Boston, Cooke lead No. 1 South Carolina past Auburn 79-53
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Freshmen Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke had 13 points apiece, and No. 1 South Carolina overcame a sluggish start before rolling past Auburn 79-53 for its 18th straight victory on Thursday night.
The Gamecocks (24-1, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) were coming off a decisive 70-52 win over No. 5 UConn — their first ever victory against the dominant women's program of the past 20 years — a few days earlier.
Auburn (8-14, 2-9) trailed just 22-19 early in the second quarter. But South Carolina regrouped for a 20-4 burst to take a 42-23 halftime lead on the way to its 10th straight win over the Tigers.
Tyasha Harris had 12 points and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan had 11 for South Carolina.
Robyn Benton led Auburn with 15 points.
No. 10 MARYLAND 93, NO. 17 IOWA 59
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) __ Kaila Charles scored 21 points, and Maryland turned a showdown for first place in the Big Ten into a full-fledged blowout by taking charge early against Iowa and coasting.
Maryland (21-4, 12-2 Big Ten) never trailed and pushed its winning streak to 10 games. The Terrapins led by 11 after the first quarter, expanded the margin to 25 at halftime and took a staggering 74-38 lead into the fourth quarter
Ashley Owusu had 17 points and 10 assists, Shakira Austin scored 20 points and Stephanie Jones added 16, making all eight of her shots from the floor for Maryland.
Monika Czinano led Iowa with 15 points and Kathleen Doyle scored 10 on 4-for-16 shooting. Iowa (20-5, 11-3) had won 11 of 12, including a 66-61 win over the Terps on Jan. 6.
NO. 19 NORTHWESTERN 66, MICHIGAN 60
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) __ Veronica Burton hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 2:35 to play, Sydney Wood drained the clinching free throws with seven seconds left, and Northwestern edged Michigan.
The game was tied at 60 before the Wildcats closed the game strong.
Wood and Abi Scheid scored 14 points apiece and Burton and Abbie Wolf added 13 each for Northwestern (21-3, 11-2 Big Ten).
Akienreh Johnson led the Wolverines (16-8, 7-6) with 15 points and Amy Dilk and Hailey Brown added 12 each.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) __ Khayla Pointer scored 24 points with 10 rebounds and six assists to help LSU beat Tennessee.
Awa Trasi had five 3-pointers and scored 22 points for LSU, which handed Tennessee its third-straight loss.
Pointer and Trasi combined for 16 points in the fourth quarter when the Tigers outscored the Lady Vols 26-17.
Rennia Davis had scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half for the Lady Vols (17-7, 7-4).
NO. 9 LOUISVILLE 66, NO. 4 N.C. STATE 59
RALEIGH, N. C. (AP) __ Jazmine Jones scored 19 points, and Louisville locked down defensively to beat fourth-ranked North Carolina State in a matchup of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top two teams.
Kylee Shook added 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks for the Cardinals (22-3, 11-2 ACC).
N.C. State (22-2, 11-2) entered the night with the program’s highest ranking since January 2000, but the Wolfpack shot just 32%, including 5 of 20 from 3-point range, after entering the night ranked in the top 20 nationally in 3-point percentage.
Kayla Jones led the Wolfpack with 17 points.
NO. 15 GONZAGA 56, SAN FRANCISCO 38
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) __ LeeAnne Wirth and Melody Kempton scored 10 points apiece, and Gonzaga rebounded from the loss that ended its 21-game winning streak by defeating San Francisco.
In their previous game, the Bulldogs (24-2, 13-1 West Coast Conference) allowed Saint Mary's to make 14 of 21 3-pointers and shoot 56.5% in a 70-60 loss. Gonzaga clamped down against the Dons (9-16, 2-11) -- San Francisco shot 1 of 13 from 3-point range and 41% overall.
Gonzaga matched its best-ever start from the 2004-05 season with its 15th consecutive win at home.
Mikayla Williams and Leilah Vigil scored 10 points each for San Francisco.
NO. 20 INDIANA 59, ILLINOIS 54
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) __ Ali Patberg had 17 points and nine assists on Thursday night, and Indiana pulled away late to beat Illinois.
The Illini (11-13, 2-11 Big Ten) took a 49-47 lead on Kennedi Myles' layup with 4:05 left in the game. The Hoosiers (20-6, 10-4) went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good and Jaelynn Penn hit four free throws in the final 28 seconds to secure the win.
Aleksa Gulbe added 15 points and eight rebounds and Penn finished with 10 points and six boards for the Hoosiers.
Ali Andrew scored 19 points and Jeanae Terry added 15 for the Illini.
NO. 21 SOUTH DAKOTA 88, WESTERN ILLINOIS 51
VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Hannah Sjerven scored 18 points with 11 rebounds, and South Dakota defeated Western Illinois for its 12th consecutive victory.
Taylor Frederick added 13 points and Chloe Lamb and Ciara Duffy 11 each with Duffy adding seven assists for the Coyotes.
South Dakota (23-2, 12-0 Summit League), outrebounded the Leathernecks by 20 in beating the Leathernecks for the sixth straight time.
Elizabeth Lutz made five 3-pointers and scored 18 points with five steals for Western Illinois (13-12, 7-5).
NO. 16 TEXAS A&M 74, VANDERBILT 53
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) __ Chennedy Carter scored 18 points, and Texas A&M was never threatened in a blowout win over Vanderbilt.
N'dea Jones scored 17 points, Kayla Wells added 12 and Ciera Johnson and Aaliyah Wilson scored 10 apiece for the Aggies (19-5, 7-4 Southeastern Conference),
Koi Love paced Vanderbilt (13-11, 3-8) with 13 points. Jordyn Cambridge and Kiara Pearl each scored 11.
The Aggies built an 18-4 lead, and the Commodores never got within 13 points the rest of the way.
