Tennessee overcomes MTSU upset bid in 2nd half, wins 87-62

Rennia Davis scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and No. 3 seed Tennessee used a dominant second half to beat 14th-seeded Middle Tennessee 87-62 in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

The Blue Raiders and guard Anastasia Hayes, one of the top scorers in the country, looked like they could pull off a shocker early on when they were tied with the Lady Vols at 39 at halftime. But a bid to become the first No. 14 seed to win an NCAA Tournament game was worn down against Tennessee's superior size and length.

Hayes scored 16 points in the first half before Tennessee shut down the upset bid with a dominant third quarter on both ends, outscoring MTSU 23-10 and holding the speedy and shifty guard to just a pair of free throws in the period.

Tennessee guard Rennia Davis, right, defends Middle Tennessee State guard Deja Cage during the first half of a college basketball game in the first round of the women's NCAA basketball tournament at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 21, 2021. (AP PhotoStephen Spillman)

Rae Burrell scored 22 points and Jordan Walker had nine points and 14 rebounds for Tennessee (17-7), which outrebounded MTSU (17-8) 56-21.

Hayes finished with 26 points for the Blue Raiders, who gave one of the bluebloods of women's basketball reason to worry early before wilting.

The teams raced through a blistering first quarter when Tennessee made 10 of 19 shots but started trading baskets with Hayes, who scored nine in the period and kept the Blue Raiders within 21-18. She drew Tennessee defenders on probing drives before kicking out to Blue Raider shooters for 3-pointers. MTSU made four in the second quarter.

Middle Tennessee State guard Anastasia Hayes, center, drives to the basket between Tennessee guard Tess Darby and guard Jordan Horston during the first half of a college basketball game in the first round of the women's NCAA basketball tournament at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 21, 2021. (AP PhotoStephen Spillman)

Tennessee's length and size began choking off those drives in the third and a quick 8-1 run opened up a lead for the Lady Vols. MTSU went more than three minutes without a field goal.

Burrell’s floating jumper and a putback from Walker after her own missed free throw put Tennessee ahead 56-44 and in control, and the lead grew from there.

FORMER TEAMMATES

Middle Tennessee State guard Anastasia Hayes, left, drives around Tennessee guard Rae Burrell during the first half of a college basketball game in the first round of the women's NCAA basketball tournament at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 21, 2021. (AP PhotoStephen Spillman)

Hayes, a junior, started her career at Tennessee and averaged 9.3 points per game before transferring after her freshman season. ... She was part of the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class with the Lady Vols. She was the C-USA player of the year this season. She shot 9 of 25 on Sunday.

WINNING PEDIGREE

Tennessee coach Kellie Harper won three national titles as player with the Lady Vols from 1996-98 and on Sunday earned her first NCAA Tournament win at her alma mater. Harper is in her second season and becomes just the fourth coach to lead four teams to the tournament. She led Missouri State to the Sweet 16 as a No. 11 seed in 2019.

Tennessee guard Rae Burrell, top, looks to pass to guard Rennia Davis (0) during the first half of a college basketball game against Middle Tennessee State in the first round of the women's NCAA basketball tournament at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 21, 2021. (AP PhotoStephen Spillman)

UP NEXT

Tennessee advances to play the winner of the matchup between No. 6 Michigan State and No. 11 Florida Gulf Coast in San Antonio on Tuesday.

More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Tennessee guard Jordan Walker, center, goes to the basket between Middle Tennessee State forward Courtney Whitson and guard Anastasia Hayes during the first half of a college basketball game in the first round of the women's NCAA basketball tournament at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 21, 2021. (AP PhotoStephen Spillman)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)