Freshman Essence Cody had season bests with 20 points and 14 rebounds and No. 8 seed Alabama defeated No. 9 Florida State 82-74 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Working inside, the 6-foot-4 Cody more than doubled her average of eight points a game. She also blocked four shots. Alabama shot 5 of 6 from the foul line in the final 44 seconds.

Ta’Niya Latson led Florida State with 25 points and five assists. Makayla Timpson had 23 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

Matilda Ekh scored 21 points to lead No. 13 Virginia Tech to a 92-49 victory over Marshall in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Ekh connected on 6 of 9 from the floor and hit five 3-pointers for the Hokies, who set a school record by winning their 26th consecutive game at Cassell Coliseum.

Abby Beeman scored 12 points for Marshall, which saw its 10-game winning streak snapped.

Bella Fontleroy scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lift Baylor to an 80-63 victory over Vanderbilt in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Fontleroy hit 6 of 12, including four 3-pointers, for the fifth-seeded Bears, who broke open a close game at halftime with a dominating third quarter in winning for the seventh time in their past eight games.

Iyana Moore led the 12th-seeded Commodores with 15 points, but made just 3 of 14 from the floor.

Gabby Gregory had 22 points and Ayoka Lee scored 21 to lead Kansas State to a 78-65 win over Portland in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

The fourth-seeded Wildcats built a big first-half lead and then kept the No. 13 seed Pilots at an arm’s reach the rest of the game. They led 40-28 at halftime.

Portland was led by Maisie Burnham, who had 17 of her 21 points in the second half. The Pilots also got 12 points from Kianna Hamilton-Fisher.

Savannah Wheeler scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half, and No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee overcame an 18-point, second quarter deficit to defeat sixth-seeded Louisville 71-69 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Jalynn Gregory scored 24 for MTSU, which won its 20th straight game and has not lost since falling to Grand Canyon Dec. 30. The Blue Raiders matched the third-largest comeback in the opening rounds in tournament history.

Center Anastasiia Boldyreva had 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Blue Raiders, who advanced to the second round of the tournament for the fifth time and first since 2007.

Olivia Cochran had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Louisville.

Angel Reese had 10 points and 19 rebounds, and third-seeded LSU overcame a feisty performance by No. 14 seed Rice for a 70-60 victory in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Aneesah Morrow added 15 points, while Flau’Jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams each scored 14 for the defending national champion Tigers. But LSU committed a season-high 24 turnovers that helped Rice stay in then game.

LSU never led by more than 11 and was up by just six with 1:56 left. Destiny Jackson scored 15 and Malia Fisher had 13 points and three steals for Rice.

Shaylee Gonzales scored 21 points and Taylor Jones added 18, and No. 1 seed Texas defeated No. 16 Drexel 82-42 Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for its 13th win in the last 14 games.

Gonzales converted 5 of 6 3-point attempts while matching her season-high in scoring. Jones hit 7 of 11 shots inside.

Drexel had only one starter taller than 6 feet — 6-2 Hedda Staatman.

Freshman Madison Booker had a season-best 14 assists, the most ever by a Longhorn in an NCAA Tournament game. DeYona Gaston had 11 points and 10 rebounds — eight on offense — in a game she considered missing because of illness. Guard Shay Holle had seven rebounds, four blocks, three steals.

Reigan Richardson scored 25 points and had seven rebounds as Duke rallied in the second half to overtake Richmond 72-61 in a first-round NCAA Tournament game.

The Blue Devils battled back from a nine-point deficit at halftime, going ahead 42-41 with 4:42 left in the third quarter and never relinquishing the lead again.

Ashlon Jackson added 14 points and Kennedy Brown had 10 for Duke.

Grace Townsend led Richmond with 18 points, Addie Budnik had 17 and Maggie Doogan added 15.

Chloe Kitts tied her career high with 21 points on 9-of-9 shooting as No. 1 overall seed South Carolina easily overcame the absence of starters Kamilla Cardoso and Bree Hall to beat No. 16 seed Presbyterian 91-39 in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

The Gamecocks moved five wins away from the 10th perfect championship season by overwhelming the Blue Hose of the Big South Conference for a second time this season.

Te-Hina Paopao had 18 points and freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 17 for South Carolina, which moved to 12-0 in NCAA Tournament openers under coach Dawn Staley.

Fulwiley had five of South Carolina's nine 3-pointers and Paopao the other four.

Raegan Beers had 19 points and nine rebounds before she was hurt at the end of the third quarter and third-seeded Oregon State advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 73-51 victory over No. 14 Eastern Washington on Friday night.

