NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2015: Sunday Scores and Updated Bracket

After a fairly standard start to the 2015 NCAA women's tournament in the first round, Sunday saw the round of 32 begin in earnest with eight games that will determine half of the field for the Sweet 16. 

The marquee teams in action Sunday are top seeds Notre Dame and South Carolina, but there are plenty of under-the-radar schools like Oregon State and Kentucky also looking to make a statement. 

No one can take a foot off the gas pedal in the NCAA tournament, which is what keeps us watching even when our stomach is in knots. All of the action from Sunday's second round will be analyzed here as soon as games end. 

Schedule

Matchup	Final Score
No. 5 Mississippi State vs. No. 4 Duke	Duke, 64-56
No. 11 Miami vs. No. 3 Iowa	Iowa, 88-70
No. 10 Arkansas vs. No. 2 Baylor	Baylor, 73-44
No. 7 Dayton vs. No. 2 Kentucky	Dayton, 99-94
No. 8 Syracuse vs. No. 1 South Carolina	South Carolina, 97-68
No. 11 Gonzaga vs. No. 3 Oregon State	Gonzaga, 76-64
No. 9 DePaul vs. No. 1 Notre Dame	Notre Dame, 79-67
No. 5 Texas vs. No. 4 California	Texas, 73-70

Bracket

Updated bracket can be found at NCAA.com by clicking here

No. 5 Texas def. No. 4 California, 73-70

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

In order to win this game, the Longhorns were going to need another big game out of star center Imani McGee-Stafford. They got it, as McGee-Stafford had 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 11 rebounds to lead the charge.

But the big difference for Texas came off from its bench. Kelsey Lang poured in 14 points off the pine, and guard Brooke McCarty had 16 of her own to help the winning cause.

Michelle Smith of espnW alluded to how much the dynamic frontcourt tandem of McGee-Stafford and Lang gave the Golden Bears problems:

Although guards  Brittany Boyd and Mercedes Jefflo combined for 39 points to keep their side close, California didn't have an answer for the Longhorns' superior size.

Sorry—everything did indeed seem bigger in Texas on this occasion. 

While this victory is momentous for the Longhorns' program, it's a bit of a downer when looking at what's likely on the horizon. Presuming Connecticut gets past eighth-seeded Rutgers, that's who Texas is looking at next.

If the Longhorns can get the type of bench production it benefited from on Sunday, there's at least a puncher's chance at competing with UConn. McGee-Stafford also needs to avoid foul trouble, because if that doesn't happen, Texas has little to no chance of putting up a modest fight.

No. 1 Notre Dame def. No. 9 DePaul, 79-67

Joe Raymond/Associated Press

In being outscored by only six points in each half, the Blue Demons staged a valiant effort as heavy underdogs, but Notre Dame emerged victorious.

All five Fighting Irish starters scored in double figures, led by guard Michaela Mabrey's 19, which included five three-point field goals. DePaul's Megan Podkowa matched Mabrey for the game-high point total and added 11 rebounds to post a double-double.

Carl Deffenbaugh of WSBT highlighted how consistent Notre Dame has been in recent years in the NCAA tournament:

Notre Dame hasn't lost since January 8, so this squad has been on quite a roll for a while. Even absent its best performance on Sunday, a double-digit win was still the bottom-line result.

The winner of a matchup between Stanford and Oklahoma awaits the Fighting Irish. Although they should be able to continue on to the Oklahoma City regional final, it is worth noting that Stanford defeated Connecticut early this season.

No. 11 Gonzaga def. No. 3 Oregon State, 76-64

It was a big Sunday for Gonzaga, as the men's and women's basketball teams both advanced to the Sweet 16. While the men's victory was wholly expected, the women took a different path by upsetting Oregon State in the round of 32.

In order for higher-seeded teams to pull off upsets, a few things have to fall into place. First, they have to shoot well. Gonzaga did that by hitting 50 percent of its field-goal attempts. Emma Wolfram was masterful off the bench with 17 points, setting a career high in the process, via Gonzaga women's basketball on Twitter:

The other thing that has to happen is the other team needs to make mistakes. Oregon State hurt itself with 18 turnovers, in addition to hitting just nine of its 27 three-point attempts. Jamie Weisner was the only Beavers player in a rhythm with 24 points. 

Deven Hunter had a double-double in the loss, but her efforts fell short. Oregon State continued its late-season tumble, going 2-3 in the last five games, and loses in the round of 32 for the second consecutive season. 

Gonzaga will get the winner of Monday's Tennessee-Pittsburgh game in the Sweet 16. 

No. 1 South Carolina def. No. 8 Syracuse, 97-68

South Carolina had no problems dispatching Syracuse in the Round of 32, cruising to a 97-68 victory. The Gamecocks have now won their two tournament games by a total of 62 points. 

This win was sealed at halftime with South Carolina up 53-25 before putting things on cruise control in the final 20 minutes. There were equal contributions from the starters and bench, featuring six players who scored at least 10 points, per Brennan Doherty of The Daily Gamecock:

It's been smooth sailing for South Carolina thus far, which isn't a surprise given how this team was undefeated for most of the year before running into Connecticut. There may have been some doubts about a tournament run after a surprise loss to Kentucky, but these first two games should put those aside. 

Aleighsa Welch and Elem Ibiam got a nice moment in the sun, as well, celebrating their final home game in style, per David Caraviello of The Post and Courier:

Now, with the home portion of the NCAA tournament out of the way, South Carolina will get a shot at North Carolina or Ohio State in the Sweet 16. 

No. 7 Dayton Def No. 2 Kentucky, 99-94

There may not be a more thrilling game the rest of this tournament than Dayton's 99-94 victory over Kentucky at Rupp Arena. These two teams traded blows for 40 minutes, neither giving an inch, before time simply ran out on the Wildcats. 

