No. 18 Purdue holds off Green Bay 49-45
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- KK Houser hit three of four free throws in the final 11 seconds and scored 17 points as No. 18 Purdue escaped with a 49-45 win against Green Bay Wednesday night.
The Boilermakers (8-2) shot 35 percent but pounded the boards (45-31) and made 17 of 21 free throws. April Wilson added 12 points and Courtney Moses had 11. Whitney Bays had 10 rebounds.
Green Bay (6-4), which lost its third consecutive, shot just 28.4 percent and missed its only free throw. Tesha Buck and Megan Lukan had 10 points each.
Green Bay led at the half 20-18 but Purdue opened the second half with 10 consecutive points. The Boilermakers' big lead was 12 and two free throws by Liza Clemons at 3:08 had the Boilermakers up 44-33 with 3:06 to go. The Phoenix reeled off 10 consecutive points, pulling within one on a 3 by Mehryn Kraker with 49 seconds to play.
Sims, No. 9 Baylor beats Mississippi 87-80
WACO, Texas -- Odyssey Sims scored 39 points, including six the final minute, and No. 9 Baylor held off Mississippi 87-80 on Wednesday night to extend its home winning streak to 66 games.
Despite a tough shooting night (11 of 32), the nation's top scorer made baskets when Baylor (9-1) needed them. Her floater with 36 seconds left made it 83-79, and she then added four free throws after that.
Nina Davis had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Lady Bears.
Ole Miss (8-5), which had its seven-game winning streak snapped, jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first half. The Rebels had five players score in double figures.
Tia Faleru had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Rebels before fouling out. Valencia McFarland had 17 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.
Mavunga leads No. 14 North Carolina to 74-66 win
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Freshman Stephanie Mavunga had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 14 North Carolina to a 74-66 victory against No. 10 South Carolina on Wednesday night, ending the Gamecocks perfect start.
Diamond DeShields, the daughter of former major leaguer Delino Deshields, added 17 points and Xylina McDaniel, the daughter of ex-NBA standout Xavier McDaniel, had 14 for the Tar Heels (10-2), who have won five consecutive.
The Gamecocks (9-1) cut a 13-point lead to 55-53 with 9:21 to go on Aleighsa Welch's two foul shots. But McDaniel answered with a driving basket and Muvanga added a putback to extend the Tar Heels lead.
South Carolina would not get closer than three points the final eight minutes.
Welch led the Gamecocks with a career-high 23 points.
No. 20 Oklahoma beats Fairfield 79-51
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Not even a long bus ride could stop Aaryn Ellenberg and Oklahoma.
Ellenberg scored 23 points and the No. 20 Sooners beat Fairfield 79-51 on Wednesday night.
The start of the game was delayed 45 minutes as Oklahoma was stuck in traffic coming up from New York City. It took the Sooners three hours to get to the game from their Times Square hotel 60 miles away.
Oklahoma got off to a slow start and the game was tied at 15 before Ellenberg and Oklahoma heated up. The senior guard hit two 3-pointers during a 15-4 run that gave the Sooners a 30-19 lead with 3:25 left in the half. They led 35-25 at the break.
Fairfield was able to get within 37-30 early in the second half before Oklahoma (8-3) put the game away with an 11-2 run. Ellenberg started the spurt with lay-in off an inbounds pass and Nicole Griffin capped it with a layup.
