Spokane, WA – Kayla Standish and Haiden Palmer both topped 20 seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs upset the sixth-seeded Rutgers 73 in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tournament at McCarthy Athletic Center.
Standish scored 23 points and Palmer netted 21 points for Gonzaga (27-5), while Kelly Bowen tallied a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Taelor Karr added 14 points for the Bulldogs.
For Rutgers (22-10), Erica Wheeler led all scorers with 28 points. Khadijah Rushdan recorded 16 points and 11 rebounds and Monique Oliver chipped in 12 points for the Scarlet Knights.
Gonzaga opened up a 38-23 halftime lead behind 43.8 percent field goal shooting in the first half. Rutgers struggled mightily in the opening stanza, committing more turnovers (12) than field goals made (9).
The Scarlet Knights' field goal shooting improved to 53.1 percent after the break, but the deficit was too large to overcome.
Gonzaga advances to the second round to face off against with either third- seeded Miami-Florida or 14th-seeded Idaho State.
