NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2019: Friday Sweet 16 Scores, Updated Bracket

The 2019 NCAA women's basketball tournament resumed play Friday with four Sweet 16 games split between Albany, New York, and Portland, Oregon.

Sabrina Ionescu and the No. 2 Oregon Ducks faced off with the No. 6 South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the final matchup. The No. 2 Connecticut Huskies opened the action with the No. 6 UCLA Bruins in another notable clash.

Here's a look at Friday's scores and a recap of how the night unfolded.

2019 NCAA Women's Tournament Schedule/Results (Sweet 16)

No. 2 Connecticut def. No. 6 UCLA, 69-61

No. 1 Mississippi State def. No. 5 Arizona State, 76-53

No. 1 Louisville def. No. 4 Oregon State, 61-44

No. 2 Oregon def. No. 6 South Dakota State, 63-53

Bracket

The full bracket for the 2019 women's NCAA tournament can be viewed at NCAA.com.

Connecticut 69, UCLA 61

When teams roll through most of their opponents during the regular season, it's unclear how players will react to adversity in the NCAA tournament.

For the second round in a row, Connecticut withstood a tough challenge and advanced. The Huskies trailed the Bruins 50-49 entering the fourth quarter but walked away with a 69-61 victory.

After a scoreless first half, Crystal Dangerfield finished with 15 points, 11 of which came in the final 10 minutes.

Kennedy Burke hit two free throws to bring UCLA within three points at the 7:39 mark of the fourth quarter, but Dangerfield hit a three-pointer on UConn's next possession to give the Huskies some breathing room.

The Bruins never closed the gap to fewer than six points over the remainder of the game.

To the surprise of many inside the Huskies program, Napheesa Collier wasn't among the finalists for this year's Naismith Trophy. The senior guard has seemingly carried a chip on her shoulder throughout the tournament as a result and was excellent against UCLA.

Collier had a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds to complete her double-double. She added two steals and four blocks to her stat line.

Mississippi State 76, Arizona State 53

The Arizona State Sun Devils hanged close with the Mississippi State Bulldogs before the reigning national runners-up flipped a switch and dominated the fourth quarter en route to a 76-53 win.

Mississippi State outscored Arizona State 22-8 and held the Sun Devils to 2-of-12 from the field over the final 10 minutes. At the 5:41 mark of the fourth quarter, Kianna Ibis hit three free throws to trim ASU's deficit to 13 points. The Sun Devils didn't score again until Taya Hanson's three-pointer with 1:14 remaining.

Teaira McCowan made history as she scored 22 points and collected 13 rebounds. With 225 rebounds in the NCAA tournament, she surpassed Sylvia Fowles for the most all time.

Arizona state simply had nothing to counteract McCowan's presence inside. She shot 6-of-8 from the field and hit 10 of her 11 free throws.

All five Bulldogs starters scored in double figures as Mississippi State supported McCowan with a balanced offensive attack.

Louisville 61, Oregon State 44

The Louisville Cardinals put on a defensive master class as the Oregon State Beavers matched their season low in scoring.

Entering Friday, Destiny Slocum and Mikayla Pivec were combining to average 30.9 points for Oregon State. Pivec did her part with 17 points, but Slocum went 3-of-13 and finished with eight points.

As a team, the Beavers shot 30.4 percent from the field and missed 20 of their 22 three-point attempts. They also had 12 turnovers to eight assists.

Louisville was content to slow the pace down and wait for the best shot to present itself. The Cardinals' low score wasn't the result of poor efficiency. They were 7-of-17 from beyond the arc and shot 40.4 percent.

Asia Durr and Sam Fuehring each had 17 points, with Fuehring falling just short of a double-double (nine rebounds). Durr flirted with a double-double as well, bringing down eight boards.

Oregon 63, South Dakota State 53

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits averaged 48.1 percent shooting from the field this season, good for seventh in Division I, but Oregon was having none of that Friday night. 

South Dakota State shot just 26.7 percent from the field against the Ducks, with the 53 points being the second-lowest total the Jackrabbits have posted all season.

The Ducks previously beat the Jackrabbits 87-79 on Dec. 12, but this loss marks the first time South Dakota State has dropped a game since Jan. 6.

Oregon junior forward Ruthy Hebard led all scorers with 24 points, while Ducks star junior guard Sabrina Ionescu—known for her triple-doubles—posted a double-double with 17 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.

The Elite Eight awaits Oregon for the third consecutive season, where the Ducks will take on No. 1 Mississippi State on Sunday. 

Oregon defeated Mississippi State 82-74 way back on Dec. 18. Mississippi State only lost one other time since then, and that was to Missouri on Feb. 14.