Michaela Onyenwere scored a career-high 30 points, Japreece Dean added 22 and UCLA squeezed past No. 3 seed Maryland 85-80 Monday night to earn its fourth consecutive berth in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament at College Park, Md.
Dean, the smallest player on the court, sank two free throws with 25 seconds remaining to make it 83-79, and the Bruins held on to beat the Terrapins on their own court.
No. 6 seed UCLA (22-12) will next face second-seeded UConn (33-2) on Friday in the semifinal round of the Albany Region.
Ranked first in the Pac-12 and third in the nation in offensive rebounding, the Bruins repeatedly gathered in their own missed shots and turned them into baskets. UCLA collected 27 offensive rebounds and finished with 27 second-chance points.
Maryland led 76-74 before UCLA’s Kennedy Burke grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a put-back. Teammate Lindsey Corsaro followed with a three-point play with 3:34 left.
Brianna Fraser answered with a layup for the Terrapins to make it 79-78 with 3:16 remaining, and neither team scored again until Burke hit a jumper with 1:03 to go.
Kaila Charles led Maryland (29-5) with 23 points. The Big Ten regular season champions went 1 for 13 from beyond the arc and 15 for 25 from the free throw line.
UCLA, in contrast, sank seven 3-pointers and made 20 of 21 free throws.
Madison Guebert scored 18 of her 20 points on 3-pointers, including two critical 3s in the fourth quarter, to lead No. 6 seed South Dakota State over third-seeded Syracuse at Syracuse, N.Y.
The victory sends the Jackrabbits (28-6) to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. They will face No. 2 Oregon on Friday in the regional semifinals in Portland, Oregon.
Guebert had 14 of her points in the second half. Myah Selland added 17 for South Dakota State, Macy Miller had 11, and Paiton Burckhard 10.
Tiana Mangakahia led Syracuse (25-9) with 18 points. Kiara Lewis had 13.
Syracuse shot 10 of 16 in the first quarter but hit just 16 of 48 the rest of the way.
Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and two teammates had double-doubles as top-seed Notre Dame ran away from No. 9-seed Michigan State in the first half of a victory in the NCAA Chicago Regional at South Bend, Ind.
Jackie Young gave coach Muffet McGraw and the Purcell Pavilion crowd a scare when she fell hard to the floor just seconds before the end of the third quarter. She was ok and finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Fighting Irish, who are in the Sweet 16 for the 10th straight season. They will play No. 4-seed Texas A&M Saturday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
Brianna Turner had 14 points and 11 rebounds in becoming Notre Dame’s all-time leading rebounder, passing All-American Ruth Riley from the 2001 NCAA champions. Jessica Shepard had 19 points and nine rebounds as Notre Dame won its 11th straight despite shooting 47.9 percent (35 of 73). The Irish had a 49-37 edge in rebounds.
Coach Suzy Merchant’s Spartans (21-12) had few answers for Notre Dame’s dominant starters. For the second straight game, Sidney Cooks came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting and Jenna Allen closed her Michigan State career with 12 points. Kayla Belles scored 10. The Spartans shot just 37.3 percent (25 of 67) for the game.
Kiara Leslie had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and North Carolina State pulled away to win at Raleigh N.C.
Freshman Elissa Cunane added 13 points and 15 rebounds, DD Rogers had 11 points and 11 boards, and the third-seeded Wolfpack (28-5) dominated the glass while earning their second straight trip to the Sweet 16.
N.C. State – which had a 50-31 rebounding advantage – will play second-seeded Iowa (28-6) on Saturday in the semifinals of the Greensboro Region.
Freshman Rhyne Howard scored 21 points and Maci Morris had 18 for the sixth-seeded Wildcats (25-8). They were 3 of 16 in the fourth quarter — all three field goals belonged to Morris — while the Wolfpack pulled away.