By Canadian Press

Canada’s team: Buffalo Bulls women’s squad wins March Madness opener

Mar 23, 2019 | 12:09 PM

The team with the most Canadian representation at March Madness is moving on after an upset victory on Friday.

The No. 10-seeded Buffalo Bulls women’s team, featuring five Canadians, pulled away late for a 82-71 win over the No. 7 Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Storrs, Conn.

Starting guard Hanna Hall of Hamilton had 12 points and eight assists for the Bulls, while starting forward Adedola Adeyeye of Brampton, Ont., chipped in with four points and five rebounds.

The Bulls’ other three Canadians — Oceane Kounkou of Gatineau, Que., Ayoleka Sodade of Windsor, Ont., and Keowa Walters of Toronto — did not play.

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Buffalo is trying to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row.

WINNING START

Zion Williamson had an explosive NCAA Tournament debut with 25 points and a can’t-miss second-half showcase to lead top-seeded Duke to an 85-62 win over North Dakota State on Friday night.

RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., led Duke with 26 points and 14 rebounds and combined with Williamson for a prolific showing for the freshmen stars. But it was Williamson who could not be contained in the second half and he turned a tight early contest into a Duke runaway in the first round of the East Region.

Tennessee senior forward Kyle Alexander of Milton, Ont., had two points and five rebounds as the second-seeded Volunteers withstood a Colgate rally to beat the No. 15 Raiders 77-70 in Columbus, Ohio.

While he didn’t have a huge day, at least Alexander erased memories of being sidelined with a hip injury in Tennessee’s second-round loss to upstart Loyola-Chicago last year. The Ramblers went all the way to the Final Four after that win.

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s Hailey Brown had six points and two rebounds as the No. 8-seeded Michigan Wolverines women’s team beat the No. 9 Kansas State Wildcats 84-54 in Louisville, Ky.

Another Canadian starter experienced a different result, though.

Montreal’s Luguentz Dort was held to 12 points by Buffalo in the Bulls’ 91-74 win over the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tulsa, Okla.

Dort, who had 21 points in Arizona State’s play-in win over St. John’s on Wednesday, shot 4 of 12 from the field against Buffalo and had three rebounds, two assists and four fouls.

LOOKING AHEAD

A couple of Canadian versus Canadian matchups are part of Saturday’s men’s schedule.

Ignas Brazdeikis of Oakville, Ont., and his No. 2 Michigan Wolverines square off with Andrew Nembhard of Aurora, Ont., and the No. 10 Florida Gators in Des Moines, Iowa.

Later, Vancouver’s Brandon Clarke takes to the floor with the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs for a contest with the No. 10 Baylor Bears, who have Devonte Bandoo of Brampton, Ont., on their roster, in Salt Lake City.

Mfiondu Kabengele of Burlington, Ont., fresh off a double-double in Florida State’s tournament-opening win, also returns to action as the No. 4 Seminoles face the No. 12 Murray State Racers in Hartford, Conn.

“I think with our team, obviously our quality of our depth, our length, but more especially our intelligence. I feel like we’re one of the smarter teams in this conference,” Kabengele said. “I feel that goes underrated, and I feel like our decision-making and our game plan preparation is very excellent.”

On the women’s side, top Canadian Bridget Carleton plays her first game of the tournament with Iowa State as the No. 3 Cyclones play host to the No. 14 New Mexico State Aggies. Carleton was 13th in the country in scoring this season.

Shay Colley of Brampton, Ont., also one of the top Canadian women in the NCAA ranks, begins her tournament with the No. 9 Michigan State Spartans against the No. 8 Central Michigan Chippewas in South Bend, Ind.

Other Canadian women in action include Alyssa Jerome (Stanford, Toronto) and Aislinn Konig (North Carolina State, Surrey, B.C.

The Canadian Press