COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Aliyah Boston had 18 points and 15 rebounds as No. 1 South Carolina improved to 8-0 against ranked opponents this season with a 74-54 victory over No. 21 Kentucky on Sunday.
Boston, the 6-foot-5 junior All-American, was nearly unstoppable around the basket — she had 10 points and eight boards by halftime — and matched the school mark with her ninth straight game with double-figure points and rebounds.
Boston added five blocks and helped on defense against Kentucky star scorer Rhyne Howard, who made the game’s first bucket but went on to finish 2-of-14 shooting for a season-low-tying nine points. Howard came in second in the Southeastern Conference in scoring, averaging 19.7 points.
Zia Cooke had a game-high 19 points as the Gamecocks (15-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) won their fifth straight over Kentucky (8-4, 1-1) and third in a row since their lone loss, 70-69 in overtime at Missouri in Dec. 30.
No. 2 STANFORD 66, GONZAGA 50
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Hannah Jump scored 21 points, including five 3-pointers, and Stanford clamped down defensively to beat Gonzaga.
Jump, a junior taking on a bigger role this season for the defending national champions, scored 13 of her 21 points in the second half as Stanford (11-3) led most of the day in a non-conference game that was scheduled at the last minute.
Gonzaga agreed to the game after Stanford’s regularly scheduled game Sunday against Oregon State was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Beavers’ program. The two teams played on Nov. 21 in Washington and Stanford won that one 66-62.
Yvonne Ejim led Gonzaga (10-4) with 14 points.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 76, No. 4 ARIZONA 67
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alyson Miura hit four of her career-high five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 15 points to help Southern California upset previously unbeaten Arizona.
Miura missed only one of her six 3-point shots and had a career-high six assists. Jordyn Jenkins added 14 points and Desiree Caldwell scored 12 for USC (8-4, 1-1 Pac-12).
Bendu Yeaney made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Wildcats a 59-58 lead with 5:28 to play but Miura answered with back-to-back 3s in the next 62 seconds and USC led the rest of the way. Miura hit two more 3-pointers just 35 seconds apart to give the Trojans a 73-63 lead with 1:05 to play.
Cate Reese led Arizona (22-2, 1-1) with a season-high 29 points — one shy of her career best.
No. 5 N.C. STATE 76, MIAMI 64
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Elissa Cunane scored 19 points, Diamond Johnson added 16 and N.C. State remained atop the Atlantic Coast Conference by holding off Miami.
Kayla Jones added 11 points and six assists for the Wolfpack (14-2, 5-0), who only led by three early in the fourth quarter before pulling away.
“Miami, they just get after you on defense,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “They’re going to use a plethora of presses, they’re flying around … it’s not really conducive to my blood pressure, coming down here.”
Kelsey Marshall scored 17 points for Miami (7-5, 0-2)
No. 7 TENNESSEE 70, MISSISSIPPI 58
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Jordan Horston scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds to lead Tennessee over Mississippi, snapping the Rebels’ 13-game winning streak.
The Lady Vols (15-1, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) built a 20-point lead early in the third quarter and Ole Miss (13-2, 1-1) could never pull back to within single digits.
Alexus Dye had 17 points and Tess Darby added 13 for Tennessee, which outrebounded the Rebels 46-28. Tamari Key attempted only two shots but had six points and seven rebounds.
No. 8 MICHIGAN 76, RUTGERS 47
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Naz Hlllman and Leigha Brown each scored 19 points as Michigan rolled past Rutgers..
Maddie Nolan added 14 points for the Wolverines (13-2, 4-1 Big Ten).
Lasha Petree scored 18 points and Shug Dickson added 14 points for the Scarlet Knights (7-10, 0-5), who lost their third straight.
Michigan ended the first quarter with a 12-0 run. After Petree scored the first basket of the second quarter for Rutgers, Michigan went on an 8-0 run and pulled away, leading by as many as 20 points. It was 44-25 at halftime.
No. 9 TEXAS 93, TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY 58
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Aliyah Matharu scored 18 points in just 19 minutes, and Texas defeated Texas Rio Grande Valley..
The game was a last-minute addition made Friday as both schools had league games postponed because of the coronavirus. The Vaqueros (5-9) were supposed to play at New Mexico State while the Longhorns (11-2) were originally playing at No. 14 Baylor.
No. 10 MARYLAND 87, MARYLAND 73
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Chloe Bibby scored 23 points to lead a balanced offense and help Maryland beat Minnesota.
Angel Reese added 19 points and 10 rebounds for Maryland (12-4, 4-1 in the Big Ten), while Ashley Owusu chipped in 15 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Diamond Miller had 12 points and six assists.
Deja Winters led Minnesota (8-8, 1-3) with 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. Sara Scalia scored 19 points,
No. 11 UCONN 63, CREIGHTON 55
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Caroline Ducharme led a balanced attack with 17 points and 11th-ranked and depleted UConn defeated Creighton after a lengthy layoff.
The Huskies (7-3, 2-0 Big East Conference) had missed their last four games because of COVID protocols and had just seven players available to hand the Bluejays’ (10-4, 5-1) their first league loss, ending a four-game winning streak.
