No. 10 Virginia advances with 82-73 OT win over No. 7 Georgia in first round

By Canadian Press on March 21, 2026.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Kymora Johnson scored 28 points and Sa’Myah Smith added a career-high 23 to go with 11 rebounds as 10th seed Virginia beat seventh seed Georgia 82-73 in an NCAA Tournament first-round game on Saturday.

The Cavaliers (21-11) became the first lower seed to win in March Madness this season. Virginia will play either second seed Iowa or 15th seed Fairleigh Dickinson in Monday’s second round.

Virginia, which became the second team ever that played in the first four to win a game, outscored Georgia (22-10) 11-2 in overtime. Smith, who was held scoreless in the second half, scored five of the Cavaliers’ points.

Georgia had two chances to win the game in the final seconds of regulation. Trinity Turner’s shot with four seconds left missed, and Savannah Henderson grabbed the offensive rebound before being tied up by Smith. The possession arrow favored Georgia with seven-tenths of a second remaining, giving the Bulldogs a final shot. But Mia Woolfolk’s 10-foot jumper hit off the left rim as the buzzer sounded.

Woolfolk led Georgia with 27 points. Rylie Theuerkauf had 22 points, all but two points coming in the first half. Henderson had 11 points.

FORT WORTH 1 REGIONAL

NO. 3 OHIO STATE 75, NO. 14 HOWARD

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jaloni Cambridge scored 21 points and Ohio State rolled to a victory over Howard in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Kennedy Cambridge, Chance Gray and Ava Watson had 11 points apiece for the Buckeyes (27-7), who will face sixth-seeded Notre Dame or 11th-seeded Fairfield on Monday for a chance to get to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2023.

Zennia Thomas led Howard with 15 points and Ariella Henigan added 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Bison end the season 26-8 after making their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance.

The first eight minutes saw five ties and five lead changes before Ohio State took control. Howard had a 14-12 advantage on a pair of free throws by Dallyssha Moreno before the Buckeyes went on an 18-1 run.

NO. 6 NOTRE DAME 79, NO. 11 FAIRFIELD 60

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Hannah Hidalgo had a dominant performance with 23 points, nine rebounds, eight steals and six assists as Notre Dame led the entire game en route to a victory over Fairfield in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

The Fighting Irish, who have advanced to the Sweet 16 in their last 14 March Madness trips, will face third-seeded Ohio State on Monday. The Buckeyes advanced with a 75-54 win over Howard.

Iyana Moore scored 18 points and Cassandre Prosper had 17 points and eight rebounds as the Fighting Irish won for the 10th time in their last 12 games.

Meghan Anderson led Fairfield with 21 points. The Stags led the nation in 3-pointers, making 11.4 per game, but were 9 of 29 beyond the arc, including 2 of 11 in the first half.

Hidalgo — an AP second-team All-America selection and two-time ACC player of the year — had 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals in the first half as the Fighting Irish had a 36-24 lead at the break.

FORT WORTH 3 REGIONAL

NO. 3 LOUISVILLE 72, NO. 14 VERMONT 52

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Mackenly Randolph scored 20 points to help Louisville pull away for a win over Vermont in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

It marked the second straight game that the 6-foot sophomore posted a career high in points and her second straight game with a career-high 11 rebounds. She scored nine points in the third quarter, including four during an 11-2 run that gave the third-seeded Cardinals (28-7) their first double-digit lead of the contest.

After shooting just 36.4% in the first half, Louisville made 10 of its 18 shots in the third quarter.

The daughter of former NBA All-Star Zach Randolph then drained a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 58-38 just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter.

It was a close contest throughout the first half, as the Catamounts (27-8) held a 16-12 lead with less than two minutes left in the opening quarter after Keira Hanson scored seven straight.

A 3-pointer from Tajianna Roberts gave Louisville a 24-22 lead with 6:05 left in the first half, and the Cardinals would not trail again.

NO. 5 KENTUCKY 71, NO. 12 JAMES MADISON 56

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Tonie Morgan had 18 points and Amelia Hassett scored 11 of her 14 during a dominant first half to help Kentucky cruise to a victory over James Madison in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Clara Strack had her 15th double-double of the season for the Wildcats (24-10), the No. 5 seed in the Fort Worth region, who advanced to play either No. 4 seed West Virginia or No. 13 Miami (Ohio) in the second round on Monday.

Strack, a 6-foot-5 center who averages a double-double this season, had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Wildcats. Jordan Obi added 12 points.

Ashanti Barnes scored 16 and Peyton McDaniel added 15 points for the 12th-seeded Dukes (26-9). The Sun Belt Conference Tournament champs saw their 12-game winning streak snapped.

James Madison used a sagging zone defense in the paint or a double-team on Strack in an attempt to slow down the Wildcats, but that left Strack’s teammates open for easy shots.

The taller Wildcats worked the ball inside for easy baskets and made things tough on the defensive end of the court. Kentucky blocked eight shots and limited James Madison to 29% shooting in the first half and 34% for the game.

NO. 6 ALABAMA 68, NO. 11 RHODE ISLAND 55

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jessica Timmons scored 21 points and Essence Cody added 19 as Alabama beat Rhode Island in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

The Crimson Tide (24-10) won a first-round tournament game for the third straight year by shooting 53.2% (25 of 47) and dominating inside, outscoring the Rams (28-5) 42-12 in the paint.

Other than Brooklyn Gray’s 3-pointer on the Rams’ first possession, sixth-seeded Alabama led throughout the first half. The Tide outscored Rhode Island 14-1 over the first 7:26 of the second quarter to build a 30-14 lead.

Defense played a big role in Alabama’s run as Rhode Island went just 1 for 19 over an 11-minute stretch in the first half. That included missing eight 3-point attempts and committing a pair of shot-clock violations.

The Rams, seeded 11th, closed out the first half on a 9-1 run and cut Alabama’s lead to eight points at the break.

Cody drew her third foul just 72 seconds into the second half, sending the 6-foot-4 junior to the bench for nearly the remainder of the quarter. Rhode Island closed within four points three times in the third before the Crimson Tide used a 12-0 run to pull away.

SACRAMENTO 4 REGIONAL

NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 103, NO. 16 SOUTHERN 34

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Joyce Edwards had 27 points and eight rebounds and South Carolina won its 17th straight home women’s NCAA Tournament game with a defeat of Southern.

Edwards and the Gamecocks (32-3) opened with a 15-0 burst and never let up against the Jaguars (20-14), the Southwestern Athletic Conference champions.

South Carolina, already up 25 at the break, outscored Southern 32-2 in the third quarter.

It took little time for South Carolina to get going with Edwards scoring the first two baskets. Ta’Niya Latson added five points in the opening run as Southern started 0-for-7 shooting with six turnovers.

Latson finished with 17 points while Madina Okot and Agot Makeer had 15 points each. Tessa Johnson had 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

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The Associated Press

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