COLLEGE PARK, Md. — With President Barack Obama supporting his niece and the rest of Princeton’s basketball team a few rows from courtside, the Tigers managed to stay unbeaten.
After trailing at halftime Saturday, eighth-seeded Princeton came back to improve to 31-0 this season and win a women’s NCAA Tournament game for the first time in school history, beating No. 9 seed Wisconsin-Green Bay 80-70 behind Michelle Miller’s 20 points and Annie Tarakchian’s 19 in the Spokane Region.
There was some question whether Ivy League champion Princeton deserved a better seeding, given that it was the only undefeated women’s team and was ranked 13th in the final AP poll. But the Tigers had been 0-4 in the NCAAs, all since 2010, and fell behind 35-32 late in the first half against Green Bay.
Princeton is not only unaccustomed to losing, it’s not all that familiar with dealing with the stress of a tight one, having won all but two of its games by at least 10 points.
Still, Green Bay managed to hang in there, never falling behind by more than eight points early.
And when Kaili Lukan hit a corner 3, off a pass from her older sister Megan, it brought the Phoenix within 30-27 with about 61/2 minutes left in the first half. Soon after, Green Bay went on an 8-0 run capped by a pair of jumpers by Tesha Buck to take a 35-32 lead. Miller’s jumper for Princeton just before the buzzer got the Tigers within 35-34 at halftime.
But Princeton moved out in front with a 15-3 run that gave it a 60-48 edge with about 9 minutes left on Alex Wheatley’s fast-break layup.
Green Bay (28-5) did get as close as four, 69-65, on Megan Lukan’s basket with about 2 minutes left, but Princeton held on.
It was only the second win in NCAA Tournament history for an Ivy League team. The Tigers joined Harvard, which knocked off No. 1 seed Stanford in 1998 marking the only time a 16 seed has won a game.
Mehryn Kraker led Green Bay with 21 points, and Kaili Lukan added 17. But the Phoenix shot just 8 of 27 on 3-pointers, while Princeton went 9 of 16.
Obama’s niece, freshman forward Leslie Robinson, did not appear in the game for Princeton.
The cheerer-in-chief arrived during pregame warm-ups, a few minutes before tipoff, taking a seat among orange-wearing Princeton fans not far off the court. Police cars dotted roads leading to the arena, and there was heavy security at entrances, including metal detectors and bomb-sniffing dogs.
During the second half, a brief chant of “Four more years!” rose from some fans, drawing a chuckle from Obama.
Just like when any player’s uncle shows up for a tournament game, right?
There are quite a bit of connections between the first family and Princeton. Michelle Obama went to school there, as did her brother, Craig Robinson, who sat next to the President on Saturday. Robinson’s daughter, Leslie, is a freshman forward for Princeton. Also accompanying President Obama on Saturday: his daughter Malia and his mother-in-law.
Showing quite a bit of family favoritism, President Obama picked Princeton to make it to the Final Four in his women’s NCAA bracket. And, well, that’s still in play.
MARYLAND 75, NEWE MEXICO STATE 57: Brionna Jones dominated the inside on both ends of the court, getting 22 points and 12 rebounds to carry the top-seeded Maryland Terrapins (31-2) past the Aggies (22-8) at College Park, Maryland.
The Terrapins (31-2) will bring a school-record 25-game winning streak into Monday night’s matchup against eighth-seeded Princeton (31-0).
Jones went 7 for 10 from the floor and 8 for 9 at the line, finishing just two points short of matching her career high in points. She was pulled with 5:50 left.
Brianna Freeman scored 15 and Sasha Weber added 14 for the Aggies, who were making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1988. The Western Athletic Conference champions were outrebounded 45-20 and went 5 for 21 from 3-point range.
Senior guard Larin Mincy scored 19 for the Terrapins, who haven’t lost since Dec. 3. Maryland went ahead for good at 7-6 and led by 20 with 12 minutes left.
PITTSBURGH 51, CHATTANOOGA 40: Stasha Carey scored 16 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as the Panthers (20-11) ended a 25-game winning streak by the Mocs (29-4), at Knoxville, Tennessee.
