NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2016: Friday Scores, Subregionals Bracket

Friday marked the opening tip of the 2016 NCAA women's basketball tournament. Sixteen games were on tap for the initial wave of first-round action.

The usual suspects headline the women's March Madness field, with three-time defending national champion Connecticut atop the hierarchy. Notre Dame is a No. 1 seed once again and has finished runner-up in four of the past five years.

Baylor was the last team other than the Huskies to win a national title and is the top seed in the Dallas region, while 2015 Final Four participant South Carolina reigns supreme in the Sioux Falls Region.

The latter two first seeds began their quest to reach the national semifinals in Indianapolis Friday. Read on to find out how they fared and also to see which other 14 winners emerged from Day 1. Visit NCAA.com for the complete bracket.

Winning Team	Result	Losing Team
No. 4 Michigan State	74-60	No. 13 Belmont
No. 6 West Virginia	74-65	No. 11 Princeton
No. 12 Albany	61-59	No. 5 Florida
No. 6 DePaul	97-67	No. 11 James Madison
No. 5 Mississippi State	60-50	No. 12 Chattanooga
No. 3 Louisville	87-60	No. 14 Central Arkansas
No. 3 Ohio State	88-69	No. 14 Buffalo
No. 4 Syracuse	73-56	No. 13 Army West Point
No. 7 Tennessee	59-53	No. 10 Green Bay
No. 2 Oregon State	73-31	No. 15 Troy
No. 1 Baylor	89-59	No. 16 Idaho
No. 9 Kansas State	56-51	No. 8 George Washington

No. 4 Michigan State 74, No. 13 Belmont 60    

It was a tightly contested affair until the Spartans used a 22-13 fourth quarter to come out on top. Their dynamic duo of Jasmine Hines and Aerial Powers was the main reason Sparty pulled off a rather easy win.

Powers went 11-of-21 from the field and made four of seven three-point attempts en route to 27 points. She moved to 1,803 career points, which marks a Michigan State record, per the Clarion-Ledger's Michael Bonner, via the Lansing State Journal.

Hines dominated the paint from her center position and had 24 points of her own to contribute to the Spartans' victory.

Frankie Joubran helped Belmont off the bench with a team-high 17 points, but it wasn't enough to spark an upset. Forward Kylee Smith was the only other Bruins player in double figures with 16, and although she made seven of 13 shots, she missed six of seven attempts from beyond the arc.

Michigan State is slated to face Mississippi State in the round of 32.

No. 6 West Virginia 74, No. 11 Princeton 65   

Senior guard Bria Holmes simply wasn't going to allow her Mountaineers to bow out to an upstart Princeton squad Friday.

Holmes was the catalyst for West Virginia's victorious effort, creating offense almost at will with 26 points to go with eight assists and only one turnover. That's outstanding distributing proficiency for the amount of ball-handling she did.

WVUSports.com's Jeff Culhane noted how much weight Holmes was pulling as her team struggled in the early going:

Annie Tarakchian and Alex Wheatley did what they could in Princeton's frontcourt en route to 20 and 18 points, respectively, to pace the Tigers. However, they had no answer for Holmes.

The Mountaineers also received a considerable boost from freshman guard Tynice Martin off the bench. She used her 5'10" height to her advantage to grab eight boards to go with 16 points; Martin was the only other West Virginia player to score in double figures.

Next up for West Virginia is a tangle with Ohio State as it makes a bid for the semifinals in the Sioux Falls Region.

No. 12 Albany 61, No. 5 Florida 59  

Two 12th seeds claimed victory on the first day of the men's tournament, and in the initial quartet of women's games, No. 12 Albany emerged victorious with a rousing fourth-quarter comeback.

After the Gators outscored the Great Danes 25-8 in the second quarter to take command entering halftime, Albany bounced back in a big way.

The underdogs won the last quarter 19-7 and were led by Imani Tate. She poured in 28 points and stuffed the stat sheet elsewhere with eight rebounds, four assists and five steals.

