BOSSIER CITY, La. – April Sykes scored 22 points and Rutgers hardly looked bothered by an overwhelmingly hostile crowd while cruising to a 76-51 victory over Louisiana Tech on Sunday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Khadijah Rushdan added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Scarlet Knights (20-12), who move on to the second round at the Shreveport site on Tuesday night against second-seeded Texas A&M (28-5), a blowout winner over McNeese State.
Adrienne Johnson scored 20 points for 10th seed Louisiana Tech (24-8), which was playing only an hour from its campus in Ruston. Brietta Thomas added 12 points.
Rutgers scored 40 points inside and shot 51 percent (28 for 55), while holding Tech to only 27 percent (17 of 63) shooting.
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