SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Marta Suarez had 33 points and 10 rebounds as part of a nearly unstoppable duo with Olivia Miles, and No. 3 seed TCU beat 10th-seeded Virginia 79-69 on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
TCU (32-5), making its second straight appearance in the Elite Eight, will face No. 1 seed South Carolina on Monday for a trip to the Final Four.
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Miles, a senior and a three-time All-American, finished with her own gaudy stat line of 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
A few weeks from now, Suarez and Miles will likely be WNBA draft picks, but for now, their final collegiate season and the chance they took to come to TCU has paid off.
The Horned Frogs went on 17-4 run to start the second half that put them ahead for good, even as the Cavaliers pressed aggressively and cut the lead to six points with 27.1 seconds to go.
Paris Clark scored 20 points and Kymora Johnson had 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Virginia (22-12), the lone double-digit seed to reach the Sweet 16.
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The Cavaliers’ journey began in the First Four and continued with a road win over No. 2 seed Iowa in the second round. And Virginia looked like it hadn’t run out of magic when it took a 36-35 lead into at halftime behind 10 points each from Clark and Johnson.
Suarez had 18 points in the first half for the Frogs and Miles had 12, but the rest of the team scored only five.
Ultimately, TCU’s size — Virginia was out-rebounded 38-27 — and the one-two punch of Suarez and Miles were too much to overcome.
Up next
TCU’s matchup against South Carolina will be the second in the past two seasons. South Carolina beat TCU 85-52 in December 2024.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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