No. 2 Notre Dame routs Pittsburgh 109-66
PITTSBURGH -- Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw wanted a better defensive performance, and the Fighting Irish delivered - for a half, at least.
Kayla McBride and Jewell Loyd scored 20 points apiece, and the second-ranked Irish clamped down on Pittsburgh in a 109-66 victory on Thursday night.
Notre Dame shot 61 percent (40 for 66) from the field and held Pitt to 37.1 percent shooting. The Panthers had only nine field goals on 28.1 percent shooting in the first half.
Liston powers No. 3 Duke past Virginia 90-55
DURHAM, N.C. -- Tricia Liston and Duke did quite well in their first game since Chelsea Gray's season-ending knee injury.
Liston scored 21 points and tied her career high with 12 rebounds, leading the third-ranked Blue Devils to a 90-55 victory against Virginia on Thursday night.
The Blue Devils (17-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had five players score in double figures in the biggest rout in the history of the series. They shot 56 percent from the field, compared to 31 percent for Virginia, and also outrebounded the Cavaliers 50-36.
Elizabeth Williams had 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots for Duke, which beat Virginia for the 21st consecutive time. Richa Jackson - Gray's replacement in the starting lineup - finished with 16 points, freshman Oderah Chidom had 11 and Alexis Jones scored 10.
No. 6 Maryland defeats Syracuse 77-62
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Alyssa Thomas had 19 points and 11 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the season, and No. 6 Maryland beat Syracuse 77-62 Thursday night to extend its winning streak to 13 games.
Although Thomas led the way, the Terrapins (15-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) received 44 points from their reserves. That included a career-high 18 by 6-foot-3 freshman center Brionna Jones, who also grabbed 10 rebounds.
After letting a 19-point lead shrink to 10 with 14:41 remaining, Maryland used a 13-3 run over the next three minutes to go up 61-41. Jones scored eight points in the surge and Thomas contributed two baskets and a free throw.
Texas A&M edges South Carolina 67-65 in OT
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Karla Gilbert scored Texas A&M's first two baskets of overtime in heavy traffic in the paint, and Jordan Jones followed with a pivotal steal and layup to help the 25th-ranked Aggies to a 67-65 victory against No. 8 South Carolina on Thursday night.
A&M had a big lead early on, but South Carolina's Tiffany Mitchell banked in a 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation, tying it at 56.
Four Aggies scored in double figures, with Courtney Walker's 18 points leading the way. Jones had four steals, including the big play that gave A&M a 62-58 lead in overtime.
Aleighsa Welch had 20 points for South Carolina (16-2, 4-1 Southeastern Conference).
A&M (14-4, 4-0) led 34-17 at halftime and appeared en route to a surprisingly easy victory. But the Gamecocks roared back, outscoring the Aggies 39-22 in the second half.
DeShields leads No. 9 North Carolina to victory
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Once Diamond DeShields started heating up for No. 9 North Carolina, it was all over.
DeShields had 24 points and the Tar Heels shot 55 percent from the field in a 78-55 victory against Clemson on Thursday night.
The freshman scored 18 points during a 13-minute stretch that spilled over into the second half.
''Things have just been looking a lot more clear when I'm out there, and I'm able to see a lot more,'' DeShields said. ''I don't know what it is, but I'm glad it's happening. It's really opened up some shots for me and allowed me to be more calm and poised in my offense.''
Allisha Gray added 16 points for the Tar Heels (15-3, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won for the 10th time in their last 11 games. Stephanie Mavunga had 10 points as North Carolina beat Clemson for the 20th time in the past 21 meetings.
No. 12 Tennessee beats Mississippi State 67-63
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Ariel Massengale and Bashaara Graves both scored 13 points, Isabelle Harrison added 10 and No. 12 Tennessee survived a tough challenge from Mississippi State before escaping with a 67-63 win on Thursday night.
Tennessee (14-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) has won all 35 games in the series against Mississippi State (14-4, 1-3), but this one was a challenge.
The Lady Vols led 26-23 at halftime and never trailed in the second half. But the Bulldogs cut the lead to 64-61 on a pair of Breanna Richardson's free throws with 26.4 seconds left.
Tennessee got a break on the ensuing possession when Mississippi State's Ketara Chapel committed a foul before the ball was thrown inbounds. Candace Foster made 1 of 2 free throws to put the Lady Vols up 65-61.
