COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Azzi Fudd scored 28 points and No. 7 UConn ended No. 4 South Carolina’s 71-game home winning streak with an 87-58 victory Sunday.
Sarah Strong added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Huskies (24-3), who had lost their past four to the Gamecocks. Paige Bueckers had 12 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds as UConn took control late in the opening quarter and was up by 22 points by halftime.
Uncharacteristically, defending champion South Carolina could not respond and lost for the first time at home since North Carolina State beat the Gamecocks 54-46 on Dec. 3, 2020. That ended the fourth longest home winning streak ever in women’s Division I basketball history.
Fudd followed up a career-best 34-point performance in a win over St. John’s this Wednesday by torching the Gamecocks. She had six of UConn’s 13 3-pointers, including four in the third quarter to close off any South Carolina hope of a comeback.
Joyce Edwards had 17 points to lead South Carolina (23-3).
NO 1 UCLA 75, NO. 22 MICHIGAN STATE 69
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Timea Gardiner hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 44 seconds remaining to help top-ranked UCLA avoid its second loss of the week by edging No. 22 Michigan State.
Michigan State’s Nyla Hampton appeared to get fouled by Kendall Dudley late, but there was no call. An angered Spartans coach Robyn Fralick was called for a technical with 17 seconds left.
Kiki Rice hit both free throws to give UCLA (24-1, 12-1 Big Ten) a 73-69 lead. She made two more foul shots in the closing seconds and finished with 16 points and seven assists. Gardiner also scored 18 points.
Theryn Hallock scored 19 points to lead Michigan State (19-6, 9-5) and Julia Ayrault added 18 points. The Spartans fell to 1-6 against No. 1 teams.
The Bruins were without starting center Lauren Betts, who wore a boot on her injured right foot. Janiah Barker started in place of the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer and had 18 points and 12 rebounds.
NO. 3 TEXAS 68, NO. 5 LSU 58
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Madison Booker scored 16 points, including four consecutive free throws in the final 24 seconds, and No. 3 Texas overcame a woeful shooting start to rally for a victory over No. 5 LSU.
Texas was just 7 of 37 shooting in the first half and trailed by as much as 12 in the third quarter. Booker, the Longhorns’ leading scorer this season, missed all 11 shot attempts in the first half after averaging nearly 21 points over the previous nine games.
But Texas (26-2, 11-1 SEC) fought through the slow start to take a 50-49 lead on Bryanna Preston’s basket with just under 6 minutes to play and never trailed again.
Rori Harmon’s consecutive baskets pushed the Texas lead to 61-56 before Booker closed out Texas’ 10th straight victory. Texas also earned its third win over a top-10 opponent in a eight days.
Aneesah Morrow had 15 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Tigers (25-2, 10-2).
NO. 6 USC 69, WASHINGTON 64
SEATTLE (AP) — Kiki Iriafen scored 19 points and No. 6 USC rallied to beat Washington.
JuJu Watkins had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Trojans (23-2, 13-1 Big Ten), who were coming off a statement victory over top-ranked UCLA and trailed by as many as 12 points against the Huskies. Kennedy Smith added 14 points, going 4 for 8 on 3-pointers.
USC shot just 29% from the field in the first three quarters, before going 11 for 16 in the fourth.
Washington’s Sayvia Sellers led all scorers with 24 points. Hannah Stines — who shadowed Watkins all day on defense — added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
From the opening tip, the Huskies (14-12, 5-9) slowed the game down, taking as much time off the shot clock as possible every time down the floor. As a result, the score was tied at 23-23 at halftime after a second quarter that featured just four made field goals.
NO. 8 KENTUCKY 84, GEORGIA 55
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Georgia Amoore scored 21 points to lead No. 8 Kentucky to a win over Georgia.
Amoore, a senior, made three 3-pointers and led the Wildcats with 15 points in the first half to help the Wildcats (20-4, 9-3 SEC) snap a two-game losing streak and complete a regular-season sweep of the Bulldogs.
Dazia Lawrence connected on three 3-pointers and followed Amoore with 15 points. Amelia Hassett made four 3-pointers, including three in the first quarter, for 14 points. Teonni Key added a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Clara Strack added 14 points.
Trinity Turner led Georgia (10-16, 2-10) with 22 points and tallied 20 in the first half.
NO. 12 NORTH CAROLINA 66, NO. 10 N.C. STATE 65
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Grace Townsend made two go-ahead free throws with 5.2 seconds left and No. 12 North Carolina came up with a final-play stop to beat No. 10 N.C. State.
The graduate transfer from Richmond entered the rivalry game shooting 63.2% (24 of 38) from the line this year, but calmly made both in the clutch for the Tar Heels (23-4, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference).
The Wolfpack (20-5, 12-2) had one try for the win coming out of a timeout, but Aziaha James couldn’t turn the baseline corner against Reniya Kelly and Maria Gakdeng before losing the ball out of bounds as the horn sounded. That sent UNC players spilling onto the court to celebrate in front of a sellout crowd, a win earned despite losing leading scorer and rebounder Alyssa Ustby in the opening minutes.
