Kaitlin Peterson scored 25 of her game-high 35 points in the second half and UCF dismissed BYU from the Big 12 Women’s Championship tournament 81-69 on Wednesday afternoon in Kansas City, Mo.
BYU entered the fourth quarter clinging to a one-point lead but couldn’t contain Peterson, who put the game out of reach with 13 points in the final 10 minutes.
After the Cougars claimed the lead 56-55 with 40 seconds left in the third quarter, Peterson took over. She drilled a 3, opened the fourth with a pair of free throws, tacked on another from long distance and prompted a Cougars timeout with a steal and layup that made it a 66-57 advantage with 8:02 to play.
The No. 13 seed Knights (12-17, 4-14) advance to play Kansas State on Thursday. The No. 4 seed Wildcats (25-6, 13-5) had a first-round bye. Kansas State beat UCF 97-67 on Feb. 15.
Colorado 66, Houston 58
Lior Garzon scored 21 points as the ninth-seeded Buffaloes cruised past the 16th-seeded Cougars in Kansas City, Mo.
Jade Masogayo added 14 points for Colorado (19-11), which advances to oppose eighth-seeded Arizona on Thursday. The Buffaloes shot 44.9 percent from the floor but finished with a 48-22 rebounding edge.
Laila Blair led Houston (5-25, 1-17) with 15 points. Gigi Cooke had 13, Eylia Love 11 and Leilani Augmon 10 as the Cougars ended the season with 13 consecutive losses.
Arizona State 82, Cincinnati 75
Jalyn Brown scored 27 points and the 15th-seeded Sun Devils hung on to defeat the 10th-seeded Bearcats in Kansas City, Mo.
The Sun Devils led by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter before a 21-5 run by Cincinnati made it a one-possession game with 1:25 left. The Sun Devils (10-21) advanced to the second round where they will face No. 7 seed Iowa State Thursday evening.
Cincinnati (15-14) was led by Reagan Jackson with 24 points. Arizona State also got 26 points from Tyi Skinner.
Texas Tech 57, Kansas 53
Kilah Freelon scored seven points in the final 5:05, including a key put-back with 26 seconds left, as the 14th-seeded Red Raiders defeated the 11th-seeded Jayhawks in Kansas City, Mo.
The Red Raiders (16-16) advanced to the second round, where they will face No. 6 seed Utah in the final game Thursday. They were led by Bailey Maupin with 12 points. Jasmine Shavers and Denae Fritz added 11.
Kansas (16-14) was led by Brittany Harshaw with 15 points. S’Mya Nichols, Kansas’ leading scorer, left the game late in the third quarter with an apparent knee injury and was held to eight points.
–Field Level Media
–Field Level Media