Marquette held off Rice in overtime, and top-seeded Louisville romped without its coach or point guard.
The N. C. A. women’s basketball tournament began on Friday with no early upsets, but a few close calls.
The foremost of those was Mercer’s bid to do what no other No. 15 seed had done: win a game in the tournament. The Bears were in range in the final minute, but second-seeded Iowa held on for a 66-61 victory in Iowa City in the Greensboro Region.
With 51 seconds left and Mercer trailing, 66-61, KeKe Calloway had an open look at the basket from about 18 feet. The ball bounced off the rim and hung in the air before it fell into the hands of Megan Gustafson, who had 30 points and 16 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (27-6).
Calloway scored 21 points and Amanda Thompson had 18 for Mercer (25-8), which had won 17 in a row.
“We personally liked our seed; we didn’t love our opponent,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. “We played against somebody that was much more difficult than a 15 seed. Everybody can recognize and understand that.”
But in the end, the Bears ended up being the 101st No. 15 seed to lose in the tournament.
“It’s disappointing with the outcome,” Mercer Coach Susie Gardner said. “Our guys kept bouncing back. We had opportunities. We never went away.”
Marquette, a fifth seed, was pushed against 12th-seeded Rice, but prevailed in overtime, 58-54, in the Chicago Region in College Station, Tex.
The Golden Eagles (27-7), who are in the tournament for the third straight season, overcame a 9-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
Amani Wilborn made a jumper with three and a half minutes left in overtime to put Marquette ahead, 54-52. Allazia Blockton extended the lead to 4 with about a minute to go.
The Owls (28-4), who had won 21 in a row, ended a scoring drought of about seven minutes stretching back to the fourth quarter when Erica Ogwumike made a basket with 51 seconds left.
