TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Sammie Puisis scored nine of her 23 points in the final seven minutes to help South Florida hold off ninth-ranked Duke for a 65-56 victory on Saturday.
L’or Mputu had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls (7-6), who led by as many as 23 in the first half. Duke (10-3) whittled away at the deficit, pulling within 42-39 on Taina Mair’s 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. USF also got 10 points apiece from Vittoria Blasigh and Carla Brito.
Toby Fournier led Duke with 11 points and eight rebounds, but the cold-shooting Blue Devils fell behind 20-6 after one quarter. They trailed 33-10 before scoring the last five points of the first half and nine of the first 12 in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 36-24. It was 42-36 heading into the fourth quarter after Reigan Richardson’s three-point play and a pair of free throws from Mair cut USF’s lead to single digits.
No. 12 TCU 92, UCF 52
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Madison Conner scored 20 of her 24 points in the first half, Sedona Prince added 22 points and No. 12 TCU rolled to a win over UCF in a Big 12 Conference opener.
Hailey Van Lith had 14 points with seven assists for the Horned Frogs (12-1), who hit 11 3-pointers and shot 53% overall while outrebounding UCF44-21
Emely Rodriguez scored 17 points for the Knights (7-4) and Nevaeh Brown added 11.
Prince had a three-point play to put TCU on top 6-5 and started 10-0 run. Connor had five points in the last minute for a 28-14 lead after one quarter.
Prince (12) and Van Lith (10) were also in double figures by halftime when the Horned Frogs took a 53-33 lead. They shot 50% with eight 3s, four by Conner.
With Prince scoring the last two baskets of the third quarter the Horned Frogs took a 73-45 lead into the fourth quarter and the lead built until the final buzzer.
No. 18 TENNESSEE 102, TULSA 61
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Sara Puckett scored 17 points, Jewell Spear had 16 and No. 18 Tennessee rolled to a win over Tulsa in the West Palm Beach Classic.
The Lady Vols surpassed their nation-leading scoring average as well as their average of 12.5 3-pointers a game, going 14 of 32. They surpassed the century mark for the fifth time, tied for second in program history behind the seven of the 1987-88 team. The seventh game with at least 10 3s is also a record.
Zee Spearman had 12 points and nine rebounds for Tennessee (11-0), which won both its games in the tournament. Ruby Whitehorn and Talaysia Cooper both scored 13.
Delanie Crawford had 17 points for Tulsa (6-6), Mady Cartwright scored 12 and Jade Clack 10. The Golden Hurricanes shot 45%, went 5 of 29 from 3-point range and had 23 turnovers. Two players fouled out and three finished with four fouls.
No. 19 NORTH CAROLINA 90, NORFOLK ST. 47
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Lanie Grant scored 15 points, Alyssa Ustby had a double-double and No. 19 North Carolina took control early to roll to a win over Norfolk State.
The Tar Heels held the Spartans without a field goal for the final 7:23 of the first quarter and turned a one-point lead into a 29-8 lead by the end. Norfolk State missed eight shots and had four turnovers.
The lead was 49-19 at halftime as the Spartans were 1 of 12 from 3-point range and 5 of 25 overall while the Tar Heels shot 50% and had six 3s.
Grace Townsend had 14 points for the Tar Heels (12-2) and Ustby had 10 with 11 rebounds. Maria Gakdeng and Lexi Donarski both had 11 points Ciera Toomey 10.
Diamond Johnson had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans (11-4) and Anjanae Richardson added 11 points.
North Carolina scored the first 13 points of the second half and led by 52 in the fourth before Norfolk State scored the last nine points.
No. 25 MISSISSIPPI 78, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 44
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Sira Thienou had 13 of her 18 points in the first half and No. 25 Mississippi rolled to a win over Mississippi Valley State.
Ole Miss scored the first 13 points of the game, seven by Thienous, but the Devilettes scored the next nine and only trailed 17-10 after one quarter.
Thienous hit all three of her 3-pointers in the first half as the Rebels took a 36-24 lead. A 9-0 run had the Rebels up 35-16 late in the second quarter but Jaeda Murphy scored the last five points before halftime, cutting the deficit to 12.
An 11-2 run and a 10-0 run in the third quarter had Ole Miss on top 59-35 entering the fourth.
Starr Jacobs and Madison Scott both had 13 points for the Rebels (8-3), Kennedy Todd-Williams and Kharyssa Richardson both added 12. Scott had 10 rebounds and six assists, Todd-Williams had eight rebounds and two blocks and Thienou had four steals.
D’Yanna Maxey scored 10 points for the Devilettes (1-10).
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