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The first round of the women's NCAA tournament tipped off Friday. Here's a look at some of the top results, sights and sounds as the Big Dance got underway.
And be sure to check out more on Katie Lou Samuelson's return for UConn, Megan Gustafson's big day, opening wins from top seeds Louisville and Mississippi State, and Sabrina Ionescu's quest to lead Oregon to an NCAA title.
Friday's game of the day
As soon as the bracket came out, No. 7 seed Missouri vs. No. 10 seed Drake in the Greensboro Regional stood out. Both teams are known for 3-point shooting, and both seemed to be seeded too low. Would the game be one of the best of the first round?
It lived up to that billing on the opening day of a tournament that has already exceeded expectations even before the night-session games. Two games went to overtime, and four games were decided by single digits, with one No. 10 seed winning.
In a tense, back-and-forth battle in Iowa City, Iowa, Missouri beat Drake 77-76 in overtime. Two of the Tigers' starters -- seniors Sophie Cunningham and Cierra Porter -- fouled out. Had the game gone to double overtime, Drake would have had the advantage.
But Missouri junior guard Jordan Roundtree was fouled on a 3-pointer by Becca Hittner with 1 second left, and she made one of three free throws with a nervous Cunningham barely able to watch from the bench.
Drake still had a chance to win, inbounding the ball to Hittner, the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, but she missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Hittner led Drake with 19 points, while Cunningham had 21 and Porter 18 for Misssouri.
It was the third consecutive NCAA first-round loss for Drake. Missouri, which was upset by Florida Gulf Coast in the first round last season, faces Iowa on Sunday for a trip to the Sweet 16. The Tigers haven't advanced that far since 2001.
While Drake fell just short, another No. 10 seed, Buffalo, got an 82-71 victory over No. 7 seed Rutgers that didn't seem like much of an upset. The Bulls made the Sweet 16 last season. -- Mechelle Voepel
More Friday results
No. 10 Indiana 69, No. 7 Texas 65
Indiana won the WNIT title last year in front of a big crowd at home, and the Hoosiers really enjoyed that. But it's the kind of thing you want to build on, not repeat. Indiana was one of the last four teams to get an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament this year, and the Hoosiers capitalized on that.
Friday, they joined Buffalo as a No. 10 seed to win on the tournament's opening day. To look at some of the stats, though, you wouldn't think the Hoosiers won. They were outrebounded 44-21 and went to the free-throw line six times to Texas' 14. But the Hoosiers made all their freebies, while the Longhorns missed six. And probably the biggest factor was turnovers: Texas had 23 to Indiana's 13.
Jaelynn Penn led Indiana with 24 points, while Danni Williams -- who played just one season at Texas after transferring from Texas A&M -- had 15 for the Longhorns. Texas had made it to at least the NCAA Sweet 16 the last four years. -- Mechelle Voepel
No. 5 Marquette 58, No. 12 Rice 54, OT
In the Big East tournament final, Marquette led the entire second half until losing the game in the final 5 seconds, 74-73, to DePaul. That was crushing to the Golden Eagles, but in Friday's NCAA tournament first-round game, they turned the tables. Marquette was the team that made the late comeback and ended Conference USA champion Rice's 21-game winning streak.
The Owls led 52-43 with 2 minutes, 46 second left. They had slowed the pace to their advantage and looked to have the program's second NCAA tournament victory and first since 2000.
But Marquette rallied with a 3-pointer by Allazia Blockton, two Danielle King free throws, an Amani Wilborn layup and a Blockton jump shot. The Golden Eagles forced two turnovers and got a steal during that stretch, as Rice's offense went cold and stayed that way.
Neither team scored over the last 1:06 of regulation, but Marquette was able to outscore Rice in the overtime 6-2 and move on to the second round. -- Mechelle Voepel
No. 5 Florida State 70, No. 12 Bucknell 67
Florida State entered the NCAA tournament with 15 straight first-round wins. Getting No. 16 was as difficult as any of them.
The Seminoles, the No. 5 seed in Greensboro, survived a gritty performance by No. 12 Bucknell to advance to play South Carolina on Sunday.
The Bison, which made 8-of-23 3-pointers in the game to Florida State's three, had two chances to tie the game on their final possession, but Kaitlyn Slagus and Kyi English each missed from behind the arc in the final seven seconds.
Florida State trailed 58-54 with 5:20 left in the fourth quarter, but a 9-2 run with all the points coming from junior Nicki Ekhomu and freshman Valencia Myers gave the Seminoles the lead for good.
Florida State overcame a poor shooting performance (41.3 percent) and 16 turnovers by outrebounding the smaller Bison, 44-23. Junior Kiah Gillespie led the way with 17 points but was just 5-of-17 from the field. -- Charlie Creme
Now you see me, now you don't
Wright State's Angel Baker throws a sweet, no-look, behind-the-back pass on the fast break to Teneshia Dixon for the easy finish.
More top plays
Putting the dance in the Big Dance
Sabrina ... being Sabrina
Sabrina Ionescu casually knocking down 14 straight threes getting ready for the Big Dance 👌 (via @OregonWBB) pic.twitter.com/L8dMlKCr9H
— espnW (@espnW) March 22, 2019