No. 1 South Carolina battles back to beat Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Zia Cooke scored 16points and Aliyah Boston added 12 to help No. 1 South Carolinaremain unbeaten with a 58-51 win over Mississippi State onSunday.

The Gamecocks were held to a season-low point total but wereable to find a way. Boston added 15 rebounds in the win.

South Carolina (16-0, 3-0 SEC) had a massive advantage at thefree throw line where the Gamecocks were 14 of 24 while MSU was 2of 5. The Gamecocks also dominated the boards with a 53-35 edgeincluding 22 offensive rebounds.

Jerkaila Jordan led the way for the Bulldogs (12-5, 1-3) with 13points and five rebounds. Jessika Carter had 11 points and ninerebounds.

NO. 2 STANFORD 60, CALIFORNIA 56

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Haley Jones scored the go-ahead layupwith 1:17 to play, Cameron Brink had 25 points, 17 rebounds andthree blocked shots as NBA pal Stephen Curry watched courtside,outdueling Leilani McIntosh down the stretch as Stanford held offCalifornia.

Jones wound up with 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Cardinal(16-1, 4-0 Pac-12) ran their winning streak to 11 games.

McIntosh finished with 19 points for the Golden Bears (10-5,1-3).

Stanford won its 38th straight game against Pac-12 teamsincluding the past two conference titles and postseason.

NO. 3 OHIO STATE 87, ILLINOIS 81

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Taylor Mikesell scored a game-high 31points as Ohio State erased a halftime deficit and avoided anupset.

Mikesell shot 50% from the field and Cotie McMahon added 22points for Ohio State (17-0, 6-0 Big Ten). Taylor Thierry had 12points and swiped four steals.

Kendall Bostic notched her sixth double-double of the seasonbehind 27 points and 15 rebounds. Genesis Bryant finished with 20points, Makira Cook had 12 and Brynn Shoup-Hill tallied 10 forIllinois (14-3, 4-2).

NO. 22 NORTH CAROLINA 60, NO. 4 NOTRE DAME50

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — First-year guard Paulina Paris scored11 of her season-high 16 points in the fourth quarter to help NorthCarolina push past Notre Dame.

Deja Kelly added 14 points for the Tar Heels (10-5, 1-3 AtlanticCoast Conference), who snapped a four-game skid that had drainedsome of their early season buzz.

Olivia Miles had 15 points and seven rebounds to lead Notre Dame(12-2, 3-1), which had entered Sunday as one of two unbeaten teamsin ACC play.

NO. 6 INDIANA 72, NORTHWESTERN 50

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Mackenzie Holmes scored 24 points andgrabbed 13 rebounds and Indiana beat Northwestern.

Grace Berger finished with 16 points and five assists for theHoosiers (14-1, 4-1).

The Wildcats got a boost off the bench as Jasmine McWilliamsadded eight points on 3-for-3 shooting in the third. McWilliams andSydney Wood led Northwestern (6-9, 0-5 Big Ten) with 10 points eachin their seventh loss in nine games.

NO. 7 LSU 67, KENTUCKY 48

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Flau’jae Johnson scored 26 points,including eight during a 12-0, second-quarter run to break the gameopen, Angel Reese also scored 26 and LSU earned its best start inschool history.

Reese had 13 rebounds for her nation’s-best 16th double-double.The Tigers (16-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) outshot Kentuckyjust 40%-35% but dominated nearly every other statistical categoryincluding rebounding (45-23).

Maddie Scherr had 22 points for Kentucky (8-8, 0-4), whichdropped its fourth in a row and lost its second game this season inRupp Arena, home of the men’s basketball team.

MIAMI 77, NO. 9 VIRGINIA TECH 66

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Jasmyn Roberts scored a career-best 23points, Haley Cavinder added 19 and Miami held off VirginiaTech.

Roberts was 8 for 12 from the field, 5 of 7 from 3-point rangefor the Hurricanes (10-6, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who wontheir third straight game. Cavinder was 6 for 12 from the field,and Miami shot 54%.

Elizabeth Kitley scored 20 for Virginia Tech (13-3, 3-3), whichhad beat Miami five consecutive times. Georgia Amoore added 13 forthe Hokies.

NO. 10 NC STATE 87, VIRGINIA 62

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jada Boyd scored 13 points and No. 10 NorthCarolina State snapped a two-game home losing skid.

Camille Hobby and Mimi Collins both had 12 points, and DiamondJohnson and River Baldwin added 10 points apiece for the Wolfpack(13-3, 3-2). Jakia Brown-Turner and Madison Hayes each finishedwith nine.

Camryn Taylor scored 16 points, Taylor Valladay had 13 and SamBrunelle 12 for Virginia (13-3, 2-3), which dropped a game to atop-10 team for the second time in four days after losing Thursdayat No. 9 Virginia Tech.

NO. 17 OKLAHOMA 82, NO. 11 IOWA STATE 79

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Ana Llanusa scored 23 points, Skylar Vannhit the final go-ahead basket, and Oklahoma defeated Iowa State ina matchup of the Big 12′s top two offenses.

In a game with 25 lead changes, Oklahoma struck last.

Vann finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for Oklahoma(12-2, 2-1 Big 12). Nevaeh Tot also scored 13 points, and TaylorRobertson finished with 10.

Ashley Joens finished with 27 points and nine rebounds. She made12-of-13 free throws. Lexi Donarski scored 20 and Nyamer Diew 14for the Cyclones (10-3, 2-1).

NO. 12 UCLA 61, SOUTHERN CAL 60

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freshman Londynn Jones scored 13 of hercareer-high 22 points in the second half and UCLA used a bigfourth-quarter run to beat Southern California.

Emily Bessoir hit 3 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 11points for UCLA (13-2, 2-1 Pac-12). Charisma Osborne scored six ofher nine points in the fourth quarter.

Rayah Marshall had 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocksfor Southern Cal (11-4, 1-3) and Kayla Williams also scored 15points. Okako Adika added 11 points and Destiny Littlejohn 10.

NO. 15 ARIZONA 79, NO. 18 OREGON 71

TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) — Madison Conner scored 16 second-half pointsto lead five Arizona players in double figures and the Wildcatsbeat Oregon.

Shaina Pellington had 14 points, six rebounds and six assists,Jade Loville scored 13 points and Esmery Martinez 11 for Arizona(14-2, 4-1 Pac-12). Kate Reese had 10 points.

Grace VanSlooten led Oregon (12-4, 3-2) with 18 points. Te-HinaPaopao and Endyia Rogers scored 17 apiece, Chance Gray added 10 andPhillipina Kyei had six points and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-8 Kyeihas grabbed at least 10 rebounds in eight consecutive games.

NO. 24 ST. JOHN’S 71, XAVIER 52

NEW YORK (AP) — Jayla Everett scored a season-high 26 points andSt. John’s bounced back after its first loss of the season.

Jillian Archer had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Storm(14-1, 5-1 Big East Conference).

Mackayla Scarlett had 18 points for the Musketeers (7-9, 0-7),who have lost six straight as well as 15 straight to St.John’s.

NO. 25 CREIGHTON 68, MARQUETTE 42

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Lauren Jensen scored 19 points and Creightondefeated Marquette after holding the Golden Eagles to 14 points inthe first half.

Chloe Marotta scored 20 points for Marquette and Jordan Kingadded 13. Only four players scored for the Golden Eagles (10-6, 3-4Big East).

Jensen made 9 of 14 shots and added three rebounds and fiveassists. Morgan Maly had 10 points and seven rebounds, and EmmaRonsiek scored 10 for the Bluejays (10-5, 4-3) who had lost four oftheir last five games.