Thomas dominates, No. 8 Terps beat Terriers 110-53
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Alyssa Thomas had her second triple-double in three games as No. 8 Maryland routed Wofford 110-53 in the Terrapin Classic semifinals on Saturday.
Thomas scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and added 10 assists for the fourth triple-double of her career and fifth in program history.
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough tied a career high with 17 points and hit a career-high four 3-pointers to help the Terrapins (11-1) post their highest point total of the season in their ninth consecutive victory.
Brene Moseley and Tierney Pfirman each added 14 points for the Terps, which could stretch their winning streak to 10 in the tournament's championship Sunday before beginning ACC play next weekend at No. 10 North Carolina.
The Terrapins' past three victories have come by an average of 54 points.
Jordan Frazier scored 19 points for Wofford (2-9), which has now lost the first five games of a seven-game stretch away from home.
Ogwumike leads Stanford to rout of Fresno State
FRESNO, Calif. -- Stanford was late coming back from its holiday break - or so it seemed throughout the sluggish first half against Fresno State.
Then, the No. 4 Cardinal shook off the Bulldogs 86-54 on Saturday night in their final nonconference game.
''Even though we started off slow, we wanted to pick up where we left off,'' Stanford guard Amber Orrange said. Orrange had 15 points, six assists and three steals.
Where Stanford (11-1) had left off was a signature win against then-No. 3 Tennessee 76-70 on Dec. 21. After a six-day break, the Cardinal initially looked like a team that was either rusty from the extended time off or disinterested by the unranked opponent.
Either way, the Cardinal let the Bulldogs (6-5) make a game of it in the first 10 minutes. Stanford briefly trailed twice, and was only ahead 22-18 before pulling away for a 43-31 halftime lead.
No. 9 Baylor tops McNeese State 82-57
WACO, Texas -- Odyssey Sims had more than a point a minute, right in line with the season averages for the nation's leading scorer, and was the only Baylor scorer in double figures.
Get used to it, coach Kim Mulkey says.
Sims scored 27 points, and the No. 9 Lady Bears extended their nation-leading home winning streak to 67 games with an 82-57 victory against McNeese State on Saturday night in the last game before the start of conference play for both teams.
''That's probably a lot of what you're going to see,'' Mulkey said. ''You're going to see Odyssey in double figures and then you're going to see it spread a little bit.''
Sims, the top scorer in the country at 30.1 points per game, led a 14-2 first-half run to take control heading into a visit to Kansas State for the Big 12 opener on Thursday.
Allison Baggett scored 22 points for McNeese State (7-4), which had a three-game winning streak snapped. The Cowgirls play host to Southeastern Louisiana in their Southland Conference opener Thursday.
No. 13 South Carolina whips Savannah State 82-40
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Tiffany Mitchell scored 18 points and the South Carolina defense made sure Savannah State was no challenge in an 82-40 rout Saturday afternoon.
Alaina Coates came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 12 rebounds for the Gamecocks (12-1). Aleighsa Welch added 14 points and Asia Dozier had 10. Mitchell also had seven rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Senior reserve Jasmine Kirkland topped Savannah State (5-7) with 19 points, one shy of her career high. No starter had more than three points as they combined for 10 points. Kirkland hit 6 of 9 shots and 7 of 8 free throws.
South Carolina held the Tigers to 26.5 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers. Coates hit 4 of 5 shots and made 9 of 14 free throws. The Gamecocks went 30 of 48 from the foul line while Savannah State was 12 of 14.
No. 14 Iowa State handles Holy Cross 72-50
AMES, Iowa -- Nikki Moody scored 14 points and had 10 assists to lead No. 14 Iowa State past Holy Cross 72-50 on Saturday.
The Cyclones (10-0) shot 47 percent from the floor, including 11 of 32 (34 percent) from beyond the arc. Jadda Buckley added 12 points, while Hallie Christofferson and Nicole Blaskowski both chipped in with 11 points.
Holy Cross (7-3) was led by Raquel Scott's 14 points and Molly Hourigan added 10 points.
The Crusaders scored the first six points of the game, but Iowa State quickly took over. Tied at 10, the Cyclones outscored Holy Cross 31-12 the rest of the half to take a 19-point lead at 41-22 into the break.
Iowa State used a 15-0 run at the start of the second half, pushing the lead to 60-25, to ensure the blowout. Holy Cross managed an 11-2 run in the final 4:23 to make the final more respectable.
