APTOPIX NCAA Rutgers Notre Dame Basketball

Notre Dame players celebrate after defeating Rutgers 89-87 in double overtime in a First Four game in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in Dayton, Ohio. Jeff Dean/Associated Press

DAYTON, Ohio — Paul Atkinson Jr.’s putback layup with 1.4 seconds left in the second overtime gave Notre Dame an 89-87 win over Rutgers in a wild First Four game Wednesday night.

Ron Harper Jr. of Rutgers tied it with a long 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in the second OT. Notre Dame’s Blake Wesley then missed a shot before Atkinson grabbed the rebound and put back the winner.

Atkinson finished with 20 points, Nate Laszewski 18 and Cormac Ryan 16 to lead the Irish (23-10), who advance to face sixth-seeded Alabama in a a first-round game Friday in San Diego.

Caleb McConnell scored career-high 23 points and Harper had 22 for the Scarlet Knights (18-11).

WRIGHT STATE 93, BRYANT 82: Tanner Holden had 37 points and 11 rebounds and Wright State (22-13) advanced to play top-seeded Arizona on Friday in the West Region.

Holden was 11 of 15 from the field. Tyler Calvin added 21 points, and Grant Basile had 14.

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Peter Kiss, the NCAA’s leading scorer, led Bryant (22-10) with 28 points.

LOUISVILLE: Louisville and Kenny Payne have agreed on a deal for the former Cardinals player and current New York Knicks assistant to become the men’s basketball program’s first Black head coach, said a person with knowledge of the situation.

The University of Louisville Athletic Association is scheduled to meet Friday morning and the school will hold a news conference at the Cardinals’ KFC Yum! Center home arena.

Payne, 55, will replace Chris Mack when he begins work in his first head coaching job. Payne has spent the past two years with Knicks after 10 years as a Kentucky assistant on John Calipari’s staff. He was also an assistant at Oregon.

EAST CAROLINA: East Carolina hired Tennessee assistant Michael Schwartz as head basketball coach.

Schwartz spent seven seasons at Tennessee, four as associate head coach. Schwartz has been Tennessee’s defensive coordinator the past five seasons, and the Volunteeers are 118-45 in that span. Tennessee had the nation’s fourth-best defensive efficiency rating, according to KenPom.com.

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

DAYTON 88, DePAUL 57: Erin Whalen scored a career-high 28 points, hitting seven of Dayton’s 13 3-pointers and the Flyers (26-5) eased past the Blue Demons (22-11) in the inaugural women’s First Four at Ames, Iowa.

Dayton, making its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance, advanced to play No. 6 seed Georgia on Friday in the Greensboro Region.

Jenna Giacone scored 19 of her 21 points in a dominate first half for the Flyers.

Dayton made 11 of 13 3-pointers in the first half while holding DePaul, the nation’s scoring leader at 88.3 points a game, to just 11 of 37 from the field. Whalen made Dayton’s eighth straight 3-pointer of the first half for a 46-27 lead.

HOWARD 55, INCARNATE WORD 51: Brooklynn Fort-Davis had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Krislyn Marsh added 14 points and 17 rebounds and Howard (21-9) won the first women’s First Four game in Columbia, South Carolina.

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Howard, in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001, advanced to play overall No. 1 seed South Carolina (29-2) in the Greensboro Region.

Tiana Gardner scored 16 points for Incarnate Word (13-17) in the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.

ALL-AMERICA TEAM: Rhyne Howard has joined an exclusive group by becoming a three-time Associated Press All-American.

The Kentucky senior became the ninth player in women’s basketball history to earn first-team honors three times.

Howard was joined on the first team by South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Baylor’s NaLyssa Smith, Michigan’s Naz Hillmon and Stanford’s Haley Jones. Hillmon and Jones tied for the fifth spot.

Boston, Clark and Smith were unanimous choices from the 30-member national media panel that votes in the AP Top 25 each week. It was the first time that there has been a tie for the first team since the AP started honoring women’s All-Americans in 1995.

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The last player to be a three-time All-American was Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu. Boston could join the club next year.

South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson, Baylor’s Brittney Griner, Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw, Duke’s Alana Beard, Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and UConn’s Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore are the only other players to earn first-team honors at least three times. Paris and Moore did it four times.

WEST VIRGINIA: Mike Carey retired after 21 seasons as women’s basketball coach at West Virginia.

Carey guided the Mountaineers to 11 NCAA tournaments and is the program’s all-time winningest coach with a 447-239 record.

Carey, 63, said he looks forward to spending time with his family, which includes five grandchildren.

West Virginia compiled a 15-15 record in Carey’s final season.

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FIRST FOUR: Brooklynn Fort-Davis had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Krislyn Marsh added 14 points and 17 rebounds and Howard beat fellow No. 16 seed Incarnate Word 55-51 in the first women’s First Four game at Columbia, South Carolina.

Howard (21-9), in its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2001, advanced to play overall No. 1 seed South Carolina (29-2) in the Greensboro Region.

Howard and Incarnate Word are two of the four automatic qualifiers in the First Four games, after winning conference tournaments, as the NCAA expanded the tournament field to 68 teams.

SOFTBALL

UTAH VALLEY SWEEPS UMAINE: Kaelena Shephard belted a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning to break a 3-3 tie as the Wolverines took Game 1 6-5 over the Black Bears at Orem, Utah.

Izzy Nieblas went 3 for 3 with a double and solo homer for UMaine (2-15), and Gabby Paushka added a pair of hits and Rebecca Findley blasted a two-run home run in her only at-bat.

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The Black Bears opened with a pair of runs in the top of the first but Utah Valley (9-7) answered with a pair of runs in the second and three in the third, paced by back-to-back homers from Shephard and Mikaela Thomson, grabbing Game 2, 5-2.

BASEBALL

MIT 6, BATES 1: Nick Aiello blasted a two-run homer and Tyler Godfrey had two RBI as the Beavers (2-5-1) beat the Bobcats (2-6) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Cory O’Shea had two hits and an RBI for MIT. Casey Bussone got the win, giving up three hits in four innings.

Kevin Lucey scored Bates’ run on a wild pitch in the eighth. Teddie Nelson took the loss.

COLBY 8, HUSSON 3: Cabot Maher had three RBI as the Mules (3-0) beat by the Eagles (4-6) in Waterville.

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Caleb Jung went 3 for 4 with an RBI for Colby. Charlie Jodka picked up the win in relief, pitching two hitless innings.

Brett Riffe had a two-run double for Husson. Ryne Rametta took the loss, allowing three earned runs in two innings.

MEN’S LACROSSE

SOUTHERN MAINE 19, THOMAS 6: Omar Contreras scored six goals as the Huskies (2-2) blew by the Terriers (0-1) in Waterville.

Nick James had five goals and four assists for USM. Schuyler Wetmore had three goals and three assists. Tucker Nussinow scored twice, with Duncan Hayes, Andrew James and Dylan Whitney each adding one goal.

Daniel MacWhinnie led Thomas with three goals. Max Iron scored two goals and William Haywood had one. Patrick Buxton and Daniel Guarino combined for 16 saves.

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WOMEN’S LACROSSE

BOWDOIN 20, CATHOLIC 13: The Polar Bears (2-2) rolled out to a 14-6 halftime cushion, paced by four goals from Sophia Sudano, and cruised past the Cardinals (2-3) at Washington, D.C.

Fiona Bundy led Bowdoin with six goals and an assist, and Sudano and Collee McAloon each scored five goals.

Kate Olsen had six goals and an assist for Catholic.


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