No. 12 Penn State outlasts No. 24 Texas A&M 66-58
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Maggie Lucas went for 26 points to lead No. 12 Penn State against No. 24 Texas A&M 66-58 on Sunday.
Penn State (7-3) got 14 points from Ariel Edwards and Tori Waldner pulled in 11 rebounds.
Texas A&M (6-3) was led by Courtney Walker with 20 points, while Tori Scott had 14.
The Lady Lions scored the first 12 points of the game, and the Aggies didn't score until 10:57 of the frame. But A&M went on a 13-2 run to pull within one and tied it up at 15 on a pair of Rachel Mitchell free throws. Penn State went on an 11-1 run at the end of the half to hold a two point lead at half.
Penn State came out hot after the intermission, using a 9-2 run to stretch the lead to nine, and it never lost the lead again.
No. 5 Kentucky beats East Tennessee State 73-56
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Janee Thompson and Samari Walker each scored 12 points to lead fifth-ranked Kentucky to a 73-56 win against East Tennessee State on Sunday.
The Wildcats (11-0) tied a school record with their 11th consecutive victory to open the season.
East Tennessee State (2-6) forced four lead changes and three ties in the first eight minutes, but the Wildcats used a 14-2 run to go up 31-18 with 8:15 remaining in the first half.
Kentucky led 49-29 at the half, but the Buccaneers pulled within 54-44 with 13:28 left. But East Tennessee State couldn't get within single digits.
Linnae Harper added 10 points for Kentucky.
Maria Bond led East Tennessee State with 14 points, and Chandler Christopher scored 11.
No. 9 Baylor beats Houston Baptist 100-57
WACO, Texas -- Odyssey Sims had 25 points and seven assists, Nina Davis added 16 points and No. 9 Baylor beat Houston Baptist 100-57 on Sunday.
The Lady Bears extended their home court winning streak to a nation's-best 65 games. They were playing for the first time since a 133-130, four-overtime loss to No. 5 Kentucky at the Dallas Cowboys' stadium on Dec. 6.
Baylor (8-1) put the game out of reach with an early 22-4 run capped by consecutive layups by Sune Agbuke for a 28-9 lead.
Agbuke finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Davis shot 7-for-7 and Khadijiah Cave had 12 points.
Houston Baptist (3-5) had turnovers on six of its first 10 possessions.
Tayler Jefferson had 13 points for the Huskies, who played for the first time in 12 days. Shanice Steenholdt had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
No. 13 LSU tops Arkansas-Little Rock 58-51
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Theresa Plaisance scored 19 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds as No. 13 LSU erased a first-half deficit to defeat Arkansas-Little Rock 58-51 on Sunday.
LSU (8-1) trailed 30-24 at half before opening the second half on a 16-5 run, led by 10 points from Raigyne Moncrief during the stretch.
Plaisance scored 15 of her season-high 19 points in the second half. She had 15 of the last 18 points in the game for LSU as the Lady Tigers held off UALR (4-4).
Moncrief scored 11 points for LSU and Jeanne Kenney added 10.
Three players reached double figures for the Trojans, led by Kiera Clark with 17 points. Taylor Ford had 13 points to go along with eight assists and Taylor Gault added 12 points.
The Lady Tigers have now won six in a row after a loss to No. 5 Louisville on Nov. 14.
No. 16 Georgia tops Kennesaw State 91-32
ATHENS, Ga. -- Merritt Hempe scored a career-high 18 points, 14 in the first half, as No. 16 Georgia whooped Kennesaw State 91-32 on Sunday.
Georgia only made two field goals in the first 4:30 of the second half, but then went on a 25-0 run and took a commanding 74-20 lead. Tiaria Griffin made three 3-pointers during the stretch that saw six different players score.
Shacobla Barbee and Griffin had 13 apiece for Georgia (10-0) while Khaalidah Miller and Halle Washington added 12 each.
Georgia led 45-11 at halftime after holding Kennesaw State to 18.2 percent shooting (4 of 22) and forcing 16 turnovers.
Kennesaw State (1-8) did not score until the 13:58 mark of the first half and trailed 7-2. Kristina Wells and Bria Young led the Owls with 12 points each.
The win gave Georgia its eighth-best start in the program's history and its 20th all-time 10-game winning streak.
No. 18 Purdue hangs on to defeat Kansas 71-68
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Courtney Moses scored a game-high 21 points and No. 18 Purdue held on to defeat Kansas 71-68 Sunday.
Moses hit a jumper to give Purdue (7-2) a 68-66 lead with 1:04 remaining. Kansas (5-5) answered with an Asia Boyd layup to tie it with 36 seconds to play.
Purdue's Whitney Bays was fouled by Chelsea Gardner at the 12-second mark. Bays made one of two free throws, putting the Boilermakers ahead 69-68.
After both teams called timeouts, Boyd missed what would have been the go-ahead layup with two seconds to play. KK Houser grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Boyd. Houser made both free throws to end the game.
Houser scored 14 points with eight assists. Bays added 12 points and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.
Gardner and Boyd each scored 17 points, and Charlicia Harper added 10 to lead the Jayhawks.
No. 20 OU beats Maryland-Eastern Shore 105-46
NORMAN, Okla. -- Nicole Kornet scored a career-high 26 points, topping her previous best of 19, as No. 20 Oklahoma cruised past Maryland-Eastern Shore 105-46 Sunday.
After a week off, Oklahoma built an early 36-10 lead before going on a 14-0 run, with scoring from five different Sooners and eventually led 54-15 at halftime.
Kaylon Williams had 14 points for Oklahoma (7-3) and Gioya Carter added 11 points, nine coming from the free throw line. Nicole Griffin controlled the paint with nine points, ten rebounds and four blocked shots, helping the Sooners finish with a 59-37 rebounding advantage.
The Oklahoma defense held Maryland-Eastern Shore (3-6) to 21.7 percent shooting, forced 21 turnovers and had seven blocks.
Alexis Udoji scored 13 points for UMES. Jessica Long, averaging 16.8 points coming in, was held to just six points on 2-of-8 shooting. Shawnee Sweeney made just one of her 12 shots from behind the arc.
No. 22 California defeats Cal State Bakersfield 70-51
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Hind Ben Abdelkader scored a career-high 18 points, Reshanda Gray added 14 and No. 22 California defeated Cal State Bakersfield 70-51 Sunday.
Ben Abdelkader made six 3-pointers, including five in a row in the second half to help California (7-2) extend its winning streak to seven. Gray, who currently ranks second in the Pac-12 Conference in field goal percentage, finished 6 of 11 from the floor.
Brittany Boyd had a season-high 12 assists and contributed six points for the Golden Bears.
Shaquita Smith scored the first basket of the game to give Cal State Bakersfield (3-6) its only lead. Melissa Sweat made a layup to pull the CSUB within 11 points, 47-36 with 12:41 remaining, but the Roadrunners did not get any closer.
Smith finished with 10 points, and Tyonna Outland scored 13 to lead Cal State Bakersfield.
