BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Bailey Maupin scored seven of her 17 points in the final three minutes, and No. 7 seed Texas Tech held on to defeat 10th seed Villanova 57-52 on Friday night in the first round of March Madness.
Denae Fritz scored 13 points for Texas Tech (26-7), which went 7 of 15 from 3-point range, outshot Villanova, 44% (18 of 41) to 37% (20 of 54) and made 14 of 15 foul shots.
Fritz and Maupin both hit 3-pointers in the final 4:22 to help Tech carry a 53-47 lead into the final two minutes.
Villanova guard Jasmine Bascoe’s jumper cut the Wildcats’ deficit to four with 52 seconds left. But Bascoe, a slashing point guard who led all scorers with 21 points, turned the ball over when she lost her dribble off her leg with 21 seconds left.
After Maupin hit two free throws, Bascoe hit a 3 to make it a one possession game with 14 seconds left.
A Texas Tech turnover on an offensive foul by Maupin gave the Wildcats (25-8) a chance to tie it, but Denae Carter’s 3-point attempt missed, Maupin rebounded and hit two more free throws to seal it.
Neither team led by more than seven points in what was a physical, defensive-oriented game.
Kelsey Joens scored 14 points and Brynn McCurry had 13 points and nine rebounds for Villanova.
The first half ended tied at 26, with both teams shooting below 42%
With Tech defenders swarming Bascoe early, Joens took shots decisively, hitting five of her first six shots, including her first four 3-point shots. But Joens attempted just two shots in the second half — both missed 3s.
Up next
Texas Tech moves into the second round on Sunday against LSU, the site host and No. 2 seed in the Sacramento 2 region, which routed Jacksonville 116-58 on Friday. The winner advances to the Sweet 16.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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