NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2017: Friday Scores, Subregionals Bracket

The 2017 women's NCAA basketball tournament got underway Friday, with 16 games spread throughout the afternoon and evening.

Two of the tournament's No. 1 seeds are in action. The South Carolina Gamecocks meet the UNC Asheville Bulldogs, while the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Robert Morris Colonials.

Ohio State Buckeyes star Kelsey Mitchell, a likely top-five pick in the 2017 WNBA draft, will also take the court as her team faces the 12th-seeded Western Kentucky Lady Toppers. 

The full tournament bracket is available to view at NCAA.com.

Below is an overview of how Friday unfolded.

First-Round Results

Region	Matchup	Result
Bridgeport	No. 3 Maryland vs. No. 14 Bucknell	103-61, Maryland
Lexington	No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 13 Belmont	73-70, Kentucky
Lexington	No. 6 NC State vs. No. 11 Auburn	62-48, NC State
Oklahoma City	No. 7 DePaul vs. No. 10 Northern Iowa	88-67, DePaul
Lexington	No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 12 Western Kentucky	70-63, Ohio State
Oklahoma City	No. 2 Mississippi State vs. No. 15 Troy	110-69, Mississippi State
Lexington	No. 3 Texas vs. No. 14 Central Arkansas	78-50, Texas
Bridgeport	No. 6 West Virginia vs. No. 11 Elon	75-62, West Virginia
Stockton	No. 2 Oregon State vs. No. 15 Long Beach State	56-55, Oregon State
Stockton	No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 16 UNC Asheville	90-40, South Carolina
Stockton	No. 6 Missouri vs. No. 11 South Florida	66-64, Missouri
Lexington	No. 8 Green Bay vs. No. 9 Purdue	74-62, Purdue
Stockton	No. 7 Creighton vs. No. 10 Toledo	76-49, Creighton
Stockton	No. 8 Arizona State vs. No. 9 Michigan State	73-61, Arizona State
Lexington	No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 16 Robert Morris	79-49, Notre Dame
Stockton	No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 14 Western Illinois	87-66, Florida State

Friday Recap

Maryland 103, Bucknell 61

The Maryland Terrapins had little trouble with the Bucknell Bison as they cruised to a 103-61 victory.

Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough both had big games to spur the Terps to their blowout win. Jones scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Walker-Kimbrough finished with a game-high 28 points and recorded five steals.

The Maryland defense suffocated Bucknell, forcing 20 turnovers and holding the Bison to 5-of-22 shooting from beyond the arc. Bucknell couldn't handle the Terrapins' depth, either, as Maryland got 36 points off the bench.

Kentucky 73, Belmont 70

The Kentucky Wildcats fought off a tough challenge from the Belmont Bruins and sealed a 73-70 win at the foul line.

Entering the game, Maci Morris was an 88.2 percent shooter from the charity stripe. That came in handy as the Bruins were forced to foul in order to try and take the lead late. In the final 37 seconds of the fourth quarter, Morris went 7-of-8 from the foul line to stave off Belmont's comeback attempt.

Darby Maggard had a chance to tie the game as Belmont inbounded the ball with 3.2 seconds remaining. Maggard made five of her 12 attempts from long range in the game, but her last-ditch effort missed the mark.

"Wow, that was fun," Belmont head coach Cam Newbauer said, per espnW's Graham Hays. "It wasn't the outcome we wanted, but that was incredible to watch."

Makayla Epps finished as the game's leading scorer (30), while Evelyn Akhator chipped in with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

NC State 62, Auburn 48

The Auburn Tigers outscored the NC State Wolfpack 25-13 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to atone for a slow start as they fell 62-48.

The Tigers never settled into an offensive groove. They shot 24.6 percent from the floor and missed 15 of their 17 three-point attempts.

NC State was well below its best, turning the ball over 20 times. In Dominique Wilson, the Wolfpack at least had a player on whom they could rely. The senior guard scored 23 points and shot 3-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Jennifer Mathurin and Ashley Williams were also key in giving NC State a 46-33 rebounding edge, each grabbing 10 boards.

