NORFOLK, Va. — Tina Charles scored 22 points and Maya Moore added 21 to help No. 1 Connecticut beat Southern University 95-39 in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament Sunday.

Charles made her first nine shots for the Huskies (34-0), who extended their record winning streak to 73 games. UConn has won all of them by double digits.

Southern (23-9) actually led 2-0 after a short bank shot by Freda Allen, but the Huskies immediately asserted themselves with a 15-2 burst. After consecutive 3-pointers pulled the Jaguars within 20-12, Connecticut got points from seven players in an 18-4 run and coasted the rest of the way.

Hannah Kador led the Jaguars with 10 points, but shot just 3 for 22.



No. 2 Ohio State 93, No. 15 St. Francis, Pa. 59

PITTSBURGH — Jantel Lavender dominated inside for Ohio State with 23 points and 16 rebounds against smaller Saint Francis, Pa. and the Buckeyes opened up a 27-point lead before halftime during a rout.

Lavender, the three-time Big Ten player of the year, starting guard Tayler Hill and two reserves became ill after eating sandwiches following practice Saturday, but the Buckeyes weren’t slowed by the sickness or by St. Francis.

The Buckeyes (31-4) reeled off runs of 11-0, 19-2 and 13-3 before halftime, taking control from the start and never allowing the Red Flash (17-15) to build any confidence or momentum.

Britney Hodges and Brittany Lilley scored 16 points and Samantha Leach had 14 for Saint Francis, which is 0-10 in NCAA play, losing each time by at least 15 points.



No. 12 Wisconsin-Green Bay 69, No. 5 Virginia 67

AMES, Iowa — Celeste Hoewisch scored 23 points and Wisconsin-Green Bay let most of a 16-point lead slip away before holding on to beat Virginia.

After it appeared the Phoenix (28-4) would win in a rout, fifth-seeded Virginia forced a slew of turnovers by turning up its defensive pressure and cut the lead to 64-63 on Ariana Moorer’s two free throws with 32.7 seconds left.

But Wisconsin-Green Bay steadied just enough to make five free throws in the closing seconds to move into the second round.

It was a disappointing ending for Virginia’s Monica Wright, the ACC player of the year and the school’s career scoring leader. Wright did her part with 34 points and nine rebounds, but didn’t get the help she needed from her teammates.



No. 7 Mississippi State 68, No. 10 Middle Tennessee State 64

PITTSBURGH — Alexis Rack and Chanel Mokango led a frantic rally as Mississippi State, down nine points to Middle Tennessee State and national scoring leader Alysha Clark with 4 1/2 minutes remaining, surged back for a victory.

The Bulldogs (20-12) will meet Ohio State (31-4) on Tuesday in a rematch of the Buckeyes’ 64-58 victory in Columbus in the second round last season. Ohio State beat St. Francis, Pa., 93-59 earlier Sunday.

Rack and Mokango teamed for all but six of Mississippi State’s 40 points in the second half as the Bulldogs came back from deficits of as many as 15 points in the first half and 10 points in the second half. Rack scored 21 after missing all four of her shots in the first half and Mokango added 20 points.



No. 8 Temple 65, No. 9 James Madison 53

NORFOLK, Va. — Qwedia Wallace scored 21 points and Temple beat James Madison, setting up a matchup with coach Tonya Cardoza’s mentor.

Kristen McCarthy and LaKeisha Eaddy added 15 points each for Temple (25-8), which gained its first victory in the tournament since it beat Nebraska in opening round in 2007.

James Madison (26-7), which came in on an eight-game winning streak, fell behind early and spent the entire game trying to get back to even. The Dukes never quite got there.

Dawn Evans led the James Madison with 18 points and Tarik Hislop had 14.



SACRAMENTO REGIONAL

No. 3 Xavier 94, No. 14 East Tennessee State 82

CINCINNATI — Xavier avoided an unprecedented upset on its home court Sunday, following the inside domination by Amber Harris and Ta’Shia Phillips en route to a victory over East Tennessee State.

No third-seeded team has ever lost to a No. 14. Xavier (28-3) overcame a flurry of ETSU 3s and a late surge to get its first NCAA tournament win since 2001.

Harris, the Atlantic 10’s player of the year, had a season-high 31 points. Phillips had 23 points and 21 rebounds, helping Xavier dominate the boards 52-34.

Undersized ETSU (23-9) made 15 3-pointers and got a career-high 30 points from Tarita Gordon, whose jumper cut it to 81-80 with 2:45 left. Harris and Phillips took it from there.



No. 6 Vanderbilt 83, No. 11 DePaul 76, OT

CINCINNATI — Merideth Marsh scored nine of her 26 points in overtime Sunday, rallying Vanderbilt to a victory over DePaul.

