COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Talaysia Cooper had 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, Samara Spencer scored 15 points and fifth-seeded Tennessee routed 12th-seeded South Florida 101-66 on Friday night in a women’s NCAA Tournament first-round game.
Zee Spearman added 13 points and Jewel Spear had 11 for Tennessee (23-9), which advanced to play No. 4 seed Ohio State (26-6) on Sunday. The winner will move on to the Birmingham 3 Regional.
“Our team is at our best when we are playing as a team,” Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell said. “We were able to get something from everyone. I think we had fun. It was a really good stepping stone for us. We had been a little bit off track, and so we needed to kind of get our juice back.”
The Volunteers held a 26-25 lead after the first quarter, which included four ties and six lead changes. But Tennessee outscored South Florida 29-9 in the second quarter to grab control of the game. Spearman and Cooper each had 11 points, with Spearman going 3 for 3 on 3-pointers during the period.
“We just turned our pressure up,” Spencer said of the Vols’ second quarter success. “We knew coming into the game that they really only had one solid ballhandler who was comfortable handling the ball. So we made her turn the ball over some, and then we just made other people have to dribble the ball up the court. That was to our advantage.”
The Vols eventually built their lead as high as 35 points in the fourth quarter. They shot 50% from the floor and 43% on 3s (16 of 37). Eight Tennessee players made at least one 3.
“We’ve had to guard people who have multiple people who can shoot, and sometimes we have a hard time doing that,” Spencer said. “So I know for other people who have to play us, it’s really hard. And especially, we have a lot of people who shoot very high percentages.”
Sammie Puisis had 28 points and seven rebounds for South Florida (23-11). L’or Mputu scored 12 points.
“The first quarter was probably really fun to watch on TV, and then you’ve got to hand it to Tennessee,” South Florida coach Jose Fernandez said. “They shot the ball really well. We’re down one point after a quarter and we had 10 turnovers. When we go into halftime, it’s 16. That’s really tough. You’re giving a very good offensive team extra possessions.”
This was Tennessee’s 164th all-time NCAA Tournament game. The Vols set new school records for made 3s (16) and attempted 3s (37) in an NCAA Tournament game.
Tennessee’s season total of 328 made 3s is also a new Southeastern Conference single-season record.
Takeaways
South Florida: This was USF’s 10th NCAA berth and the program’s fourth in the last five years. The Bulls dropped to 5-10 all-time in NCAA action. They got into the field by winning the American Athletic Conference tournament championship. They had won 12 of their last 14 games.
Tennessee: The Vols, ranked 20th in the final AP poll, had lost three of their last four games coming into the NCAA Tournament. But their size, depth, athleticism and shot making were all too much for the Bulls.
Key stat
Tennessee forced 24 turnovers, while the Lady Vols committed just six turnovers themselves. Tennessee held a 36-10 edge in points off turnovers.
Caldwell’s milestone
First-year Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell won the 2022 Division II national championship at West Virginia’s Glenville State. Caldwell spent last season as the head coach at Marshall, going 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament with a loss at Virginia Tech. This is her first NCAA win at the Division I level.
“I think it definitely means a lot for our players,” Caldwell said. “It means a lot for our program. I think the way we did it probably means more than anything. We hadn’t been playing very well and we hadn’t really been having fun. To do it kind of as a polar opposite of how we’ve been playing the last two weeks of the regular season was important.”
Tennessee, which has appeared in all 43 NCAA tournaments since the event’s inception in 1982, will be going for its 37th Sweet 16 berth and first since 2023 on Sunday.
Utah Hockey Club’s Logan Cooley (92) celebrates after his goal against the Vancouver Canucks with teammates during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Logan Cooley had two goals and an assist and Alexander Kerfoot also scored twice to lead the Utah Hockey Club to a 6-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
Josh Doan and Nick Schmaltz also had goals, and Karel Vejmelka made 22 saves for Utah.
