NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2015: Friday Sweet 16 Scores, Updated Bracket
The 2015 NCAA women's basketball tournament rolled on during Friday's Sweet 16 games, which featured no seeds lower than a No. 4.
While the men's edition of March Madness tends to produce a greater number of underdogs going deeper, the very best in the women's game have mostly distinguished themselves to this point. That didn't mean the opening regional semifinal action would be without drama, though.
Read on to see how each of Friday's games played out, and for an updated look at the bracket, visit NCAA.com.
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| No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 North Carolina | 67-65, South Carolina |
| No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 3 Iowa | 81-66, Baylor |
| No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 4 Stanford | 81-60, Notre Dame |
| No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 3 Arizona State | 66-65, Florida State |
Baylor 81, Iowa 66
A dominant run through the NCAA women's tournament continued for the Lady Bears, as they overcame a tremendous performance from Iowa's Samantha Logic to win.
Logic put up 13 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists, as ESPN Stats & Info noted the significance of her stat line:
The fact that Baylor still won easily illustrates just how formidable the squad is, even in the post-Brittney Griner era.
Lady Bears guard Niya Johnson was dealing in a big way, dishing out 16 assists without committing a turnover. ESPN-Central Texas' David Smoak observed Johnson's unique milestone amid a virtuoso performance:
Baylor center Sune Agbuke had 23 points and 12 boards, while forward Nina Davis had 20 points. Kristy Wallace had 17 off the bench and hit seven of her eight shot attempts.
Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News pointed out how hot the Lady Bears have been as of late:
The Elite Eight awaits for Baylor, as it waits to see who it will play in the Oklahoma City regional finale between Notre Dame and Stanford.
Both potential opponents present challenges. The Cardinal beat UConn earlier in the season, but haven't been quite as strong since. With only two losses all year, Notre Dame may be the biggest remaining threat to Connecticut.
Most would want to see the top two seeds in Notre Dame and Baylor, respectively, battle it out. Based on how much of a roll the Lady Bears are on, it appears almost no one can stand in their way of reaching the national title game.
South Carolina 67, North Carolina 65
A fascinating battle of the Carolinas unfolded to tip off the women's Sweet 16 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Thanks to Gamecocks star Tiffany Mitchell's layup with less than five seconds remaining, the higher seed won out.
It took a while for Mitchell to get going, as The Post and Courier's David Caraviello highlighted:
But Mitchell wound up matching reserve center Alaina Coates for a game-high 18 points. Coates was also a force on the boards, grabbing 10 rebounds to post a double-double.
Ron Aiken of WLTX News 19 in Columbia applauded the efforts of Mitchell, Coates and other key contributors to South Carolina's victorious cause:
The Tar Heels indeed gave their favored adversary all it could handle. UNC was able to overcome 37.1 percent shooting by turning it over nine times to the Gamecocks' 15. Guard Latifah Coleman had 15 points to lead North Carolina, yet she was just 5-of-15 shooting from the field.
Had UNC executed a bit better on offense, it might have pulled off the upset. South Carolina was just a bit better in a heated contest, as Coates came up huge, along with Tina Roy, who hit four three-pointers off the bench for the Gamecocks.
Next up for South Carolina is the winner of Arizona State vs. Florida State. Those are the top two seeds other than the Gamecocks in the Greensboro region, so either promises to present a formidable challenge.
The good news for the first regional finalists is that they encountered a tough test after rolling through the first two games and passed it in dramatic fashion. That should give South Carolina plenty of confidence no matter whom it faces.
Notre Dame 81, Stanford 60
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish remain on a crash course to a rematch with the Connecticut Huskies in the final of the NCAA tournament. Muffet McGraw's team took care of business with a comfortable 81-60 win over the Stanford Cardinal Friday night.
Lindsay Allen looked great, scoring 28 points while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists. Granted, those final numbers look slightly less impressive considering she dropped 24 on the Cardinal in the first half, seven points fewer than Stanford scored as a team.
At halftime, Notre Dame held a 42-31 edge. The Cardinal made it interesting in the second half, getting to within as few as five points, 52-47, with 12:03 left. The Fighting Irish went into seek-and-destroy mode after that, though, outscoring Stanford 29-13 to close out the game.
Jewell Loyd never really got into a groove, finishing 7-of-21 from the floor. She wound up with 21 points, helped out somewhat by her seven made free throws.
After the game, McGraw said that Allen stepping up is all the more important since opponents will focus the majority of their efforts on stopping Loyd, per Mary Green of The Observer:
The Fighting Irish will play Baylor in the Elite Eight, which is a rematch of last year, when Notre Dame beat the Bears 88-69. It's hard seeing the result be any different this time around.
Florida State 66, Arizona State 65
Three-pointers from Katie Hempen and Elisha Davis weren't nearly enough for Arizona State to edge out Florida State Friday night, with the Seminoles hanging on to a one-point victory, 66-65.
Hempen and Davis made things interesting late. The Sun Devils were down by six points with 2:11 left to play. Peace Amukamara made it a five-point game, and Hempen closed the gap to a two points, 64-62, with 1:23 remaining. Then, Leticia Romero put FSU back up four points before Davis' three made the deficit just a single point inside six seconds.
Alas, it was too little too late for the 'Noles. Amukamara had a chance to potentially win the game but turned the ball over.
As Cindy Brunson of Pac-12 Networks put it, that was a true survive-and-advance situation:
Hempen finished as the game's leading scorer with 22 points. Arizona State got a lot of production across the board offensive, but defensively, they didn't have as much luck.
As a team, Florida State shot a healthy 49.1 percent from the field, getting 21 points from Romero and 15 from Adut Bulgak. Bulgak recorded the steal that won the game as well.
The Seminoles will get South Carolina in the Elite Eight.
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