The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

JUST one Bahamian player is left in either NCAA Tournament bracket following last weekend’s schedule of opening round games.

Lashann Higgs and her Texas Longhorns continue their progression in the women’s field while Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr and the Michigan State Spartans were the latest upset victims of “March Madness.”

Higgs and the nationally ranked No.8 Texas Longhorns, the No. 2 seed in the Kansas City Region, advanced with an 83-54 win over the No. 15 Maine Black Bears at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.

Texas will host No.7 Arizona State in the second round tonight at 9pm local time. Higgs finished with 15 points and dished four assists in 23 minutes.

“I would say that we definitely executed better this game, and we went through with the game plan and we tried to be as patient as possible. There were times that we got a little sloppy and let our guard down, but we discussed it in the timeouts that we need to pick it back up and continue to do what we were doing that worked,” Higgs said at the post game press conference.

“That’s where the confidence comes from. We stressed in practice every day how important tendencies -- respecting their tendencies are, and how we can’t let our guard down because you never know what might happen.”

Texas was 34-of-55 (61.8 per cent) from the field and 75 per cent (6-of-8) from three-point range. UT won the rebounding battle by a 43-12 margin and recorded 42 paint points.

“That was one of the things that we actually had on the board. It was like rebound, with an exclamation mark, so we knew exactly what we tried to do was rebound,” Higgs said.

“I would say that we definitely are playing more as a team now, and there’s a lot that we’ve been working on throughout the season. We just try to focus on the things that we can control and not worry about the things that we cannot control.

“So I would say that it’s been a fun year.”

The Longhorns finished the season 26-6, concluded by a 93-87 loss to the No.2 ranked Baylor Bears Big 12 Tournament final, 93-87. Higgs finished with six points and three rebounds.

As a junior this season, Higgs has stepped into a leadership role and started all 27 appearances.

She averaged 12.9 points, 2.6 assists, 3.2 rebounds, all career highs. She also had the best shooting season of her career at 54 per cent from the field, 33 per cent from the three-point line and 74 per cent from the free throw line.

Nairn and the No.4 nationally ranked Spartans, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region, were upset by the No.11 Syracuse Orange at Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

The Spartans (30-5) end their season with one of their worst offensive performances of the season and the last game of Nairn’s NCAA playing career.

It was the 21st straight year the Spartans have made the NCAA field under coach Tom Izzo, in his 23rd season. That ranks as the third-longest active streak among Division I schools and fifth-longest all-time.

The Spartans opened the tournament with an 82-78 win over the No.14 Bucknell Bison.