The first full day of the NCAA women's tournament featured No. 11 Middle Tennessee knocking off No. 6 Louisville, 71-69, in the upset of the day. There were a few other close calls, like No. 3 LSU hanging on to beat No. 14 Rice 70-60, but the day mostly went as expected.
No. 1 overall seed South Carolina took care of business against Presbyterian, No. 1 Texas cruised by Drexel and 2 seeds Ohio State and Stanford both won easily.
Here's the full list of Friday's results.
Friday afternoon
No. 8 North Carolina 59, No. 9 Michigan State 56
No. 2 Ohio State 80, No. 15 Maine 57
No. 11 Middle Tennessee 71, No. 6 Louisville 69
No. 1 South Carolina 91, No. 16 Presbyterian 39
No. 7 Duke 72, No. 10 Richmond 61
No. 1 Texas 82, No. 16 Drexel 42
No. 4 Virginia Tech 92, No. 13 Marshall 49
No. 4 Kansas State 78, No. 13 Portland 65
Friday evening
No. 8 Alabama 82, No. 9 Florida State 74
No. 5 Baylor 80, No. 12 Vanderbilt 63
No. 5 Colorado 86, No. 12 Drake 72
No. 7 Iowa State 93, No. 10 Maryland 86
No. 3 Oregon State 73, No. 14 Eastern Washington 51
No. 2 Stanford 79, No. 15 Norfolk State 50
No. 6 Nebraska 61, No. 11 Texas A&M 59
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Here's what to keep an eye on tomorrow
Nebraska led by as many as 17 in the 2nd half, coughed up the entire lead, but managed to hang on to avoid a late-night upset to cap the day. Survive and advance!
Final: Nebraska 61, Texas A&M 59
Texas A&M got a clean look at the buzzer but it didn't find the rim. Huskers HANG ON!
Nebraska missed the 2nd FT, A&M quickly rebounds and gets the timeout. Aggies will have one last shot here, trailing 61-59.
Nebraska headed to the FT line with 2.2 ticks on the clock and leading 60-59.
Nebraska re-takes the lead 60-59 after Logan Nissley knocks down two free throws.
A&M turned it over on their ensuing possession and it's Huskers ball with 2.6 seconds left.
A&M takes the lead after the AND-1! Aggies up 59-58 with 17.7 seconds to play!
The last game of the night is coming down to the wire. Texas A&M has rallied to tie it 56-56 with under a minute to play.
We could have YET ANOTHER massive comeback today. Texas A&M trailed by as many as 17 and are tied with Nebraska, 56-56, with 1:38 remaining.
Parity within the tournament's first two rounds isn't quite there yet (playing on home courts has a part), but we're really seeing that the middle of the pack has all leveled up. Some of these matchups might have been blowouts a couple years ago, and now we're seeing big-time comebacks even if we aren't seeing upsets.
Big win for Stanford to open the tournament. It was a standard outing for the frontcourt duo of Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen, who combined for 35 points and 24 rebounds.
More impressive is the backcourt, which has been hot-and-cold this year. Hannah Jump scored 13, going 4-of-6 from 3. Elena Bosgana scored 18 shooting 4-of-6 from 3. Bosgana averaged 6.5 ppg this year. That kind of better-than-average production is the type of X-factor a squad needs when times get tough.
Final: Stanford 79, Norfolk State 50
The Cardinal advance with ease. Cameron Brink put up a very Cameron Brink stat line of 17 points and 15 rebounds in the winning effort.
Cameron Brink said NOPE
Smooth transition 3. Stanford is looking good.
Huskers are looking good late in the first half vs. Texas A&M.
Holy Cross is in Iowa City readying to face Caitlin Clark and Co. on Saturday in the ABC afternoon time slot. This was a sweet moment from head coach Maureen Magarity about her two young daughters and the "Caitlin Effect."
Holy Cross HC Maureen Magarity provided an update on her daughter's scouting report on Caitlin Clark. The Crusaders will play the Hawkeyes on Saturday.
— Chelsie Brown (@ChelsieTBrown) March 22, 2024
Basketball runs deep in this family. Her first win at Holy Cross was against Army West Point, which was coached by her father, Dave. It's believed to be the first father-daughter coaching matchup in DI history.
Nice start for Nebraska in the nightcap
Stanford's bigs have been doing most of the damage so far as Kiki Iriafen (9 points) and Cameron Brink (6) have combined to help the Cardinal build an early 24-12 lead.
Stanford and Norfolk State are in action in one of the final games of the night. Cameron Brink is playing her final stretch of games for Stanford after announcing she would enter the 2024 WNBA Draft. Brink is projected to go No. 2 to the Los Angeles Sparks, a team at the start of a rebuild under second-year head coach Curt Miller.
Check out what talent evaluators said about Brink and other prospects in our Yahoo Sports WNBA Big Board.
Breaking down LSU's shaky win in the first round
Final: Oregon State 73, Eastern Washington 51
Oregon State recovered from a slow start and pulled away from the Eagles.
