NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Sierra Parchment scored 21 points as seventh-seeded Illinois beat 10th-seeded Colorado 66-57 in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament on Saturday night.
The Fighting Illini (22-11), the youngest team in the tournament after replacing four starters, have now won their first-round game for the second straight season. Illinois will play No. 2 seed Vanderbilt, which defeated No. 15 seed High Point 102-61, on Monday night for a spot in the Region 1 Sweet 16 in Fort Worth.
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Berry Wallace added 18 points for Illinois and Destiny Jackson grabbed 11 rebounds and scored 11 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.
Colorado (22-12) has won four of the programs’ previous seven games, but this is the first time these programs have competed in the tournament since 2013 and the first time in the NCAA tournament. After Jade Masogayo’s layup with 4:08 left in the game, Buffalo missed its last five shots and was held scoreless.
Desiree Wooten led Colorado with 17 points and Masogayo scored 15 points.
After the first quarter, Illinois led Colorado 20-18 and scored six consecutive points at the end of the second quarter to help the team enter halftime with a 34-29 lead.
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Masogayo’s layup tied Colorado 38-36 with 7:30 left in the third quarter. Subsequently, Wallace made two free throws, and Illinois won seven consecutive games and took the largest lead at 45-36. Colorado outscored Illinois 15-13 in the third quarter, and Wooton’s layup pushed Buffalo to a 47-44 lead to start the fourth quarter.
Then, a freshman on the Fighting Illini took over. Jackson scored seven of Illinois’ first nine points, and her 3-pointer extended the lead to 56-50.
long time no see
Illinois improved to 10-10 in the tournament, qualifying for the third time in four years and 11th time in history under coach Shauna Green. Now, Illinois has back-to-back winning seasons in the NCAA for the first time since the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons.
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The program has won the tournament at least once in four straight seasons since 1996-97.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness