Lower seed sweep in first day of the Sweet 16

They went down one by one, all four of the higher seeds in the first day of Sweet 16 competition were eliminated from the 2016 tournament Friday night.

Washington, Lexington Region

No. 7 Washington, already with a major upset in their pocket after defeating No. 2 Maryland on the Terps’ home floor in the second round earlier in the week, took down No. 3 seed Kentucky 85-72.

For Washington, Talia Walton scored 30, Kelsey Plum had 23 and seven assists, while Chantel Osahor finished with 19 points, 17 rebounds and five assists.

Washington led by double digits for much of the second half. The win advanced the Dawgs to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2001.

Syracuse, Sioux Falls Region

Just a few minutes later, No. 1 seed South Carolina (33-2) fell to No. 4 Syracuse 80-72 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It is the first time Syracuse (28-7) has advanced to the Elite Eight in school history.

Junior guard Alexis Peterson broke the program record for points in a NCAA Tournament game with 26 points. Brianna Butler contributed 18 points and Brittney Sykes tallied 17.

Stanford, Lexington Region

The evening’s second set of games featured a takedown of another No. 1 seed as No. 4 Stanford beat Notre Dame 90-84.

Junior forward Erica McCall led Stanford with a career-high 27 points. Karlie Samuelson added 20 and Kaylee Johnson finished with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Junior guard Lili Thompson also put in 11 points and nine assists.

Stanford’s win set up an all-Pac-12 final in the Lexington Region on Sunday.

Tennessee, Sioux Falls Region

To cap the evening’s upsets, No. 7 Tennessee (22-13) defeated No. 3 Ohio State (26-8) in Sioux Falls 78-62to complete the lower seed sweep.

Mercedes Russell led the Lady Vols with a career-high 25 points and collected 15 rebounds. Three other players scored in double figures for Tennessee: Te’a Cooper (16), Bashaara Graves (14) and Diamond DeShields (10).

Up next on Sunday in Lexington and Sioux Falls

1 p.m. Division I Women’s Basketball Lexington Regional Final – #7 Washington vs. #4 Stanford
Dave Pasch, Debbie Antonelli, Allison Williams
ESPN/WatchESPN
Audio
3:30 p.m. Division I Women’s Basketball Souix Falls Regional Final – #7 Tennessee vs. #4 Syracuse
Beth Mowins, Stephanie White, Maria Taylor
ESPN/WatchESPN
Audio
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