Marisa Jacques of Time Warner Cable News noted what motivated Tate to perform so well on the big stage:

Tate's ability to step up was all the more critical in this contest due to the fact that her team's typical leading scorer, Shereesha Richards—who finished with 14 points—fouled out with 6:18 remaining, per the Associated Press (via SECSports.com).

Albany has to be thrilled to pick up its maiden NCAA tournament win, but the focus must shift to the subsequent task at hand if the Great Danes hope to advance any further. They will face Syracuse this coming Sunday.

No. 6 DePaul 97, No. 11 James Madison 67   

The gap between these seeds suggested a somewhat competitive game was on tap. Unfortunately for James Madison, its adversary had other plans.

DePaul erupted and had six players score in double figures, headed by junior guard Jessica January's 18 points. January was also among four players on her side who had at least four assists.

The Blue Demons also had a 55-39 edge on the boards, which limited the Dukes' hopes of a comeback due to the absence of second-chance opportunities. James Madison also shot just 30.6 percent from the floor—far from the proficiency of DePaul (53.6 percent).

This marks DePaul's 14th straight year in the NCAA tournament, so it has the type of program culture, depth and evident offensive execution to make a decent run. The runaway victors await a date with Louisville in a second-round matchup.

No. 5 Mississippi State 60, No. 12 Chattanooga 50

Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

After trailing 17-11 through one quarter, Mississippi State put the clamps down on defense, mounting a 18-5 second-quarter surge to go into the break with plenty of momentum.

Chattanooga never really recovered from that counter-punch by the Bulldogs. Its lack of depth was on display as the Lady Mocs deployed only seven players, as opposed to the 11 who hit the floor for the winners.

Dynamic forward Victoria Vivians notched a game-high 19 points to help Mississippi State come out on top in what was a rather ugly game. Bob Carskadon of HailState.com highlighted how much of a tear Vivians has been on of late:

But Vivians was only 8-of-23 shooting, and the Bulldogs shot a putrid 33.3 percent from the field overall.

Mississippi State also committed 17 turnovers, but Chattanooga gave the ball away 19 times and only got to the free throw line for nine attempts. Although the Lady Mocs made eight, the Bulldogs sank 15 of 20 from the charity stripe to account for the winning margin.

It's going to take better execution in the half-court offense from the Bulldogs if they're meant to progress past the second round against Michigan State on Sunday.

No. 3 Louisville 87, No. 14 Central Arkansas 60

The Sugar Bears enjoyed a 25-22 advantage through 10 minutes, but as was the case with Chattanooga, their upset bid was promptly dashed in the subsequent quarter.

Myisha Hines-Allen spearheaded Louisville's explosive offense with a proficient scoring effort, sinking 12 of 17 shots for 25 points to go with seven rebounds. The sophomore scored 11 of the team's 22 points to close the opening half, per the Courier-Journal's Jonathan Lintner.

Louisville shot 54.8 from the floor, which made it all the more difficult for Central Arkansas to claw back in during the second half in which it was outscored by 10.

The blip of adversity ought to serve the Cardinals well as they gear up for what should be a shootout with DePaul in the round of 32.

No. 3 Ohio State 88, No. 14 Buffalo 69

Unlike the other two winners who finished the second wave of Friday's schedule before them, the Buckeyes had no problems getting their tournament off to a strong start.

Ohio State had 30 points in the first 10-minute period to go up by 18. Its trio of sophomore guards Kelsey Mitchell and Asia Doss and junior forward Shayla Cooper went for 27, 16 and 17 points respectively.

OSU W Basketball highlighted how dialed in Mitchell was from distance in the early going:

Mitchell set the tone and dished out six dimes. Ross added eight rebounds to go with five assists. Joanna Smith led the Bulls with 23 points but was only 6-of-18 shooting.

West Virginia stands in the Buckeyes' way of advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011.

No. 4 Syracuse 73, No. 13 Army 56

It's a good thing West Point got a 7-of-8 shooting effort from sophomore guard Janae McNeal. Otherwise Army's losing margin would have been all the more disparate.