No. 17 Purdue outlasts Central Michigan 109-97
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Whitney Bays scored 24 points to lead No. 17 Purdue past Central Michigan 109-97 on Saturday.
Purdue (10-2) shot 58 percent from the floor, including 15 of 29 (52 percent) from beyond the arc. KK Houser had 21 points and 11 boards, Liza Clemons added 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, Courtney Moses had 20 (6 of 10 on 3-pointers) and April Wilson chipped in with 16 points.
Central Michigan (4-7) was led by Jessica Green's 24 points, while Nichole DiGuilio had 21. The Chippewas also had five in double figures.
Wilson's 3-pointer midway through the first half gave the Boilermakers a nine-point lead, but DiGuilio knocked a trey down for Central with 29 seconds in the half to cut Purdue's advantage to six at intermission.
Moses made three consecutive treys end the end of the game to bump up Purdue's winning margin.
No. 19 Georgia blows past Illinois 82-60
ATHENS, Ga. -- Shacobia Barbee had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead No. 19 Georgia by Illinois 82-60 on Saturday.
The Lady Bulldogs (12-1) took a 65-40 lead with 10:06 left in the game as Khaalidah Miller's layup capped an 18-6 run. Georgia also used an 11-0 run in the first half to go ahead 25-15 and closed out the half on a 10-3 run to lead 38-25 at the break.
Krista Donald had 10 points and 15 rebounds and seven assists for Georgia which outrebounded the Illini 51-30. The Lady Bulldogs shot 55 percent from the field while holding Illinois to 33.8 percent. Tiaria Griffin had 17 points, Erika Ford scored 14 and Miller had 12.
Ivory Crawford led Illinois (7-6) with 23 points, five rebounds and five steals. Amber Moore added 16 points for the Illini who never challenged the Lady Bulldogs in the second half.
No. 21 Iowa races away from North Dakota 88-62
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Melissa Dixon sparked a key run before halftime and Samantha Logic heated up in the second half as No. 21 Iowa rallied from as many as nine down to roar past North Dakota 88-62 on Saturday.
Logic, the reigning Big Ten player of the week after a triple-double against Drake, had six points at halftime. She finished with a game-high 21 with eight assists. Dixon scored 10 of her 13 points as the Hawkeyes (12-2) closed the first half with a crushing 25-4 run that included five of their six first-half 3-pointers, two from Dixon. Iowa was 9-for-25 from 3-point range.
The Bison (6-4) had led through much of the opening half, until Iowa started dropping 3-pointers. North Dakota was led by Madi Buck's 19 points with Mia Loyd adding 13 and Emily Evers 10.
North Dakota committed 21 turnovers, 12 on Iowa steals and shot just 39.7 percent (23-58).
No. 22 Florida State defeats UT-Martin 76-53
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Natasha Howard tied a career high with 26 points on Saturday and No. 22 Florida State defeated Tennessee-Martin 76-53.
Howard was 12 of 14 from the field to lead Florida State to 54.5 percent shooting. Ivey Slaughter had 11 points and 13 rebounds and Morgan Jones added 17 points for the Seminoles (12-1) which extended their winning streak to eight games.
FSU completed its nonconference schedule with only one loss for the third time since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in the 1991-92 season.
The Seminoles scored 11 consecutive points to go ahead 19-8 in the first half and led by as many as 25 before the intermission. They built their biggest lead at 69-38 before UT-Martin scored seven consecutive points.
Heather Butler led UT-Martin (7-6) with 16 points and five steals, but the Seahawks managed only 20 rebounds, compared to 41 by the Seminoles.
St. Mary's (Calif.) trips No. 24 Gonzaga 79-78 in OT
MORAGA, Calif. -- Jackie Nared scored 27 points and Danielle Mauldin had 24 with 23 rebounds to lift St. Mary's (Calif.) to a 79-78 win against No. 24 Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference opener on Saturday.
Haiden Palmer, who had a career-high 31 points, had a couple missed shots in the closing seconds for Gonzaga, the nine-time defending WCC champion.
It was a wild ending to regulation with Nared hitting a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to give St Mary's (11-1) a 72-71 lead. But on the inbounds play, screener Lindsay Sherbert was fouled and she made one of two free throws for Gonzaga (10-3).
Gonzaga had led since Palmer's six points fueled a 12-2 run to close the half for a 37-32 lead.
Saint Mary's pounded Gonzaga on the boards 54-31, 10 of Mauldin's career-high coming on the offensive end, and at the foul line, going 23 of 29 while Gonzaga was 6-14.