Dayton's offense was on fire throughout the game, culminating in two key three-point field goals from Kelley Austria and Amber Deane in the final 69 seconds that proved too much for the Wildcats to overcome. 

Deane was masterful off the bench, scoring 23 points with four rebounds and four assists. Her final three-pointer was, in the words of Marc Story of Kentucky.com, nothing more than a great player with ice water in her veins:

She was bested only by Ally Malott, who ended the game with 28 points and 13 rebounds, which gave her eight double-doubles on the season, per Dayton's official Twitter:

The key difference in the game was Kentucky's inability to convert on initial opportunities. The Wildcats shot just 43.4 percent from the floor but were able to keep it close for so long despite Dayton shooting 56.6. percent because they grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and had 11 steals. 

This was just one of those games for Kentucky when the opponent had its shooting touch working. It's a disappointing ending for the Wildcats, who had a strong year with 24 wins but fell just short of the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011. 

On the winning side, Dayton is making its first appearance in the Sweet 16. The Flyers have to be feeling great about their chances based on this shooting display, though, the rebounding has to get more consistent to make a deep run. 

Next on the schedule will be the winner of Monday's Louisville vs. South Florida game. Dayton has been relying on shooters through two tournament games thus far, so don't expect a huge change in the Sweet 16. 

No. 2 Baylor def. No. 10 Arkansas, 73-44

Baylor ran Arkansas out of the building in Waco, Texas, with a 73-44 victory to secure the program's seventh consecutive appearance in the Sweet 16. 

This game didn't start out badly for the Razorbacks, as they held a 14-13 lead more than nine minutes into the first half. Unfortunately, the Lady Bears went on a 28-7 run in the final 10-plus minutes to take a 42-21 lead coming out of the break. 

No matter how you look at the numbers, even without the final score, Baylor owned this game. The defense held Arkansas to 24.6 percent shooting, including 2-of-16 from three-point range. Melissa Wolff (6-of-10) was the only Razorback player to shoot better than 40 percent 

Of course, shooting wasn't Arkansas' strength in the first-round win over Northwestern. The Razorbacks hit 21 of their 66 attempts in that game, so the defense had to step up if they wanted any chance of playing in the Sweet 16. 

It wasn't meant to be, as Baylor is superior in virtually every way. Nina Davis led the scoring barrage with 21 points. She had it going right out of the gate, as noted by Shehan Jeyarajah of The Dallas Morning News:

Sune Agbuke was the defensive stalwart with 12 rebounds and eight blocks when she came off the court. John Elizondo of ABC's affiliate in Waco shared this image of the senior center walking off her home floor for the final time:

All told, this was a masterful and expected performance out of Baylor. The team has corrected itself after a two-game losing streak at the end of February, winning its last five games to make another appearance in the Sweet 16. 

Next up will be a showdown with Iowa, which knocked off Miami earlier in the day. 

No. 4 Duke def. No. 5 Mississippi State, 64-56

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

For the second consecutive game, Duke got off to a slow start against an inferior opponent. The difference is the Blue Devils found their stride in the round of 32 early enough to make this win over Mississippi State easier than the previous victory against Albany. 

Depth is still a huge issue for this Duke team, which only got contributions from six players, with four of the five starters contributing 61 of the points. 

In fact, that was one of the key talking points for Blue Devils head coach Joanne P. McCallie in comments to Meredith Cash of The Duke Chronicle.

"That’s a great team they’ve got there,” McCallie said. “They’re a very good team. They’re so deep. It’s interesting how deep they go, and how they just keep bringing players at you.”

Interestingly, as Cash also noted, the Bulldogs were the higher-ranked team in the latest Associated Press poll (No. 12) yet had to go to Cameron by virtue of being the lower seed. They had no offensive rhythm, hitting 30.5 percent of their shots, and Victoria Vivians was the only starter with more than six points. 

Azura Stevens was the star for Duke, as you would expect. The freshman star finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, which put her in the school record books, per Duke women's basketball on Twitter:

The problem for Duke early, when it trailed, 28-24, at halftime, was turnovers. The Blue Devils gave the ball away 14 times but eventually settled down in the second half with three giveaways. 

This is still a limited Blue Devils team that will get tested against the winner of Sunday's Maryland vs. Princeton game, but at least it found some cohesion on both sides of the ball as this game went on. That momentum will have to carry over to the Sweet 16. 

No. 3 Iowa def. No. 11 Miami, 88-70

Matthew Holst/Associated Press

Like Duke, Iowa's win was also a slow burn that eventually saw it pull away from Miami to secure a spot in the Sweet 16. The Hawkeyes never appeared to be in trouble, taking a seven-point lead into the half and dropping 50 in the second half. 

It was a balanced offensive effort for Iowa, as all five starters scored in double figures, led by 22 from Bethany Doolittle. The star center also provided 11 of the team's 44 rebounds and had all three of the Hawkeyes' blocks, per Iowa women's basketball on Twitter:

For Miami, which came into the game with inferior talent, it needed to shoot well to win. It didn't happen, as the Hurricanes were held to 5-of-21 from three-point range and 39.7 percent overall. Jessica Thomas' shot wasn't working, going 8-of-22 despite having a team-high 20 points. 

This was a monumental win for the Hawkeyes, who are making their first appearance in a Sweet 16 since 1996. They are in good shape for the next game with the Baylor vs. Arkansas winner waiting. The Bears have had their bumps late in the season, losing back-to-back games against Oklahoma and Iowa State in February. 

As long as the Hawkeyes are able to get the consistent effort from the starting five that they got Sunday, an Elite Eight berth doesn't seem out of the question.