Duke starts out with 81-44 rout

Top-ranked Duke was steamed after its only loss of the season, and someone had to pay. Once again, the Blue Devils took out their frustrations on overmatched Holy Cross.

Abby Waner made six three-pointers and scored 20 of her 26 points during the first half, as Duke cruised to an 81-44 rout of the Crusaders (15-18) on Sunday night in the first round of the Greensboro Regional at Raleigh, N.C.

Duke (31-1), which never trailed, looked nothing like the listless team that was upset by inspired North Carolina State two weeks ago in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Duke will play Temple in the second round on Tuesday.

No. 8 Temple 64, No. 9 Nebraska 61 -- Lady Comfort scored the go-ahead basket in the final two minutes and Fatima Maddox made four pivotal free throws to help the Owls rally from a four-point deficit in the final 2 1/2 minutes to beat the Cornhuskers (22-10) at Raleigh.

No. 2 Vanderbilt 62, No. 15 Delaware State 47 -- The Commodores (28-5) led by only three, at 43-40, with about 8:50 left, but clutch three-point shooting and inside power helped them take control in a Greensboro Regional at East Lansing, Mich.

Vanderbilt will play Bowling Green on Tuesday. Raquel Collier had 22 points for Delaware State (20-13), which was making its first NCAA appearance.

No. 7 Bowling Green 70, No. 10 Oklahoma State 66 -- The Falcons, who had lost six consecutive NCAA opening-round games, hung on after getting a layup from Ali Mann to go ahead, 62-60, with less than two minutes to play at East Lansing.

No. 5 Michigan State 69, No. 12 Delaware 58 -- Allyssa DeHaan had 13 points as part of a balanced offense to lead the Spartans (24-8) to victory over the Blue Hens (26-6) at East Lansing.

Michigan State will play on its home court against Rutgers in the second round on Tuesday.

No. 4 Rutgers 77, No. 13 East Carolina 34 -- Matee Ajavon scored 20 and Kia Vaughn had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead the rout at East Lansing.

The Scarlet Knights (23-8) went on a 13-0 run to take a 31-12 lead over the Pirates (19-14) with 7:24 left and never looked back.

FRESNO REGIONAL

No. 4 North Carolina State 84, No. 13 Robert Morris 52 -- Marquetta Dickens scored a career-high 25 points and the Wolfpack (24-9) beat the Colonials (24-8) at Raleigh.

North Carolina State will next play on its home court Tuesday against Baylor.

No. 5 Baylor 68, No. 12 Chattanooga 55 -- The Bears never trailed in the victory at Raleigh. They limited the Moccasins’ Alex Anderson, the Southern Conference player of the year, to seven-of-23 shooting and 16 points.

No. 9 Wisconsin Green Bay 59, No. 8 New Mexico 52 -- Nicole Soulis scored 15 points and the ninth-seeded Phoenix opened the second half with a 20-5 spurt to win at Hartford, Conn.

The Phoenix (29-3), down 29-26 at halftime, extended the lead to 46-34 on Soulis’ baseline floater midway through the second half. Soulis and Amanda Popp each scored eight points during the decisive run. Popp finished with 14 points and Berglin added 11. Montgomery and Julie Briody scored 11 and Dionne Marsh added 10 for New Mexico (24-9).

Wisconsin Green Bay will play Connecticut in the second round on Tuesday.

No. 1 Connecticut 82, No. 16 Maryland Baltimore County 33 -- The Huskies (30-3) ended the half with a 12-0 run and scored the first nine points of the second half to take control in the victory at Hartford.

Brittnie Hughes had nine points to lead the Retrievers (16-17), who had no answers for Connecticut’s inside game.

DALLAS REGIONAL

No. 9 Notre Dame 62, No. 8 California 59 -- Tulyah Gaines made two free throws with 16.5 seconds left after Irish teammate Charel Allen scored a key basket and set up another, and the Fighting Irish rallied to victory over the Bears (23-9) at Pittsburgh.

Notre Dame next plays North Carolina on Tuesday.

No. 1 North Carolina 95, No. 16 Prairie View 38 -- The Tar Heels (31-3) needed less than four minutes to open a 20-point lead and cruised to a win over the Panthers (19-14), who were making their first NCAA game.

DAYTON REGIONAL

No. 7 Mississippi 88, No. 10 Texas Christian 74 -- Armintie Price scored 21 points and the Rebels (22-10) forced 23 turnovers in the victory over Horned Frogs (21-11) at Hartford.

Mississippi next plays Maryland on Tuesday.

No. 2 Maryland 89, No. 15 Harvard 65 -- Kristi Toliver scored 13 points and added nine assists to help the Terrapins beat the Crimson (15-13) at Hartford.

No. 1 Tennessee 76, No. 16 Drake 37 -- Alexis Hornbuckle scored 14 points and the Lady Vols went on a 34-0 run to rout the Bulldogs (14-19) at Pittsburgh. Tennessee next will play Pittsburgh on the Panthers’ home court Tuesday.

No. 8 Pittsburgh 71, No. 9 James Madison 61 -- Marcedes Walker outmuscled the Dukes (27-6) at both ends of the court for 20 points and the host Panthers (24-8) gained their first-ever NCAA tournament win.