WACO, Texas (AP) — Madison Scott scored 14 points, including a tiebreaking jumper in the final minute, and Mississippi advanced to the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 69-63 victory over Baylor on the Bears’ home court Sunday.
Sira Thienou, playing with gauze stuffed into one of her nostrils, scored 16 points as the Rebels (22-10) won twice in Waco three years after a first-round loss that was the first tournament victory for South Dakota.
Aaronette Vonleh scored 16 points for the Bears (28-8), who failed to advance to the Sweet 16 from their arena for the second time in four seasons under coach Nicki Collen. They had done so eight consecutive times under Kim Mulkey, who won three national championships at Baylor.
Ole Miss, which had the resume to be an early-round host, settled for the No. 5 seed, its highest since 1994, and moved on to the Spokane 1 Regional.
It’s the second Sweet 16 in the past three seasons under coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin and the 12th in program history. Mississippi will play either No. 1 seed UCLA or No. 8 seed Richmond. Those teams tip off Sunday night.
Scott’s bucket capped a tiebreaking 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter, but the fourth-seeded Bears hung around. Baylor pulled even at 59-all on a putback from Vonleh. It was even again at 61 after a bucket from Sarah Andrews, who had 14 points, setting up Scott’s go-ahead shot after a timeout.
KK Deans iced it for the Rebels by making all six of her free throws in the final 29 seconds. Deans also hit a 3-pointer when Baylor went to a zone to start the fourth quarter.
Ole Miss didn’t score in the final 5:39 of the second quarter, going 3 of 17 from the field with six turnovers as the Bears finished the half on a 10-0 run for a 29-26 lead.
Things changed immediately in the third quarter, with the teams combining to score 10 points in the first 1:22 after the break. The teams missed their first 13 shots combined from beyond the arc.
Later in the third, each team made its first 3-pointer of the game, with Andrews connecting for Baylor and Kennedy Todd-Williams answering 18 seconds later for a 38-38 tie. The score was tied at 48 going to the fourth.
