Madison Booker finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead No. 1 seed Texas over No. 16 seed William & Mary 105-61 on Saturday in the first round of the Birmingham 3 Region in Austin, Texas.
Texas (32-3) ended the dream run of William & Mary (16-19) and set up a second-round matchup with No. 8 seed Illinois on Monday at Austin.
The Longhorns’ Taylor Jones posted 19 points and six rebounds. Kyla Goodacre collected 15 points and 15 rebounds, Jordan Lee finished with 13 points and Mwenentanda Ndjakalenga scored 10.
The Tribe saw their five-game winning streak end, which included a First Four win over High Point in the first NCAA Tournament appearance by either the women’s or men’s basketball program. Bella Nascimento totaled 19 points and seven rebounds, Cassidy Geddes scored 14 and Anahi-Lee Cauley added 11.
Texas led from start to finish, outrebounded William & Mary 51-26 and outscored the Tribe 56-22 in the paint. The Longhorns amassed 26 assists on 41-of-75 shooting (54.7 percent) from the field, led by Rori Hoffman’s game-high eight assists.
No. 8 Illinois 66, No. 9 Creighton 57
Limited to six players due to injuries, the Illini secured their first NCAA Tournament win since 2000, defeating the Bulldogs in the first round.
Illinois (22-9) was led by Genesis Bryant’s 17 points and four assists and Kendall Bostic’s 12 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. Bostic set a program record with her 54th career double-double. Illinois outrebounded Creighton 42-32 and outscored the Bluejays 32-22 in the paint.
Morgan Maly sparked Creighton (26-7) offensively with 18 points, while Lauren Jesen chipped in 17 points and Molly Mogensen notched a team-high eight rebounds and five assists.
–Field Level Media