Brayden Point had two goals for the Lightning, and Anthony Cirelli and Jake Guentzel also scored. Brandon Halverson made 19 stops in his first career NHL start.
Doan and Cooley — who has 21 goals this season and 41 over two NHL seasons — both scored to put Utah up 2-0 with 2:28 left in the first.
The Lightning made it 2-1 a minute later on Point’s power-play goal.
Cirelli and Guentzel both scored second-period equalizers for Tampa Bay, but Utah countered with rapid go-ahead goals each time.
Kerfoot tipped in the puck 36 seconds after Cirelli evened it at the 5:22 of the second. Then, Cooley put Utah ahead again with 2:07 left in the second, tipping in his second goal 30 seconds after Guentzel’s equalizer.
Schmaltz’s backhander put Utah up 5-3 only 70 seconds into the third.
Kerfoot’s short-handed empty netter with 55.9 seconds left restored a two-goal cushion after Point made it 5-4 earlier in the period.
Takeaways
Lightning: Tampa Bay had allowed 2.66 goals per game entering Saturday before surrendering six in Halverson’s first start.
Utah: Vejmelka made his 13th straight start, surpassing a 12-game run by the Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin for the most consecutive starts by a goaltender in the NHL this season.
Key moment
Kerfoot and Cooley each generated crucial go-ahead goals following a pair of second-period equalizers from Tampa Bay.
Key stat
Utah has registered a point in 12 of its last 14 home games (9-2-3).
Up next
Tampa Bay is at Vegas on Sunday. Utah hosts Detroit on Monday.
The Gators have gone 17-4 against SEC opponents, with a 14-0 record in non-conference play. Florida averages 85.7 points while outscoring opponents by 16.5 points per game.
The Huskies’ record in Big East play is 15-7. UConn ranks second in the Big East with 9.8 offensive rebounds per game led by Tarris Reed, Jr. averaging 2.7.
Florida makes 47.3% of its shots from the field this season, which is 5.3 percentage points higher than UConn has allowed to its opponents (42.0%). UConn has shot at a 47.8% clip from the field this season, 7.8 percentage points above the 40.0% shooting opponents of Florida have averaged.
TOP PERFORMERS: Alex Condon is averaging 11.3 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Gators. Walter Clayton Jr. is averaging 3.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Hassan Diarra is averaging 7.8 points, 5.7 assists and 1.6 steals for the Huskies. Alex Karaban is averaging 14.5 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Gators: 9-1, averaging 90.5 points, 38.1 rebounds, 15.9 assists, 7.2 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.0 points per game.
Huskies: 7-3, averaging 73.2 points, 34.8 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 4.9 steals and 5.8 blocks per game while shooting 46.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) throws to a receiver as he is pressured by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Anthony Averett in the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Friday former Jets and Packers All Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers was in Pittsburgh talking about his joining the team. His visit was considered by both sides as a getting to know each other and for him to tour the faculties and speak with the coaches.
At present the Steelers are only offering Rodgers a one-year deal and are not expected to sweeten it the longer talks are dragged out. Rodgers wants a two-year deal however the number of teams wanting the 41 year star has dropped to one.
While, Rodgers was in Pittsburgh talking with the Steelers about their quarterback opening one of his suitors was making a move. The New York Giants signed 31-year-old free agent QB Jameis Winston to a two-year, $8 million deal where he will likely serve as tutor to Shedeur Sanders who New York is expected to take at No. 3 overall in the upcoming NFL draft.
Rodgers had also hoped to have a shot at a spot in Minnesota but earlier this week they took their deal for him off the table in favor of J.J. McCarthy. The Vikings told teams who were interested in their second year QB out of Michigan that he’ll be their starter heading into next season, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
If Rodgers is expected to quarterback the Steelers with newly acquired receiver DK Metcalf to their first playoff win since 2016, Rodgers and the Steelers’ decision-makers should be on the best terms possible. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on X that the meeting lasted six hours and was a “positive visit.”
So expect a deal to come this week if Rodgers does not wish to retire instead.