Christyn Williams added 13 points, Aaliyah Edwards 12 and Dorka Juhasz 10 for the Huskies.
The seven UConn players included Nika Muhl, who missed the last three games — the Huskies last played on Dec. 19 — with an ankle injury.
No. 13 LSU 76, AUBURN 48
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Khayla Pointer finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to power LSU to a rout of Auburn.
Pointer sank 9 of 14 shots from the floor with two 3-pointers for LSU, which shot 46% overall and hit 3 of 7 from beyond the arc (43%). LSU (15-2, 3-1), which saw its 13-game winning streak end last time out in a 66-60 loss to No. 1 South Carolina, jumped out to a 26-8 first-quarter lead and never looked back.
Aicha Coulibaly, who came in third in the conference with a 17.9 scoring average, led Auburn (8-6, 0-3) with 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
No. 15 GEORGIA 72, ALABAMA 68
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Jenna Staiti scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half and forced a crucial turnover in the closing seconds as Georgia overcame a 19-point halftime deficit to beat Alabama.
Que Morrison scored 21 points to lead the Bulldogs (13-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference), who shot 65 percent in the second half.
Zoesha Smith tied the game at 60-60 with a layup with 6:27 to play and Coombs gave Georgia its first lead at 67-65 when she put back her own missed layup. Down by one, Alabama’s Megan Abrams drove the lane with :18 left, but Staiti and Sarah Ashlee Barker collapsed in the paint and forced the turnover. Morrison added two free throws and Staiti’s free throw with a second left put the game away.
Alabama (10-5, 1-3) got 42 of its 68 points from behind the 3-point line.
No. 16 GEORGIA TECH 67, VIRGINIA 31
ATLANTA (AP) — Nerea Hermosa scored 20 points, Lorela Cubaj added 17 points and 11 rebounds and Georgia Tech beat Virginia..
Mckenna Dale hit a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to give Virginia its first lead of the game at 18-16 but Eylia Love hit a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to put the Yellow Jackets in front for good and spark a 10-0 run.
Carole Miller hit a 3 to cut the Cavaliers’ deficit to 31-24 with 7:13 left in the third quarter but they went scoreless for the next 9 minutes and did not make another field goal until Amandine Toe hit a 3 with 3:45 left in the game to make it 63-29.
Miller and Toi led Virginia (3-9, 0-2 ACC) with eight points apiece on combined 4-of-19 shooting.
No. 17 DUKE 74, SYRACUSE 65
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Onome Akinbode-James scored 16 points to lead five players in double figures and Duke turned back Syracuse.
Akinbode-James made 5 of 9 shots from the floor and all six of her free throws for the Blue Devils (11-2, 2-1), adding six rebounds. Miela Goodchild sank four 3-pointers and finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. Freshman reserve Shayeann Day-Wilson scored eight of her 13 points in the first half to help Duke take a 40-28 lead into intermission. Lexi Gordon scored 11 and Jade Williams pitched in with 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Teisha Hyman scored 11 of her 23 points in the third quarter to pull Syracuse (8-7, 1-4).
No. 19 NORTH CAROLINA 71, VIRGINIA TECH 46
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Eva Hodgson knocked down 4 of 5 3-point attempts and Deja Kelly scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as North Carolina bounced back from its first loss of the season to rout Virginia Tech.
The Tar Heels (14-1, 4-1 ACC) trailed from the outset in their 72-45 loss to No. 5 North Carolina State Thursday, but against the Hokies (11-4, 3-1) they took control early and built a 35-17 lead by intermission after allowing Virginia Tech just seven second-quarter points.
Hodgson finished with a season-high 19 points off the bench and Kelly hit 3 of 6 from beyond the arc and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
No. 22 IOWA 95, NEBRASKA 86
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Caitlin Clark scored 31 points, McKenna Warnock 23 and Monika Czinano had eight of her 20 in the pivotal fourth quarter as Iowa beat Nebraska.
Clark had 12 assists and grabbed eight rebounds in posting her sixth double-double this season, Warnock had a career high seven 3-pointers on nine attempts and grabbed 10 rebounds for her second double-double. Kate Martin added 12 points for Iowa (8-4, 2-1 Big Ten).
Sam Haiby scored 18 points, Alexis Markowski and Jaz Shelley had 14 points each and Ashley Scoggin added 13. Shelley also had 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double this season. The Cornhuskers (13-2, 2-2) lost for the first time at home after nine victories.
FLORIDA 97, No. 25 TEXAS A&M 89, 2 OT
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Zipporah Broughton scored a career-high 28 points, Kiki Smith added 27 and they combined for 11 of Florida’s 13 points in the second overtime to lead the Gators over Texas A&M.
Jordyn Merritt added 17 points with a career-high five 3-pointers for the Gators (11-5, 1-2 Southeastern Conference), who overcame a 19-point third-quarter deficit.
Qadashah Hoppie scored 25 points, Kayla Wells 23, Maliyah Johnson 13 and Aaliyah Patty added 10 plus 16 rebounds for the Aggies (10-5, 0-3), who have lost three straight and fell to the Gators for the first time in the teams’ last seven meetings.
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