Beers, who was averaging 17.7 points and 10.4 rebounds this season, fell to the court as time expired in the third quarter, clutching her right ankle and crying in pain.

The 6-foot-4 forward was able to stand on her own and limped to the locker room. She later returned to the bench but did not play again.

Afterward, wearing sandals and no tape on the ankle, she said she stepped the wrong way. She added that she'd ice it later and would practice on Saturday.

Dominika Paurova added 17 points for the Beavers, who trailed early but took control of the game in the second quarter and led by as many as 25 points in front of a packed-orange-clad home crowd.

Freshman Audi Crooks scored a career-high 40 points on 18-for-20 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds in her sensational NCAA Tournament debut, and No. 7-seed Iowa State hit all the big shots in the second half to rally from 20 points down and beat 10th-seeded Maryland 93-86 in the first round.

The 20-point comeback marked the second-largest all-time in an NCAA Tournament game, trailing only Texas A&M overcoming a 21-point deficit to beat Penn in 2017.

Emily Ryan knocked down a key 3-pointer with 6:06 remaining and finished with 18 points while dishing out 14 assists.

Aaronette Vonleh had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead fifth-seeded Colorado to a 86-72 victory over 12-seed Drake Friday in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Colorado outscored Drake 25-12 in the third quarter. Colorado also got 16 points from Jaylyn Sherrod and Kindyll Wetta, and Maddie Nolan had 12. The Buffs held a 39-18 advantage on the boards.

Drake got a game-high 24 points from Katie Dinnebier. Courtney Becker added 14 and Taylor McAulay had 13.

Drake jumped out to a 9-0 lead, but it didn't take long for Colorado to respond. When Sherrod converted a tradiitonal 3-point play, the Buffaloes led 13-11. Colorado took a 24-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Drake didn't get closer than 13 points in the final quarter.

Jacy Sheldon had 19 points and three other Ohio State players scored in double figures as the Buckeyes ran away from Maine 80-57 in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament. The bigger and faster Buckeyes swarmed Maine with a stifling press, forcing 22 turnovers.

Sheldon scored her 2,000th career point with a layup late in the first half. Cotie McMahon scored 13 points for Ohio State, and Celeste Taylor and Taylor Thierry each added 12.

Anne Simon led Maine with 25 points.

Deja Kelly had 13 points and No. 8 seed North Carolina held off a late Michigan State run for a 59-56 victory to start the NCAA Tournament on Friday. The Spartans cut a 16-point deficit to 57-56 on Theryn Hallock's 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left. But Kelly did just enough at the foul line to pull off the victory.

Alyssa Usby had 16 points and 17 rebounds, including the last one after Kelly's miss from the foul line with 3.2 seconds to go.

Cameron Brink had 17 points, 15 rebounds and blocked six more shots to add to her nation-leading total, and No. 2 seed Stanford beat 15th-seeded Norfolk State 79-50 in the first round of NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

Kiki Iriafen added 17 points and nine rebounds, while Elena Bosgana scored a career-high 18 points and Hannah Jump had 13 with four 3-pointers for the Cardinal as they looked determined and focused coming off a 74-61 loss to USC in the Pac-12 Tournament championship.

Diamond Johnson scored 19 points, but missed all eight of her 3s for Norfolk State, which was held to seven points in the second quarter as both teams endured scoring droughts and trailed 32-19 at halftime. Johnson dealt with apparent leg cramping at the 5:29 mark of the fourth and was helped onto the bench.

Alexis Markowski had 16 points and six rebounds and sixth-seeded Nebraska won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2014 by barely holding off No. 11 Texas A&M 61-59 on Friday night.

Logan Nissley also had 16 points for Nebraska. Senior Jaz Shelley, who averaged 13.7 points and 5.6 assists this season, had five points while adding five rebounds and six assists.

Aicha Coulibaly had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Texas A&M, which finished fifth in the SEC and earned an at-large bid in this year’s women's tournament.

The Huskers led by as many as 17 points, but Coulibaly's short jumper got Texas A&M within 56-54 with 4:34 left. Endyia Rogers made a pair of free throws to tie it at 66.

Markowski's layup under the basket put Nebraska in front before Coulibaly's layup and free throw gave the Aggies the lead with 17.7 seconds to go.

The Huskers regained the lead on Nissley's free throws. Shelley made the first of a pair with 1.7 seconds to make it 61-59.

Rogers' 3-point attempt for the win was off and the Huskers advanced.