The rest of Army's starting five combined to make only 10 field goal attempts. Its bench only contributed 10 points, which wasn't going to be enough to knock off the Orange.

Syracuse's Brianna Butler and Maggie Morrison combined to shoot 2-of-21 from three-point range, which goes to show how impressive the Orange did to win this game by so much. Alexis Peterson got to the free throw line at will and made all 13 of her attempts en route to 24 points.

If the Orange can get the complementary play they got on Friday and Butler and Morrison shoot far better, they figure to be a tough out in the NCAA tournament moving forward.

Albany pulled an upset over fifth-seeded Florida and will look to continue its run versus Syracuse in the round of 32.

No. 7 Tennessee 59, No. 10 Green Bay 53

The Lady Vols were 0-9 this season when trailing entering the fourth quarter. They picked a great day to buck the trend against Green Bay, winning the last 10 minutes 18-11 to avoid an early exit.

Per UTSports.com, the Phoenix missed nine of their final 11 shots as Tennessee rallied back, held strong defensively and did enough to advance to the second round.

Freshman guard Te'a Cooper rose to the March Madness occasion in a big way for the Lady Vols, hitting seven of 11 shots for a game-high 15 points. Center Mercedes Russell pulled down 13 rebounds to help Tennessee keep pace with Green Bay on the glass.

Second-seeded Arizona State is quite likely to be the Lady Vols' opponent in the round of 32, barring a shocking upset by New Mexico State.

No. 2 Oregon State 73, No. 15 Troy 31

Timothy J. Gonzalez/Associated Press

Speaking of games involving Nos. 2 and 15 seeds, there's a reason Arizona State is almost a lock to move through. Look no further than the mere box score of Oregon State's rout over Troy.

The Trojans were no match for the size Oregon State brought to the hardwood. Beavers star Ruth Hamblin controlled the paint with 18 points and 18 rebounds.

Pac-12 Network highlighted how fast Hamblin—who also had five blocks—reached double digits in both the aforementioned stat categories:

It was that kind of contest, or lack thereof, for Troy. The Beavers were devastating on the glass, out-rebounding the Trojans 66-41.

With a two-time conference Defensive Player of the Year in Hamblin to anchor, Oregon State has the look of a legitimate Final Four contender. The team's biggest hurdle to clear is top-seeded Baylor, but it'd be quite a surprise if the Beavers didn't at least reach the regional final.

No. 1 Baylor 89, No. 16 Idaho 59

Speaking of contenders on the road to Indianapolis, Baylor did nothing on Friday to quiet the hype en route to a facile 40-point romp.

Alexis Jones drained five triples for the Lady Bears and scored 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had five assists. Senior Baylor floor general Niya Johnson had only one turnover to go with 16 assists.

ESPN Stats & Info made note of Johnson's distributing prowess:

Idaho trailed 30-9 through one quarter, as the Lady Bears essentially eliminating any hopes the underdogs had of making history in swift fashion. Ali Forde led the Vandals in defeat with 17 points and nine rebounds.

There's little reason for Baylor fans to worry losing a second game for the entire season until it reaches the national quarterfinals, where a projected matchup with Oregon State looms. 

No. 9 Kansas State 56, No. 8 George Washington 51

The narrow gap between these seeds came to fruition in a hotly contested affair that saw Kansas State recover from a 31-22 halftime deficit to advance.

Thanks to 25 combined rebounds between Colonials standouts Caira Washington and Jonquel Jones, who also scored 20 points and had six blocks, George Washington hung tough despite its lead slipping throughout the second half.

But the Wildcats wouldn't be denied. They forced the Colonials into a horrendous second half offensively that led them to shoot 25.9 percent as a team for the game.

Kansas State made only 10 of 21 shots from the charity stripe, which helped keep the outcome closer than it should have been. Megan Deines and Breanna Lewis were the only KSU players in double figures with 14 and 13 points respectively. Lewis matched Jones' game-best total of six blocks too.

Facing a No. 1 seed in South Carolina is bound to spell doom for the Wildcats, barring a bit more than a minor modern-day miracle.