SafeX Pro:Women's March Madness winners and losers: Dominika Paurova, Audi Crooks party on

Who says the women’s tournament doesn’t have SafeX Profirst-round upsets? 

Middle Tennessee must not have liked that narrative, because the Blue Raiders came back from as many as 18 down to shock sixth-seeded Louisville, 71-69. Cinderella tends to dance past midnight when she scores 20 of her 22 points in the second half, as Middle Tennessee guard Savannah Wheeler did against the Cardinals. 

Everything else went chalk early Friday, though there were some other scares: seventh-seeded Duke had to come back from a halftime deficit against 10th-seeded Richmond, LSU didn’t look anything like a team ready to win another national championship and eighth-seeded North Carolina had to hang on for a nail-biting 59-56 win over ninth-seeded Michigan State. And while seventh-seeded Iowa State beating 10th-seeded Maryland was technically what was supposed to happen, the Cyclones coming back from 20 points down was pretty wild. 

In the meantime, here are Friday’s winners and losers:

WINNERS

Dominika Paurova, Oregon State

Talk about a memorable birthday. 

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The freshman guard for third-seeded Oregon State celebrated her 19th birthday Friday in two ways: setting a career high in points (17) off the bench and hanging out with her family afterward for the first time in months.

Paurova, who is from Czech Republic, got to play in front of her parents for the first time in her college career, and she put on a show for them, scoring 14 of those points in 12 minutes in the first half. She added three assists, two rebounds and two steals to her stat line, helping the Beavers to a 73-51 win over Eastern Washington to advance to the second round.

Audi Crooks, Iowa State

In a class full of rockstar freshmen, Audi Crooks, the 6-foot-3 bruiser for Iowa State, is often forgotten. But after Friday’s performance against Iowa State, she won’t be. 

Crooks helped seventh-seeded Iowa State pull off an incredible 20-point comeback, stunning 10th-seeded Maryland 93-86 behind 40 points from the rookie. Crooks, who has deceptive athleticism, shot 18-of-20 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds. Maryland had no answer for her, and the confidence she gains from a performance like that will pay dividends throughout the tournament.

Alyssa Ustby, North Carolina 

By halftime, the senior Tar Heel guard — who earlier this season recorded the program’s first-ever triple-double — was just one rebound shy of a double-double, with 10 points and nine rebounds at the break. Ustby grabbed her 10th board, and then some more, finishing with 16 points, 17 rebounds and six assists, helping the Tar Heels hang on for a 59-56 win over Michigan State. 

Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State

Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon, one of the Buckeyes’ most important players on both ends of the floor, surpassed 2,000 career points early in the game when she finished a layup and converted the three-point play with a free throw. A grad student, Sheldon scored a team-high 19 points, adding four rebounds and four assists, as second-seeded Ohio State beat Maine 80-57 to advance to the second round vs. Duke. Sheldon is the eighth Ohio State player to reach 2,000 career points. 

Virginia Tech

So much for the fourth-seeded Hokies moping through the first round without three-time ACC player of the year Liz Kitley. Virginia Tech was all business, routing Marshall 92-49 and holding the Thundering Herd to 14.6% (6-of-41) from 3. Even more impressive: Point guard Georgia Amoore, an All-American, sat most of the second quarter in foul trouble. It didn’t matter, as junior guard Matilda Ekh scored 21 and freshman center Clara Strack added 17. Now the question is, can the Hokies hold off an upset bid from fifth-seeded Baylor on Sunday? 

LOSERS

Maryland

How did you let that happen, Terps? 

Up as much as 20 in the first half on seventh-seeded Iowa State, Maryland had a complete meltdown after halftime, eventually losing 93-86. What’s worse, they gave up 40 to a freshman making her NCAA Tournament debut. Maryland also lost the battle of the boards, 36-25, giving up eight offensive rebounds that Iowa State turned into 14 crucial second-chance points.

Louisville

Deep runs in the NCAA Tournament had become almost a given for the Cardinals, especially under Jeff Walz. Six consecutive trips to the Elite Eight and two Final Four appearances since 2018. 

But Louisville hasn’t been able to lock games down all season, and it came back to bite the Cardinals against Middle Tennessee State. Louisville led by 18 with 4:18 left in the second quarter, only to be outscored 51-31 the rest of the way. 

“Like coach Walz said, we just had a bad second half. And we’ve been doing that all year,” Olivia Cochran said. “We’ve just got to learn how to be tough. We’ve got to learn how to fight adversity, which we haven’t been doing all season.” 

Everyone who wanted to see Hailey Van Lith vs. her old team

See above. 

People who like chaos

We were so close to monumental upsets! The defending national champion hasn’t been knocked out in the first round since Tennessee in 2009, but 14th-seeded Rice gave LSU quite the scare Friday. 

The Owls, who were so underrated they were seeded 10th in the American Athletic Conference tournament, were within a point of LSU early in the third quarter. They were within single digits for most of the fourth quarter. 

“We never for one second quit or looked like we didn’t believe we belonged,” Rice coach Lindsay Edmonds said after the game. 

Alas, the basketball gods weren’t in the mood for fun in this game. Clinging to a two-point lead, a layup by Mikaylah Williams with 4:43 left in the third sparked an 11-2 LSU run that effectively sealed the game. 

Later Friday, 10th-seeded Maryland was up by as much as 20 on seventh-seeded Iowa State. 

Alas, the basketball gods weren’t in the mood for fun on this day. LSU held on to beat Rice and Iowa State stormed back for the win over Maryland.