DePaul 88, Northern Iowa 67

A slow start also plagued the Northern Iowa Panthers as they trailed 22-9 after the first quarter. They were unable to climb out of the early hole, with the DePaul Blue Demons advancing following an 88-67 win.

Ball movement spurred on an efficient offensive afternoon for the Blue Demons. Twenty-two of DePaul's 36 made field goals came off assists. The team's constant passing helped free up Tanita Allen, who shot 5-of-6 from three-point range and scored 25 points.

Allen was one of four Blue Demon players to score in double figures as DePaul showed off the balance that made it the 10th-best scoring team in the country this year.

West Virginia 75, Elon 62

A 10-0 run in the fourth quarter helped the West Virginia Mountaineers seal a 75-62 win over the Elon Phoenix.

The two teams were tied 53-53 with 5:22 left in the game before the Mountaineers' brief offensive outburst. After going down double digits, Elon never trailed by fewer than eight points the rest of the way.

Tynice Martin struggled from the floor, going 7-of-24. She still scored a game-high 26 points and made nine of her 10 free throws, which were critical late in the fourth quarter as West Virginia stifled Elon's attempted comeback.

Ohio State 70, Western Kentucky 63

Mitchell had an uncharacteristically poor day, going 5-of-15 from the floor, but Ohio State still came away with a 70-63 win over Western Kentucky.

Shayla Cooper struggled somewhat as well. She finished with 15 rebounds, helping to give the Buckeyes a slight 33-26 edge on the boards, and dished out six assists. The senior forward only connected on three of her 11 field-goal attempts, well below her season average (49.2 field-goal percentage).

While things weren't clicking for Ohio State's best players on the offensive end, the Buckeyes held the Lady Toppers to 28.9 percent from the field and 24.3 percent from three-point range.

Especially with the game in Lexington, Kentucky, Ohio State will have to be much better overall in order to beat Kentucky in the next round.

Mississippi State 110, Troy Trojans 69

Twelve different players scored at least four points for the Mississippi State Bulldogs as they rolled over the Troy Trojans, 110-69.

Entering Friday, Mississippi State didn't have one of the most potent three-point attacks. The Bulldogs ranked 62nd in three-point percentage (34.4 percent) and tied for 208th in made three-pointers per game (5.2).

The SEC runners-up finished 12-of-22 from beyond the arc against Troy.

Blair Schaefer (21 points) was the game's leading scorer, and the trio of Victoria Vivians, Roshunda Johnson and Ameshya Williams scored 13 points apiece.

Texas 78, Central Arkansas 50

Whereas Mississippi State used the outside jumper to great affect against Troy, the Texas Longhorns simpl bullied the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears en route to a 78-50 win.

The Longhorns out-rebounded 55-23. Texas nearly had as many offensive rebounds (20) as Central Arkansas had in total rebounds.

All of those second chances led to easy shots inside. Only four of the team's 31 made field goals came from three-point range. Three of those shots came from one source: Brooke McCarty. McCarty was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, scoring 15 points, collecting five rebounds and dishing out three assists.

Oregon State 66, Long Beach State 65

The Oregon State Beavers narrowly avoided a huge upset, holding off the Long Beach State 49ers and advancing following a 66-65 victory.

The 49ers had numerous chances late in the game to take the lead.

Two free throws from Sydney Wiese with 1:07 remaining put Oregon State ahead by a point. On Long Beach State's next possession, Jewelyn Sawyer had three shots inside all fail to find the bottom of the bucket. After a timeout for the 49ers, Raven Benton and Anna Kim had shot attempts go begging before the final buzzer.

Beavers head coach Scott Rueck will want his team to move on quickly from the win after his team turned the ball over 13 times and shot 2-of-16 from beyond the arc. Should Oregon State play like that again, its time in the tournament may end sooner than expected.

South Carolina 90, UNC Asheville 40

South Carolina lived up to its top billing in the Stockton region by beating UNC Asheville by 50 points, 90-40.

Allisha Gray had a big game, scoring 22 points and collecting 12 rebounds. She also shot a healthy 11-of-13 from the field. The duo of A'ja Wilson and Bianca Cuevas-Moore nearly outscored the Bulldogs by themselves, with each player scoring 18 points.

The Gamecocks defense was hitting on all cylinders. They limited UNC Asheville to 25.9 percent shooting and forced 14 turnovers.

Missouri 66, South Florida 64

Sierra Michaelis scored at the buzzer to give the Missouri Tigers a 66-64 win over the South Florida Bulls. Cleaning up a miss by Amber Smith, the senior guard caught the rebound and quickly released the ball before time expired.

The NCAA provided a replay of the sequence:

"

Sierra Michaelis in the right place at the right time for @Mizzouwbb.#ncaaW pic.twitter.com/HGqcSEnbMT

— NCAA Women's BKB (@ncaawbb) March 17, 2017"

Smith was the Tigers' leading scorer (16 points) and was just short of notching a double-double (nine rebounds).

Ariadna Pujol (20 points) and Kitija Laksa (19 points) did the best they could to put South Florida in position for the upset, and Maria Jespersen was a beast on the boards (17 rebounds). Despite that, the Bulls fell short in the final moments.

Purdue 74, Green Bay 62

Ashley Morrissette's 24 points helped give the Purdue Boilermakers a 74-62 win over the Green Bay Phoenix.

It was a sloppy game from Purdue and Morrissette in particular. The Boilermakers turned the ball over 23 times, seven of which were the responsibility of the senior guard.

Two Phoenix starters fouled out and another, Mehryn Kraker, dealt with foul trouble all game, which helped to tip the scales in Purdue's favor.

The second round of the NCAA tournament has proven a difficult hurdle for Purdue to scale in recent years. In the Boilermakers' last four trips to the Big Dance, they exited in the second round.

The team's prospects of breaking that streak don't look good. A likely date with the Fighting Irish looks in the next stage, and Notre Dame will have the added benefit of playing in front of a home crowd in South Bend.

Creighton 76, Toledo 49

After jumping out to a 27-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Creighton Bluejays cruised to a 76-49 opening-round win over the Toledo Rockets.

Marissa Janning and Sydney Lamberty played starring roles in the blowout. Each player grabbed six rebounds, and Janning (19 points) owned a slight scoring advantage over Lamberty (16 points). They also offered a steady perimeter threat, combining to shoot 5-of-9 from three-point range.

While the Creighton men's team has become a fixture of the NCAA tournament, the women's team hasn't tasted as much consistent success nor has it stayed long in its previous trips. The Bluejays will be looking to make it through to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. 

Arizona State 73, Michigan State 61

The Michigan State Spartans had no answer inside for Quinn Dornstauder. The Arizona Sun Devils senior center was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor en route to a 16-point night. Dornstauder was the Sun Devils' leading scorer in their 73-61 first-round win.

The Spartans mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback, outscoring Arizona State 26-15 in the final frame. Having trailed 42-20 at the half, though, Michigan State had dug itself into too deep of a hole. Turning the ball over 18 times is a surefire recipe to bow out of the NCAA tournament.

Notre Dame 79, Robert Morris 49

Like South Carolina, Notre Dame had little trouble dispatching of its first-round opponent. The Fighting Irish sailed into the second round with a 79-49 win.

Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale each scored 15 points, with Ogunbowale's 10 rebounds giving her a double-double. She was one of two Notre Dame players with double digits in points and rebounds, joining Brianna Turner (13 points, 10 rebounds).

The Fighting Irish's 15 offensive boards helped offset their 16 turnovers. Their 52.5 percent shooting rate from the field gave the Colonials no chance of pulling off the historic upset.

Florida State 87, Western Illinois 66

Shakayla Thomas' 23 points and 14 rebounds helped the Florida State Spartans brush aside the Western Illinois Leathernecks 87-66.

Chatrice White was also a force off the bench for FSU. She went 8-of-10 shooting to finish with 19 points and matched Thomas' 14 boards. White's nine offensive rebounds outpaced the entire Leathernecks team as well and created a high volume of second-chance opportunities for the Seminoles.

Having reached the Elite Eight in 2015 and the Sweet 16 in 2016, Sue Semrau's team looks poised to make another deep run in March.