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GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Jewell Loyd scored 17 points to lead No. 2 Notre Dame past Florida State 83-57 on Friday in its Atlantic Coast Conference tournament debut.
Kayla McBride added 13 for the top-seeded Fighting Irish (30-0), who ran off 21 straight points in the first half to turn their quarterfinal matchup with the ninth-seeded Seminoles (20-11) into a rout. Notre Dame shot 65 percent before halftime to build a 22-point lead at the break and never looked back.
Notre Dame advanced to Saturday's semifinals to face No. 14 North Carolina State, which lost by 24 points at home to the Fighting Irish less than a week ago.
Natasha Howard followed up her big second-round performance with 29 points to lead Florida State, which led 12-11 before Notre Dame took over.
No. 4 STANFORD 69, COLORADO 54
SEATTLE (AP) — Chiney Ogwumike scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half, and Stanford overcame its worst scoring first half of the season to advance to the Pac-12 Conference tournament semifinals.
Ogwumike, the conference player of the year, gave Stanford the lead for good with a rare 3-pointer early in the second half that was part of a 16-2 run by the Cardinal to take control.
Stanford, the top seed in the tournament, was held to a season-low 21 points in the first half. The Cardinal (29-2) will face either No. 5 seed USC or fourth-seeded Arizona State in the semifinals Saturday night. Stanford has won seven straight conference tourney titles.
Brittany Wilson scored 16 points to lead Colorado (17-14).
No. 5 SOUTH CAROLINA 67, GEORGIA 48
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Alaina Coates scored 13 points, Elem Ibiam added 12 points and South Carolina advanced to the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals for the second time in school history, with both coming in the last three years.
SEC player of the year Tiffany Mitchell finished with 11 points for the top-seeded Gamecocks (27-3), who led the entire game.
Erika Ford scored 10 points to lead Georgia (20-11).
South Carolina filled Georgia's passing lanes, ran through screens to pressure the perimeter and essentially never gave the ninth-seeded Lady Bulldogs much of a chance.
OHIO STATE 99, No. 11 PENN STATE 82
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ameryst Alston scored 33 points and Cait Craft 24 as eighth-seeded Ohio State stunned top-seeded Penn State in the Big Ten Conference tournament quarterfinals.
Raven Ferguson added 15 points for the Buckeyes (17-17), who shot 71.9 percent in the first half when they made all 10 of their 3-pointers for a 58-34 lead. The 58 points were a tournament record.
The Lady Lions (22-7) were led by Ariel Edwards' career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds. Maggie Lucas scored 21 points, including two 3-pointers that gave her the conference's career record with 358.
OSU built its lead to 27 points before PSU cut it to nine with 2:56 left. OSU then went on an 11-2 run to seal the outcome.
The Buckeyes will next face Iowa.
No. 12 KENTUCKY 75, FLORIDA 70
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — DeNesha Stallworth scored 13 points and Kentucky continued its string of Southeastern Conference tournament success, advancing to the semifinals for the fifth straight year.
Bria Goss and Jennifer O'Neill each had 11 points for Kentucky (23-7), which has reached three of the last four tournament finals.
There were 13 lead changes and eight ties, the last at 70-70 following back-to-back 3-pointers by Florida's Cassie Peoples, who had 18 points.
Kentucky reclaimed the lead on a basket by Janee Thompson and stretched the lead on Samarie Walker's offensive rebound and layup. Walker had seven points and 11 rebounds.
Kayla Lewis had 18 points and eight rebounds for Florida (19-12). The Gators swept two regular-season games with Kentucky.
No. 14 N.C. STATE 79, SYRACUSE 63
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Markeisha Gatling scored a career-high 28 points before leaving with a knee injury in the second half, and North Carolina State advanced to the ACC tournament semifinals.
Kody Burke added 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Wolfpack (25-6), who trailed 48-39 before going on a 25-1 run fueled by Gatling's 14 points.
The 6-foot-5 senior left with 8:19 left after injuring her left knee and was helped to the locker room.
Brittney Sykes scored 14 points for the fifth-seeded Orange (22-9), who missed 16 straight shots at one point during N.C. State's decisive run.
Syracuse, in its first ACC tournament, shot 10 for 38 (26 percent) after halftime.
The game was delayed three times in the second half due to lights and shot-clock outages amid a winter storm that caused numerous power outages in the area.
No. 23 IOWA 87, No. 17 PURDUE 80
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ally Disterhoft scored 10 of her 12 points in the final 5:38 as Iowa rallied with a 24-11 closing run to advance to the Big 10 semifinals.
The Hawkeyes (25-7) will face eighth-seeded Ohio State (17-17) in the semis after the Buckeyes upset top-seeded Penn State.
Purdue (21-8) battled through seven ties and six lead changes in the first half to lead 39-35 at the break and appeared to be in control after halftime with Courtney Moses scoring 24 points.
Iowa's all-Big Ten selections Disterhoft, Samantha Logic and Bethany Doolittle were held to a combined seven points in the first half due to foul trouble but came through in the second. Doolittle finished with 16 and Logic 12.
Disterhoft scored six in an 8-1 run for a 71-70 lead that Iowa never relinquised.
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