Sunday’s NCAA women: Ohio State, Maryland win

Lexington, Ky. — Tori McCoy scored six straight points midway through the fourth quarter to help Ohio State withstand Kentucky’s furious rally from a 19-point second-half deficit and escape with an 82-68 second-round NCAA Tournament victory Sunday.

The fourth-seeded Wildcats trailed 50-31 early in third but closed to 65-64 with 6:04 remaining. The fifth-seeded Buckeyes answered with eight straight points behind McCoy.

Ohio State (28-6) held on from there to earn its second straight Sweet 16 appearance in the Lexington Regional next week at Rupp Arena.

McCoy finished with 14 points and a team-high 12 rebounds and Shayla Cooper scored 15 for the Buckeyes, who committed a season-low six turnovers.

Makayla Epps had 21 points and Evelyn Akhator had 14 points with a career-high 23 rebounds in their final games for Kentucky (22-11), which had sought its second consecutive Sweet 16 berth at home.

Bridgeport Regional

(At) Maryland 83, West Virginia 56: Destiny Slocum nailed a 70-foot shot to cap a pivotal second quarter for Maryland.

Brionna Jones had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Slocum scored 21 and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough 19 for third-seeded Maryland (32-3), which will next face the winner of tonight’s game between No. 2 seed Duke and Oregon.

Teana Muldrow led West Virginia (24-11) with 16 points. Leading scorer Tynice Martin was limited to 10.

The game turned in the second quarter, when Maryland outscored West Virginia 26-8 to take a 38-24 lead. After opening with a 23-4 run, the Terrapins gave up two straight baskets — the last with 4 seconds left — before Slocum reared back with both hands behind her head and launched a shot from just outside the opposite arc that hit nothing but net.

The 5-foot-7 freshman was immediately swarmed by her teammates while the fans in Maryland’s home arena stood and cheered.

Lexington Regional

(At) Texas 84, North Carolina State 80: Brooke McCarty scored 23 and No. 3-seed Texas got a put-back basket from Joyner Holmes with 4 seconds left to the send the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row.

Lashann Higgs had given Texas (25-8) a two-point lead when she made one free throw with 8 seconds left but missed the second. Holmes grabbed the rebound, missed her first shot, grabbed the rebound then made the second to seal the win. Holmes finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.

North Carolina State (23-9) missed going to its first Sweet 16 since 2007.

Oklahoma City Regional

(At) Mississippi State 92, DePaul 71: Blair Schaefer scored 18 and Jazzmun Holmes 14 for Mississippi State (31-4), which used a 14-0 run to take command.

DePaul (27-8) was led by Jessica January, who scored 18 points.