TALLAHASSEE — A Saturday morning tipoff and not playing for two weeks did not faze Shakayla Thomas and Florida State.
The senior scored 26 points as the third-seeded Seminoles rolled to a 91-49 victory over No. 14 seed Little Rock in a women's NCAA Tournament Albany Region first-round game on Saturday.
"Considering we haven't played in awhile, it was basically knocking off rust, getting in the motion again, getting the feel for the court, playing as a team and doing what we do best," Thomas said.
The points are a tournament high for Thomas, eclipsing the 23 she scored against Western Illinois in the first round last year. The 5-foot-11 forward who was playing in her 12th NCAA Tournament game, was 11 of 15 from the field in 19 minutes. She scored Florida State's first six points and had 16 in the first half as the host team was ahead 53-30 at halftime.
The Seminoles (26-6), who were 35 of 60 from the field, put the game out of reach by going on a 23-0 run during an 8-minute span in the second and third quarters.
"I really thought our players rose to the challenge," Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. "We called some different offenses and some different things for some different people which was different then we normally do and they did a good job of executing."
Chatrice White and Nikki Ekhomu each scored 13 points and AJ Alix added 12 for Florida State. White also had 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.
ALBANY REGION
No. 1 UCONN 140, No. 16 SAINT FRANCIS (Pa.) 52
STORRS, Conn.— Azura Stevens scored 26 points to lead six UConn players in double figures and the Huskies opened their NCAA Tournament with a record-setting rout of Saint Francis (Pa.).
The tournament's top seed set a record for points in a tournament game and all-time NCAA records for points in a period (55 in the first) and a half (94 in the first).
And UConn's 88-point margin of victory was the second-biggest in tournament history. Baylor beat Texas Southern by 89 in the 2017 tournament.
No. 4 GEORGIA 68, No. 13 MERCER 63
ATHENS, Ga. — Caliya Robinson had 23 points and 16 rebounds, Mackenzie Engram added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Georgia held off Mercer.
Que Morrison finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for the fourth-seeded Lady Bulldogs (26-6), who advanced to face Duke on Monday night.
No. 5 DUKE 72, No. 12 BELMONT 58
ATHENS, Ga. — Leaonna Odom scored a career-high 25 points, including nine in Duke's dominant third period, and the Blue Devils beat Belmont in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament.
Duke (23-8) led only 32-31 at halftime before outscoring Belmont 21-9 in the third period.
Kylie Smith led Belmont with 20 points.
No. 11 BUFFALO 102, No. 6 SOUTH FLORIDA 79
Cierra Dillard scored a career-high 36 points and Buffalo got its first women's NCAA Tournament victory as it defeated South Florida.
It is the first time in an NCAA Tournament game that a Mid-American Conference team has gone over 100 points. It is also the first time since 1995 that Buffalo has scored more than 100 points.
Kitija Laksa led South Florida (26-8) with 28 points and Maria Jespersen added 23 points and 11 rebounds. USF was 32 of 63 from the field, but was 7 of 23 on 3-pointers.
No. 9 QUINNIPIAC 86, No. 8 MIAMI 72
STORRS, Conn. — Jen Fay led a balanced ninth-seeded Quinnipiac offense with 19 points and the Bobcats beat Miami, eliminating the Hurricanes from the women's NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season.
Paula Strautmane added 15 points and Edel Thornton and Carly Fabbri each had 14 for Quinnipiac (28-5), which extended its winning streak to 23 games, a new school record.
SPOKANE REGION
No. 3 OHIO STATE 87, No. 14 GEORGE WASHINGTON 45
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Stephanie Mavunga scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Ohio State routed George Washington.
Alexa Hart had 12 points and Kelsey Mitchell added 11 points and seven rebounds as the Buckeyes (28-6) never trailed, took off in the second half and overwhelmed the Colonials (19-10), who had earned a tournament bid by winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
No. 11 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 78, No. 6 LSU 69
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tinara Moore scored 25 points to help Central Michigan get its first women's NCAA Tournament win, beating LSU.
The Chippewas, who had lost in their first three trips to the NCAAs, got in the tournament for the first time in five years by upsetting Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Moore and Central Michigan dominated inside, outrebounding the Southeastern Conference team 40-27 and creating more second chances. Reyna Frost 12 points and 12 boards for the Chippewas before fouling out late in the game.
Central Michigan led by as many as 11 in the second half. A 6-0 LSU run reduced the lead to five, but the Tigers couldn't get any closer, despite limiting their opponents to only foul shots in the last 2:43.