ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Diamond Miller scored eight of her 17 points in the first quarter to help No. 8 Maryland start strong and Ashley Owusu had 22 points in an 88-63 victory over No. 12 Michigan that clinched a share of the Big Ten title on Thursday.
The Terrapins (20-2, 16-1 Big Ten) can win the conference championship outright by ending the regular season with a win against Penn State (9-13, 6-12) at home on Saturday. Since joining the conference, Maryland has at least shared the Big Ten title in six of seven seasons.
The Wolverines (13-4, 8-4) were led by Naz Hillmon, who had 19 points.
No. 4 STANFORD 92, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 53
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ashten Prechtel had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead Stanford to a victory over Southern California in a Pac-12 quarterfinal.
Haley Jones and Hannah Jump each had 14 points, and Lacie Hull added 10 points for the Cardinal (23-2, 19-2), who improved to 48-6 all-time in the Pac-12 tournament and 18-1 in the quarterfinals.
Alissa Pili led USC (11-12, 8-10) with nine points.
No. 9 UCLA 58, WASHINGTON 46
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Michaela Onyenwere scored six of her 12 points in the fourth quarter to help UCLA hold off Washington in a Pac-12 quarterfinal.
harisma Osborne also had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Bruins (15-4), while Lauryn Miller had nine points and Natalie Chou added seven.
UCLA staved off upset-minded Washington, which pulled within three early in the fourth but couldn’t gain enough momentum to seize control of the game.
Quay Miller had a game-high 19 points with seven rebounds, while Tameiya Sadler chipped in 12 for Washington (7-14).
No 11 ARIZONA 60, WASHINGTON STATE 44
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Trinity Baptiste had 13 of her 17 points in the first half, and Arizona beat Washington State in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament.
The second-seeded Wildcats (16-4) pulled away with an 11-0 run in the third quarter capped at 42-24 on Aari McDonald’s layup with 1:42 left. Washington State got the deficit no closer than 14 the rest of the way.
The No. 7 seed Cougars (12-11) had 20 of their 26 turnovers in the first half but only trailed 29-21 at the break.
MISSISSIPPI 69, No. 13 ARKANSAS 60
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Shakira Austin scored a career-high 29 points and Ole Miss smothered Arkansas with an upset in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Donnetta Johnson scored 12 for Ole Miss, including the Rebels’ final four points.
The 11th-seeded Rebels take on third-seeded and No. 14-ranked Tennessee in Friday’s quarterfinals. The Lady Vols clipped Mississippi 68-67 during the conference season.
The tone of an impending upset was set early as Ole Miss (11-10) led by 10 after a quarter and by five at the half.
Sixth-seeded Arkansas (19-8) trailed 17-7 after the first 10 minutes, its lowest score to open a game this season, and the 28 points by halftime were its fewest scored in a first half since Jan. 1, 2017 (26).
CENTRAL FLORIDA 58, No. 15 SOUTH FLORIDA 45
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Masseny Kaba scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Central Florida stymied South Florida to close the regular season.
The Knights put on a defensive display, holding the Bulls to a season low in scoring as well as shooting at 25.5% (14 of 55). UCF did a great job of protecting the rim as USF went 7 of 22 from 3-point range and 7 of 33 inside the arc and was outscored 34-8 on points in the paint.
The teams split the season-ending series and are the top two seeds — USF first — heading into the American Athletic Conference tournament on Monday.
Brittney Smith scored 13 points, Diamond Battles 11 with seven assists and Alisha Lewis scored 10 for the Knights (14-3, 12-2).
Elena Tsineke scored 15 points for USF (16-2, 13-2), which won 65-52 at home on Tuesday.
NO. 17 KENTUCKY 73, FLORIDA 64
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Rhyne Howard scored 27 points, seven in the last three minutes when Kentucky outscored Florida 14-4 to earn a win in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
That ended an entertaining duel with Florida’s Kiki Smith, who scored a career-high 36 points, the ninth-highest game in tourney history.
The Wildcats (17-7) advance to face fourth-seeded Georgia in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Smith, who surpassed 1,000 career points in a first-round win over Auburn, also led the Gators (11-13) with nine rebounds.
OREGON STATE 71, No. 19 OREGON 64
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Freshman Talia von Oelhoffen had 19 points and Oregon State advanced in the Pac-12 tournament with a quarterfinal victory over Oregon.
Aleah Goodman added 13 points and seven assists for the Beavers (12-6), who top-seed Stanford in the first semifinal on Friday.
Fifth-seeded Oregon State defeated surprisingly resilient California 71-63 in the opening round on Wednesday when Von Oelhoffen scored a career-high 20. The fourth-seeded Ducks, the defending champions, got a first-round bye.
Taylor Mikesell had 24 points for the Ducks (13-9), who had never before played their in-state rivals in conference tournament.
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