Spartans oust Duke

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State fans came to boo their former coach.

They left cheering for the Spartans.

Mia Johnson scored 17 points and Lauren Aitch had 15, lifting ninth-seeded Michigan State to a 63-49 win Tuesday night over the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils and former coach Joanne P. McCallie in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Duke didn’t make a shot for the last 7½ minutes as it was outscored 16-2, leading to students rushing the court to celebrate.

In more than a decade, the only top-seeded team to lose in the second round was Ohio State in 2006 setback against eighth-seeded Boston College.

Michigan State (22-10) will face the winner of the Iowa State-Ball State game on Saturday in the semifinals of the Berkeley Regional.

Jasmine Thomas had 14 points for Duke (27-6) and leading scorer Chante Black was held to just four.

The Blue Devils, who scored at least 75 points in each of their last six games, were held to a season-low total and made just 27 percent of their shots.

Raucous fans and flying elbows might’ve rattled them.

The game was so physical there were sequences in the lane that looked like an NHL goal-mouth scramble.

Coach P knew how loud it could get in the Breslin Center because she coached there for seven seasons before bolting two years and her team found out Tuesday night.

Duke insisted it wasn’t unfair, as a top-seeded team, to play on Michigan State’s home court. But it certainly seemed to give the Spartans a lift to have most of the lower level in their arena filled and to rattle Duke.

Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo and some of his players even took time away from preparing for their third-round matchup with Kansas to watch the game.

Trenton Regional

Connecticut 87, Florida 59

STORRS, Conn. — Next stop on the UConn express — Trenton.

Renee Montgomery scored 25 points in her final game at home and undefeated Connecticut beat eighth-seeded Florida 87-59 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The Huskies (35-0) advanced to the regional semifinals for the 16th straight season where they will play fourth-seeded California on Sunday. This is the fourth time that UConn has been undefeated while playing in the NCAA tournament. Connecticut went on to win the national championship in 1995 and 2002. In 1996-97, the Huskies lost to Tennessee in the regional final.

Tina Charles followed up her 32-point effort in the first round with 22 against Florida. She also had 10 rebounds for her 11th double-double this season.

Maya Moore added 22 points and 14 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season.

Raleigh Regional

Maryland 71, Utah 56

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — With help from their Maryland teammates and a spirited crowd, Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver enthusiastically celebrated one final victory on their home court.

Coleman had 18 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Toliver scored 17, and top-seed Maryland advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament with a 71-56 victory over Utah.

The Terrapins (30-4) will next play Vanderbilt (26-8) in the semifinals of the Raleigh Regional. Maryland beat the Commodores 80-66 last year in the third round.

Utah (23-10) probably would have had trouble defeating the Terrapins under any circumstances. But the Utes had to play in an arena where Maryland had won 35 straight and before 10,065 fans.

Tags: michigan state, sports, ncaa, womens, basketball, duke