers to help break it open, and Virginia celebrated its return to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence. The sixth-seeded Cavaliers (21-10) also got 16 points from Tiffany Sardin.

Arizona State 87, Eastern Kentucky 65

Fresno, Calif. — Emily Westerberg scored 14 of her 20 points in the first half, and Arizona State advanced past the first round for the second time in four years. Kristen Kovesdy added 18 points for the fifth-seeded Sun Devils (23-9).

Notre Dame 61, UC Santa Barbara 51

Fresno, Calif. — Megan Duffy scored 18 points with seven free throws in the final minute, and the fourth-seeded Fighting Irish bounced back from a semifinal loss to Connecticut in their conference tournament. In a matchup of two NCAA-tested programs, Notre Dame (27-5) used a big second half to advance to the second round.