Pittsburgh (20-11), the No. 10 seed, will play Monday against Tennessee.
Chattanooga, which never led, has eight straight NCAA Tournament losses since beating Rutgers in a 2004 first-round game. The seventh-seeded Mocs shot a season-low 26.2 percent (17 of 65) to fall for the first time since a 57-52 loss at Arkansas State on Dec. 1.
The victory continued a surprising season for Pittsburgh, which was picked to finish last in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Jasmine Joyner had 10 points and nine rebounds for Chattanooga before fouling out. Brianna Kiesel had 13 points for Pittsburgh.
TENNESSEE 72, BOISE STATE 61: Bashaara Graves scored a career-high 24 points and the Lady Vols (28-5) outlasted the pesky Broncos (22-11) at Knoxville, Tennessee.
The No. 2 Lady Vols had a much tougher time than expected against the 15th-seeded Broncos.
Tennessee was clinging to a 63-58 lead after Boise State’s Camille Redmon made the front end of a one-and-one with 2:51 remaining. But Redmon missed her second free throw, and Tennessee’s Ariel Massengale sank a 3-pointer 13 seconds later to spark a clinching 8-0 run.
Brooke Pahukoa scored 22 points for Boise State. She had 18 in the first half, when she shot 7 of 7. Deanna Weaver added 13 points and Shalen Shaw had 10.
Massengale scored 18 points for Tennessee, which outrebounded Boise State 46-28.
GREENSBORO REGION
NORTH CAROLINA 71, LIBERTY 65: Allisha Gray scored 17 points and the Tar Heels (25-8) beat the Flames (26-7) in the first round at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Latifah Coleman added 15 points for the fourth-seeded Tar Heels. They shot 49 percent, led by 14 and withstood the Flames’ late push to give Hall of Fame Coach Sylvia Hatchell a victory in her return to the NCAA Tournament.
Ashley Rininger had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Flames, who were trying to become the second No. 13 seed to win a tournament game.
They chipped away at North Carolina’s lead down the stretch, pulling to 65-59 on Jaymee Fisher-Davis’ 3-pointer with 1:02 left.
Coleman followed with a driving layup with 40.5 seconds to play before Emily Frazier hit a free throw with 26.9 seconds remaining to make it a seven-point game.
Brittany Rountree made it 69-60 with two free throws with 25.2 seconds left.
Fisher-Davis hit another 3 with 13.3 seconds left before Gray stuck back Coleman’s missed free throw with 10.9 seconds to play.
Stephanie Mavunga added 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting for North Carolina, which will play the James Madison-Ohio State winner on Monday night with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.
The Tar Heels have reached the regional semifinals in 14 of their last 19 NCAA Tournament appearances – including last year under the guidance of associate head coach Andrew Calder, who filled in for Hatchell while she stepped away to fight leukemia.
Karly Buer had 14 points for Liberty, which had its 14-game winning streak snapped. The Flames were denied both their first NCAA Tournament victory and their first win over a Top 25 opponent since 2005.
FLORIDA GULF COAST 75, OKLAHOMA STATE 67: Kaneisha Atwater scored 26 points and Whitney Knight added 19 points and 10 rebounds to help the Eagles (31-2) win their 26th straight game by beating the 10th-seeded Cowgirls (20-12) at Tallahassee, Florida.
It was a sweet win for the seventh-seeded Eagles, who were eliminated in last year’s first round of the NCAA tournament 61-60 in overtime by Oklahoma State.
Gulf Coast was up by five at the half and extended its lead to 71-54 with 4:37 left.
Oklahoma State was led in scoring by Roddricka Patton’s career-high 23 points. She had scored only 34 points all season entering the game. Liz Donohoe added 14 points for the Cowgirls, all in the second half. Brittney Martin’s game-high 12 rebounds helped Oklahoma State to a 44-32 advantage on the boards.
FGCU led 36-31 at the half and never trailed in the second half.
The Eagles will face the winner of Florida State and Alabama State on Monday night.
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