Penn has 24 and Indiana surprises Texas 69-65

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Jaelynn Penn had 24 points and Bendu Yeaney added 17 to help 10th-seeded Indiana surprise No. 7 Texas 69-65 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Brenna Wise and Ali Patberg contributed another 10 points apiece for the Hoosiers (21-12), who were making their first appearance in the tournament since the 2015-16 season.

Texas (23-10) was led by Danni Williams with 15 points. Joyner Holmes added 12 points and 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.

Indiana advances to face the winner of the late game between second-seeded Oregon (29-4) and No. 15 Portland State (25-7).

Indiana trailed 37-29 at the half but outscored Texas 23-12 in the third quarter and went into the final period leading 52-49. But Holmes’ layup and three straight free throws from Williams put the Longhorns in front 55-54.

Yeaney’s layup gave Indiana back a 60-59 lead with just over five minutes left. The teams wrestled for the lead, but Williams’ layup put Texas in front 63-62. Yeaney answered with a pair of free throws to give Indiana back the lead and Penn hit a 3-pointer to make it 67-63 with 1:58 left.

Jatarie White scored on a rebound for Texas to close the gap to two points, and after turnovers for both teams, Patberg made free throws for Indiana with 12 seconds left to all but seal the win.

Indiana was making its sixth overall tournament appearance. Previously 2-5 in tournament games, the Hoosiers earned an at-large bid after falling to Iowa 70-61 in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.

The winner of last year’s WNIT tournament, Indiana was helped in its bid for an NCAA berth this season by a victory over No. 10 Iowa last month.

Texas, ranked No. 23 in the final AP Top 25 this season, was making its sixth straight tournament appearance. The Longhorns fell to Iowa State 75-69 in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

The Longhorns had been to the Sweet 16 for the past four years. Last season ended with a loss to UCLA in Kansas City.

Indiana jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, paced by Penn with eight points, including two 3-pointers. Wise’s 3 stretched the lead to 23-15 before the end of the first quarter.

Texas tied it at 27 on Audrey Warren’s 3, then pulled in front on Williams’ jumper. Charli Collier’s layup put the Longhorns up 37-27.

Penn’s layup closed it to 37-29 at the break and she led all scorers in the half with 10. Destiny Littleton led Texas with eight points.

It was just the second meeting between the two teams. Texas won the first one, 86-79, back in 1982.

BIG PICTURE

Texas: The Longhorns have has at least 22 wins in each of the last six seasons. … Texas has the fourth-most appearances in the NCAA Tournament, behind Tennessee, Georgia and Stanford. … The Longhorns finished 12-6 in the Big 12 this season.

Indiana: The Hoosiers have won 20 or more games in each of the last four seasons. … Senior forward Kim Royster was the only player on the roster who also played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. … Indiana finished 9-7 in Big Ten play.