Add another college to the double Round of 16 club: Xavier.
The No. 3-seeded Musketeers advanced in the women’s tournament in dramatic style, beating No. 6 Vanderbilt, 63-62, Tuesday in Cincinnati.
It’s the first time in seven years that Xavier’s women have reached the final 16. Their next opponent is No. 7 Gonzaga, in Sacramento Saturday. (The men will play Kansas State on Thursday night.)
The Musketeers (29-3) have shown resilience and a steady temperament the past few weeks. They squeaked through the Atlantic 10 tournament, beating Temple, 57-55, in overtime to reach the N.C.A.A. tournament field.
Xavier did the quick-escape trick again, overcoming a 10-point deficit to the Commodores late in the second half. The junior forward Amber Harris, the Atlantic 10 player of the year,
scored the game-winning basket with 12 seconds left.
Vanderbilt had two chances, barely missing a 3-pointer and then a tip-in try as time expired. The home crowd collectively squirmed and then exhaled, knowing how close the margin
of victory really was.
“Please, please, don’t go in,” Harris said, recounting the final seconds of the game to The Cincinnati Enquirer. “I think I had a million thoughts going at one time: God, why didn’t I get that rebound? Whose person is that? Please, don’t let her hit that! Is somebody contesting that?
“Just a million things; everything you could possibly think of while you’re waiting to see if you’d win or lose.”