Kelly had a career-high 23 points to lead the Tar Heels, while James had all 16 of her points after halftime to lead the Wolfpack.
NO. 11 TCU 85, ARIZONA 73
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Sedona Prince scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds to help No. 11 TCU beat Arizona.
Madison Connor made 7 of 10 from the field, including four 3-pointers, and finished with 18 points for TCU (24-3, 12-2 Big 12). Aaliyah Roberson tied her career high with four 3-pointers and scored a season-high 16 points. Hailey Van Lith added 11 points.
Skylar Jones led Arizona (15-12, 6-8) with a career-high 30 points, making 9 of 11 from the field, 4 of 4 from behind the arc and 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. Paulina Paris scored 14 points and freshman Lauryn Swann, who hit 4 of 5 from 3-point range, added 12 points.
Paris made a layup to tie it at 54-all with 5:31 left in the third quarter but Van Lith answered with a layup 21 seconds later that sparked an 11-3 run to close the period and TCU led the rest of the way.
NO. 15 TENNESSEE 80, MISSISSIPPI 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jewel Spear matched her season-high with 28 points and the No. 15 Tennessee women jumped out to an early lead they never surrendered, knocking off Mississippi.
Mississippi (17-8, 8-5 SEC) came into the game in fifth place in the SEC, with hopes of a Top Four finish and a two-round bye in the SEC tournament, but the loss knocked them into sixth place. Tennessee (19-6, 6-6) is currently in eighth place, a half-game behind Oklahoma.
Tennessee finished the first quarter on an 11-2 run and led 17-7. The Rebels got within six by halftime, 34-28, but Tennessee pulled away in the second half and Samara Spencer’s layup with 7:28 left in the game pushed the lead to 67-50.
Starr Jacobs scored at the basket and Sira Thienou tipped in a Jacobs miss to get Ole Miss within double digits, 70-61 with four minutes remaining. KK Deans knocked down a 3 from the corner with :40 seconds left to make it 77-71, but Tennessee freshman Kaniya Boyd drove for a layup six seconds later and Ole Miss did not score again.
Spencer finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Tennessee. Zee Spearman added 14 points and eight boards off the bench and Talaysia Cooper had 11 points, six assists and six steals.
NO. 16 OKLAHOMA 82, MISSOURI 66
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Payton Verhulst scored 15 points, four teammates also scored in double figures, and No. 16 Oklahoma dominated the second half to defeat Missouri.
After trailing 44-40 at halftime, the Sooners rolled through the third quarter, outscoring Missouri 25-10. Lexy Keys hit two 3-pointers and scored eight points. Zya Vann added seven points in the quarter.
The Sooners missed their first two shots of the second half, then made 14 of the next 20 to take control of the game. A 12-0 run gave Oklahoma a 77-57 lead halfway through the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma shot 60% in the second half and 48% for the game. Missouri was outscored 42-22 in the second half.
Skylar Vann scored 14 points, Keys 13, Zya Vann 11 and Sahara Williams 10 for the Sooners (19-6, 7-5).
NO. 19 GEORGIA TECH 73, WAKE FOREST 62
ATLANTA (AP) — Kara Dunn scored 22 points, including nine in the final five minutes, and No. 19 Georgia Tech finished strong to defeat Wake Forest.
Georgia Tech trailed only once, 54-53 early in the fourth quarter. A layup by Kayla Blackshear put the Yellow Jackets back in the lead and they held Wake Forest to eight points over the final 8 1/2 minutes. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Dunn made it 67-58 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining and the lead reached 11 points when she made one free throw with 16 seconds left.
Blackshear had 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Georgia Tech (21-5, 9-5 ACC). Danie Carnegie and Tonie Morgan scored 14 points each.
Rylie Theuerkauf scored 20 points for Wake Forest (8-17, 1-13). Raegyn Conley and Demeara Hinds had 12 points each.
NO. 23 FLORIDA 83, MIAMI 82
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Makayla Timpson’s layup with three seconds left allowed No. 23 Florida State to escape Miami with a win.
Florida State (20-6, 10-4 ACC) snapped a two-game losing streak that knocked the Seminoles a game behind Louisville and North Carolina, both tied for fourth. Miami (13-12, 3-11) lost its fourth straight game, all to ranked opponents.
Miami took a 78-76 lead on Haley Cavinder’s layup with 1:25 left, but she fouled O’Mariah Gordon at the one-minute mark and she hit two free throws to tie the game. Natalija Marshall put Miami back in front with a layup with :18 left but seven seconds later Gordon hit a jumper, drew a foul and added the free throw to put Florida State in front 81-80. Gordon fouled Cavinder on the in-bounds pass and she hit both free throws to put Miami up by one, but Gordon found Timpson for the game-winner seconds later.
Gordon posted a career-high 34 points by hitting 14 of 22 from the field and dished out seven assists to lead Florida State. Timpson finished with 22 points and nine rebounds and Sydney Bowles contributed 14 points. The Seminoles were 33 of 65 from the field (50.8%).
The Associated Press