Tennessee shot 49 percent (24 of 49) from the field, but had 22 turnovers.
No. 14 LSU pulls away from Missouri 87-68
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Jeanne Kennedy scored 30 points to lead No. 14 LSU over Missouri 87-68 on Thursday.
The Lady Tigers (14-3, 3-1) shot 50 percent overall and 13 of 19 (68 percent) from beyond the arc. Theresa Plaisance added 15 points and seven boards, while Anne Pedersen chipped in with 13.
Missouri (13-5, 2-3) didn't play poorly - it shot 40 percent from the floor and 40 percent (11 of 28) on 3-pointers - but just couldn't keep up. Missouri was led by Brianna Kulas with 30 points, while Jordan Frericks and Morgan Stock both scored 11. Frericks added 11 rebounds.
Missouri jumped out quickly to take a 12-2 lead after almost four minutes, but LSU clawed back to lead by two at the break 42-40.
LSU pulled away in the second without going on a run, consistently scoring three buckets for every two by Missouri to gradually grind out the win.
No. 16 Penn State tops Ohio State 66-42
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Maggie Lucas scored 18 points to lead Penn State in a 66-42 Big Ten victory against Ohio State on Thursday night.
Lucas finished with five rebounds and five assists. Ariel Edwards was the only other Lady Lion to score in double figures, and finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Penn State (12-4, 3-1) shot just 25 of 72 from the floor (34.7 percent), but held the Buckeyes to 29.6 percent shooting (16 of 54). The Lady Lions outrebounded Ohio State 20-5 on the offensive end for second-chance points.
Ameryst Alston scored 12 points to lead Ohio State (12-8, 2-2), and Ashley Adams chipped in eight points and 10 rebounds. The Buckeyes turned the ball over 22 times and ended the night with eight assists.
No. 20 NC State tops No. 17 Florida State 80-57
RALIEGH, N.C. -- Markeisha Gatling shot 8 for 8 from the field for 20 points on Thursday night as No. 20 North Carolina State beat No. 17 Florida State 80-57.
Kody Burke scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her 14th career double-double. Myisha Goodwin-Coleman made four 3-pointers and Lakeesa Daniel had 13 points and eight rebounds coming off the bench.
The Wolfpack (16-2, 3-1 ACC) took the lead for good in the early minutes and expanded the advantage until their largest lead of the night on the final score.
The Seminoles (14-3, 2-2) scored six consecutive points early in the second to close a 14-point gap down to 42-34. NC State answered with a 10-3 run and the Seminoles never got within single digits again.
No. 18 Nebraska edges Minnesota in 88-85 OT win
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Rachel Theriot scored a career-high 33 points and had nine assists to lead No. 18 Nebraska to an 88-85 overtime win against Minnesota on Thursday night.
Nebraska (13-3, 3-1 Big Ten Conference) trailed much of the game but took the lead late in the second half on an 18-6 run capped by an Emily Cady 3-pointer that made it 76-73 with 1:46 to go. With nine seconds remaining in regulation, Minnesota (12-6, 1-3) sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer by Rachel Banham that tied the score at 78.
Minnesota struck first in OT and would recapture the lead one more time before Nebraska took control on back-to-back layups, and Theriot padded the lead with a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left.
Cady contributed 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Jordan Hooper had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Banham led Minnesota with 33 points.
No. 24 Vanderbilt outlasts Ole Miss 80-74
OXFORD, Miss. -- Christina Foggie scored 28 points as No. 24 Vanderbilt outlasted Ole Miss 80-74 on Thursday night.
Vanderbilt (15-3, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) began to pull away in the second half as Foggie scored seven points in a span of 1:18 to give the Commodores a 65-60 lead with under 6 minutes left.
A 3-pointer from Valencia McFarland cut the Vanderbilt lead to 70-67 with 3:32 left before Vanderbilt responded with an 8-1 run to open a 78-68 lead with 1:24 remaining.
The Commodores outscored Ole Miss 43-36 in the second half, after trailing by a point at halftime.
Jasmine Lister had 17 points for Vanderbilt and Morgan Batey added 11.
McFarland led Ole Miss (9-9, 0-4) with a career-high 28 points. Tia Faleru added 20 points.