Marsh became Vanderbilt’s career 3-point leader in the first half, when the Commodores (23-10) pulled ahead by 11. The Blue Demons (21-12) made a comeback behind point guard Sam Quigley, who sat most of the half with three fouls.

With the score tied at 64, both teams missed shots in the final minute of regulation. Marsh had a three-point play and a fastbreak layup as Vanderbilt ran off the first 11 points in overtime. Anna Martin led DePaul with 20 points.

Vanderbilt is making its 11th straight NCAA tournament appearance, trying to reach the round of 16 for the fifth time in seven years.



KANSAS CITY REGIONAL

No. 1 Nebraska 83, No. 16 Northern Iowa 44

MINNEAPOLIS — Kelsey Griffin had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Nebraska to an easy win over Northern Iowa.

Dominique Kelley added 11 points for the Cornhuskers (31-1), the top-seeded team in the Kansas City regional.

Lizzie Boeck had 10 points and eight rebounds for Northern Iowa (17-16), one day after the Panthers men’s team busted brackets across the country by beating No. 1 Kansas in the second round of the tournament.

After a shaky start, the Huskers bounced back from a loss to Texas A&M in the Big 12 tournament semifinals to show that they are still a team to be reckoned with.

Nebraska forced 17 turnovers and outscored the Panthers 22-7 in the first nine minutes of the second half to blow the game open.



No. 2 Notre Dame 86, No. 15 Cleveland State 58

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Becca Bruszewski scored 14 points, Ashley Barlow added 13 and Notre Dame overcame a 31-point performance by Cleveland State’s Kailey Klein, including 21 in the first half, to beat the Vikings.

Stephanie Crosley scored a layup for Cleveland State (19-14) for the game’s first basket and added another shot inside with 73 seconds left in the first half. In between, Klein scored all of the Vikings’ other points in the half.

It wasn’t enough, though, as the Fighting Irish (28-5) cruised to the victory after losing to Minnesota at home in the opening round of last year’s NCAA tournament. Notre Dame will host Vermont (27-6) in the second round Tuesday night.



No. 11 Arkansas-Little Rock 63, No. 6 Georgia Tech 53

NORMAN, Okla. — Kim Sitzmann scored a season-high 21 points and Arkansas-Little Rock won its NCAA tournament debut, stunning Georgia Tech.

Arkansas-Little Rock (27-6) was so unsure of making the 64-team tournament field that it didn’t hold a formal viewing party last Monday. The Trojans, who had a 21-game winning streak snapped in the Sun Belt Conference tournament title game, received one of the last at-large bids.

Brigitte Ardossi scored 26 points for Georgia Tech (23-10), which fell to 2-6 all-time in NCAA tournament play.

Georgia Tech jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but quickly fell behind the smaller, speedier Trojans even though UALR’s leading scorer, Chastity Reed, scored only 14 points — 11 below her average — which ranks fourth nationally.



No. 10 Vermont 64, No. 7 Wisconsin 55

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Courtnay Pilypaitis scored 25 points, May Kotsopoulos added 14 and Vermont survived squandering a 14-point lead in the first half to beat Wisconsin, the Catamounts’ first NCAA tournament victory in six tries.

The Catamounts (27-6) bucked the trend of the higher seed winning in this year’s tournament by overcoming missing their first nine shots of the second half. Wisconsin (21-11) opened the second half on a 12-0 run to go ahead 37-33.

But the Badgers, who had come back from double-digit deficits three times this season, couldn’t hold off the Catamounts. After Kotsopoulos hit a 3 to tie the score at 39, Pilypaitis scored on a layup, then added another basket 19 seconds later.

After Alyssa Karel hit a 3 for Wisconsin, Vermont went on a 9-2 run to extend the lead to 55-46. Wisconsin never got closer than four points.



MEMPHIS REGIONAL

No. 11 San Diego State 74, No. 6 Texas 63

AUSTIN, Texas — Jene Morris scored 32 points and San Diego State stunned Texas on the Longhorns’ home court.

Morris put on a dazzling display of 3-point shooting and quick-burst drives to the basket that tormented Texas the entire game. She made four 3-pointers as the Aztecs (22-10) built a 19-point lead in the first half, then made the big shots and plays again in the second to put down Texas rallies.

It was the second year in a row San Diego State has pulled off a first-round upset. The Aztecs were a No. 10 seed when they beat No. 7 DePaul last season.

Freshman center Cokie Reed scored 16 for Texas (22-11), which couldn’t get anything going in front of the home fans. The Longhorns shot 33 percent, including 1 of 13 from 3-point range.