BATON ROUGE -- Middle Tennessee guard Savannah Wheeler, the Conference USA player of the year, missed her first six shots, committed two fouls and a turnover during the first 18 minutes of the Blue Raiders' women's NCAA Tournament opener against Louisville on Friday.
But when she finally scored her first points on a layup with 1:16 left in the first half, a game that Louisville had dominated early was about to change.
Wheeler scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half, and No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee stormed back from 18 points down to defeat sixth-seeded Louisville 71-69 in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament.
"I kept telling myself to keep staying aggressive and just keep playing within myself and eventually one is going to fall," said Wheeler, who hit five of her seven second-half shots, including all 3 three-pointers she put up. "We're a team that we don't give up. We keep playing hard. We keep fighting."
Jalynn Gregory scored 24 for MTSU (30-4), which has won 20 in a row and has not lost since falling to Grand Canyon on Dec. 30.
Center Anastasiia Boldyreva had 11 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocked shots for the Blue Raiders, who matched the third-largest comeback in tournament history to advance to the second round of the tournament for the fifth time and first since 2007.
MTSU will play Sunday against No. 3 seed LSU.
Olivia Cochran had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Nina Rickards scored 12 points for Louisville (24-10), but Cochran was whistled for her fourth in the middle of the third quarter, and was subbed out with Louisville still holding a five-point lead.
"We made a big push when that happened," MTSU Coach Rick Insell said. "They didn't have anybody else like her -- and we didn't either."
LSU 70, RICE 60
BATON ROUGE -- Angel Reese had 10 points and 19 rebounds, and third-seeded LSU overcame a feisty performance by No. 14 seed Rice.
Aneesah Morrow added 15 points, while Flau'Jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams each scored 14 for the defending national champion Tigers (29-5), who had a hard time putting the away the Owls (19-15), in no small part because they committed a season-high 24 turnovers.
Rice didn't make anything easy on LSU, which didn't lead by more than 11 all game and was up by just six after Maya Bokunewicz's left side three-pointer and Sussy Ngulefac's layup made it 62-56 with 1:56 left.
Destiny Jackson scored 15 and Malia Fisher had 13 points and three steals for Rice. Ngulefac and Emily Klaczek each scored 10 points.
KANSAS STATE 78,
PORTLAND 65
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Gabby Gregory had 22 points and Ayoka Lee scored 21 to lead Kansas State to a win over Portland.
The fourth-seeded Wildcats built a big first-half lead and then kept the No. 13 seed Pilots at an arm's reach the rest of the game. They led 40-28 at halftime.
Serena Sundell added 16 points for Kansas State (26-7).
Portland (21-13) was led by Maisie Burnham, who had 17 of her 21 points in the second half. The Pilots also got 12 points from Kianna Hamilton-Fisher.
COLORADO 86, DRAKE 72
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Aaronette Vonleh had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead fifth-seeded Colorado to a victory over 12th-seed Drake.
The Buffaloes will face fourth-seeded Kansas State in the second round Sunday.
Colorado (23-9) also got 16 points from Jaylyn Sherrod and Kindyll Wetta, and Maddie Nolan had 12. The Buffs held a 39-18 advantage on the boards.
Drake (29-6) got 24 points from Katie Dinnebier. Courtney Becker added 14 and Taylor McAulay had 13.
ALBANY I REGION
SOUTH CAROLINA 91,
PRESBYTERIAN 39
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Chloe Kitts tied her career high with 21 points on 9-of-9 shooting as No. 1 overall seed South Carolina easily overcame the absence of starters Kamilla Cardoso and Bree Hall to beat No. 16 seed Presbyterian.
The Gamecocks (33-0) moved five wins away from the 10th perfect championship season by overwhelming the Blue Hose (21-15) of the Big South Conference for a second time this season. Next comes another rematch against No. 8 seed North Carolina on Sunday.
Kitts also had a game-high 13 rebounds. Te-Hina Paopao had 18 points and freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 17 for South Carolina, which played without Cardoso, their leading scorer, while she served a one-game suspension for her ejection for fighting at the SEC Tournament finals on March 10. Hall, who started the previous 32 games, came out in street clothes on the bench. A team spokesman texted that Hall was out for "precautionary reasons."
NORTH CAROLINA 59,
MICHIGAN STATE 56
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Deja Kelly had 13 points and No. 8 seed North Carolina held off a late run by No. 9 seed Michigan State.
Maria Gakdeng had 17 points and 10 rebounds while Alyssa Ustby had 16 points and 17 rebounds, no grab bigger than pulling down Kelly's final free throw miss with 3.2 seconds left as the clock ran out.
It looked like the Tar Heels (20-12) had this sewn up, opening a 16-point lead early and still leading 54-42 with 3:22 to go. But the Spartans (22-9) had a final rally in them and cut things to 57-56 on Theryn Hallock's three-pointer from the right corner with 5.4 seconds to go.
OREGON STATE 73,
EASTERN WASHINGTON 51
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Raegan Beers had 19 points and nine rebounds before she was hurt at the end of the third quarter and third-seeded Oregon State advanced to the second round of the women's NCAA Tournament with a victory over No. 14 Eastern Washington.
Dominika Paurova added 17 points for the Beavers (25-7), who trailed early but took control of the game in the second quarter and led by as many as 25 points.
Jamie Loera had 21 points for the Eagles (29-6), who won the Big Sky conference tournament to earn just their second NCAA Tournament appearance.
South Carolina forward Ashlyn Watkins, right, shoots over Presbyterian guard Paige Kindseth during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the women's NCAA Tournament in Columbia, S.C., Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao, left, looks to pass as Presbyterian center Bryanna Brady (34) defends during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the women's NCAA Tournament in Columbia, S.C., Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Presbyterian guard Christina Kline, left, keeps the ball from South Carolina forward Ashlyn Watkins (2) during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the women's NCAA Tournament in Columbia, S.C., Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
South Carolina guard Raven Johnson (25) passes the ball during the first half of a first-round college basketball game against Presbyterian in the women's NCAA Tournament in Columbia, S.C., Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
South Carolina forward Ashlyn Watkins (2) passes around Presbyterian center Bryanna Brady during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the women's NCAA Tournament in Columbia, S.C., Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)