CINCINNATI (AP) — Christyn Williams scored 22 points and No. 1 Connecticut breezed in its first visit to Xavier, 83-32 on Saturday for its eighth straight win.
High-scoring Paige Bueckers and Olivia Nelson-Odoba each added 11 points for the Huskies (18-1, 15-0 Big East).
UConn led 42-13 at halftime and Bueckers didn’t score after the break. She had seven assists.
Aaliyah Edwards had 16 points for the Huskies, whose only loss was to then-No. 19 Arkansas 90-87 on Jan. 28.
The win was Connecticut’s second over Xavier (4-7, 1-6) this season.
No. 9 MARYLAND 94, MINNESOTA 62
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Ashley Owusu scored 24 points and No. 9 Maryland completed a season sweep of Minnesota.
Diamond Miller added 20 points with three steals and Katie Benzan finished with 17 points for the Terrapins, who have won five consecutive games by an average of 35 points.
Maryland (16-2, 12-1 Big Ten) stifled Minnesota with its pressure scored 23 points off 13 turnovers.
Kadi Sissoko led Minnesota (7-11, 6-10) with 16 points and seven rebounds. Sissoko has scored in double figures 12 times this season.
No. 12 SOUTH FLORIDA 78, TULANE 69
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Bethy Mununga scored 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and No. 12 South Florida pulled away from Tulane.
ydni Harvey scored 16 points and Elena Tsineke 13 for South Florida. The Bulls have won three straight following a stretch of seven postponements and one cancellation due to COVID-19 protocols.
Arsula Clark made a pair of free throws to bring the Green Wave within 69-65 with 2:48 left. But Harvey sank a pair of foul shots and Elisa Pinzan and Mununga made layups in consecutive possessions and the Bulls (13-1, 10-0 American Athletic Conference) were never threatened again.
Jerkaila Jordan scored 29 points for Tulane (14-7, 10-6).
No. 16 GONZAGA 69, SAN DIEGO 47
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jill Townsend scored 16 points, Kayleigh Truong added 13 and Gonzaga bounced back after its first loss in more than two months with a win over San Diego.
Townsend scored just three points in a 61-56 loss to BYU on Thursday but had 12 points in the first quarter when the Bulldogs raced to a 23-10 lead, showing no ill effects from having their 17-game winning streak end.
Against the third-place Toreros, who only played three games in January, including a 58-56 win over BYU because of coronavirus issues, Gonzaga (19-3, 14-1 West Coast Conference) hit 10 of 17 shots shots in the first quarter, including three 3s. San Diego only had a brief 47 seconds in the third quarter trailing by less than double digits.
Steph Gorman had 13 points for the Toreros (12-6, 9-4)
CREIGHTON 83, No. 19 DEPAUL 72
CHICAGO (AP) — Emma Ronsiek scored 27 points, Temi Carda added 18 and eight assists and Creighton became the first unraked team to beat DePaul this year.
Ronsiek was 9-for-12 shooting and Carda, one of the few players to wear a mask while playing, was 6 of 9 as the Bluejays went 29 of 50, including 8 of 15 from 3-point range For good measure they made their first 16 free throws, going 17 of 18.
Carly Bachelor added 13 points for Creighton (7-8, 6-5 Big East Conference), which has won three straight and beat a ranked team for the first team since winning at DePaul last season.
Lexi Held and Sonya Morris scored 17 points apiece and Jorie Allen had 16 with seven rebounds for the Blue Demons (13-5, 10-3), who had their four-game winning streak end.
No. 19 WEST VIRGINIA 81, TCU 78
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. (AP) — Esmery Martinez scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and West Virginia overcame a 38-point performance by Lauren Heard and held on to defeat TCU.
Heard, whose previous career high was 34 when West Virginia won the first meeting 79-70, kept the Horned Frogs in the game but after Kirsten Deans made 1 of 2 free throws with 11 seconds left, TCU couldn’t get off a potential tying shot.
Deans scored 15 points and Kysre Gondrezick, who had 30 in the last meeting, added 14 for the Mountaineers (17-3, 11-3 Big 12 Conference), who were coming off a loss to Oklahoma that ended their 11-game winning streak.
Tavy Diggs added 13 points for the Horned Frogs (8-11, 3-11) and Michelle Berry 10.
No. 23 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 69, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 60
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Tylee Irwin scored a career-high 31 points on Saturday night to help shorthanded South Dakota State complete the road sweep of North Dakota State.
Irwin passed the 1,000-point milestone on a 3-pointer with 7:59 left in the fourth quarter and set a career high for the second straight night. She scored 25 for South Dakota State (19-2, 12-0 Summit League) in Friday night’s 86-78 win over the Bison (14-6, 9-5).
No. 24 NORTHWESTERN 67, WISCONSIN 54
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Sydney Wood and Lindsey Pulliam scored 14 points each and Northwestern snapped a two-game skid with a win over Wisconsin.
Veronica Burton was only 1-of-8 shooting but made all 10 of her free throws and scored 13 points with nine assists for the Wildcats (12-5, 10-5 Big Ten).
Sydney Hilliard scored 15 points with five assists for the Badgers (5-15, 2-15). Imani Lewis, coming off a pair of 27-point games that included double-digit rebounds, finished with 11 points and eight boards.
No. 25 MISSOURI STATE 75, BRADLEY 52
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Brice Calip scored 17 points, Abby Hipp had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Missouri State beat Bradley for its 11th straight win.
Sydney Wilson added 13 points and Jasmine Franklin had 10 for Missouri State (15-2, 11-0 Missouri Valley Conference), which is off to its best MVC start since going 11-0 in 2004. The Bears had a 12-0 conference start in 1996.
Gabi Haack scored 24 points to lead Bradley (12-10, 8-7).
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