NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

Third-seeded Kentucky survives Syracuse, 64-59

3/24/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • NCAA-Syracuse-Kentucky-Basketball-4

    Syracuse's Taylor Ford, right, and Kentucky's Janee Thompson go after a loose ball during the first half in Lexington, Ky.

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    • LEXINGTON, Ky. — Bria Goss scored 17 points and third-seeded Kentucky survived No. 6 seed Syracuse 64-59 today in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

    Goss went 11 of 12 from the foul line as the Wildcats (26-8) ground out a victory two days after beating Wright State by 46 points. Syracuse’s physical play and its 2-3 zone defense had a lot to do with disrupting Kentucky’s rhythm and scoring opportunities in a 36-percent shooting performance.

    The Wildcats offset those struggles with scrappy defense that forced the Orange into 23 turnovers and held them to 33 percent shooting, culminating with a victory that earned Kentucky a berth in the round of 16 of the Notre Dame Regional.

    Syracuse couldn’t follow up its first-ever NCAA tournament win, struggling to score after losing star guard Brittney Sykes to a right knee injury on Saturday. Brianna Butler had 15 points for the Orange.