No. 2 Notre Dame beats Boston College 82-61
BOSTON -- Kayla McBride scored 21 points, Jewell Loyd 18 and second-ranked Notre Dame coasted to an 82-61 win against Boston College on Thursday night, giving the Fighting Irish their best start in school history.
Notre Dame (24-0 11-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) remains one of just two unbeaten teams in the country along with top-ranked Connecticut. The start surpasses the season-opening 23 consecutive wins by the 2000-01 team that went on to win the school's first national championship.
Thomas, No. 9 Maryland defeat Miami 67-52
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Alyssa Thomas scored 18 points to lead No. 9 Maryland to a 67-52 win against Miami on Thursday night.
The Terrapins started the game on a 10-0 run and never trailed in their first victory at Miami since 2009.
The Hurricanes (12-12, 4-7) got no closer than 62-47 after Caprice Dennis' jumper with 2:46 left.
Gatling leads No. 10 NC State past Clemson
CLEMSON, S.C. -- NC State entered the season with minimal expectations. Coming off a 17-17 season, the Wolfpack were picked to finish 10th in the Atlantic Coast Conference under new coach Wes Moore.
Now they're ranked 10th in the country -- and it has taken some getting used to.
Markeisha Gatling scored 20 points and NC State won its sixth consecutive game and second in a row in overtime. The Wolfpack improved to 22-3 overall and 9-2 in the ACC.
No. 11 Penn State overcomes Indiana 71-63
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Maggie Lucas scored 32 points and No. 11 Penn State defeated Indiana 71-63 on Thursday night.
Lucas made all eight of her free throws and is 140 of 145 this season for 96.5 percent. She is on target to break the NCAA single-season record of 96.4 percent set by PSU's Adrienne Squire in 2006. She passed 500 career rebounds to become the first Lady Lion with 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 250 assists and 200 steals.
PSU (19-5, 10-2) is a game up in the loss column against second-place Nebraska and Michigan State in the Big Ten.
Larryn Brooks led the Hoosiers (17-7, 4-7) with 16 points. Simone Deloach had 13 points and 15 rebounds -- her fifth career double-double.
No. 13 West Virginia rallies to nip Oklahoma 76-75
NORMAN, Okla. -- Bria Holmes scored 19 points as No. 13 West Virginia rallied to defeat Oklahoma 76-75 in a wild finish Thursday.
Averee Fields hit a jumper with 13 seconds left to put the Mountaineers up 75-74. After Morgan Hook missed a contested layup at 2 seconds, Taylor Palmer made 1 of 2 free throws. However, after she missed the second free throw she committed a foul but T'ona Edwards made only 1 of 2 free throws with 0.3 seconds left.
The Mountaineers (21-3, 10-2 Big 12) made 24 of 27 free throws while the Sooners (15-10, 6-6) were 26 of 38, 4 of 10 down the stretch, when they missed their last six shots.
Aaryn Ellensburg scored 18 points to move into second on Oklahoma's career list with 2,190 points
Oklahoma, up 44-33 at the half, shot 9 of 30 in the second half while West Virginia was 14 of 30.
No. 14 Texas A&M beats Georgia 78-73 in OT
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Courtney Walker scored 25 points as No. 14 Texas A&M came back to beat Georgia 78-73 in overtime on Thursday night.
Texas A&M (19-6, 9-2 SEC) trailed 62-56 with just more than a minute left in regulation, but scored six consecutive points - including a layup by Jordan Jones with 25 seconds left - to force overtime.
In the extra period, Courtney Williams hit a jumper with 35 seconds remaining to give Texas A&M a 74-72 lead. The Aggies then hit four free throws down the stretch to seal their 12th win in 14 games.
Williams finished with 13 points while Merritt Hempe had 19 for Georgia.
Auburn upsets No. 16 Vanderbilt 68-62
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tyrese Tanner scored on a jumper with 24 seconds left to give Auburn the lead, and Peyton Davis and Kiani Parker both added a pair of free throws as Auburn won at Nashville for the first time since 1999, upsetting No. 16 Vanderbilt 68-62 Thursday night.
The Tigers went 14 years and 21 games between wins at Vanderbilt. The Commodores now have lost two consecutive after a road loss at Tennessee.
Tanner scored 18 points to lead Auburn (14-10, 5-6 SEC), which took a 29-21 lead at intermission. Brandy Montgomery and Davis added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Christina Foggie, who tied the game with two free throws with 39 seconds left, tossed in 24 points to lead Vanderbilt (17-7, 6-5), hitting 2 of 8 from long range to tie the record for most career 3-pointers in program history. Marqu'es Webb pulled down nine rebounds for the Commodores.
No. 17 North Carolina whips Pittsburgh 86-50
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Allisha Gray scored 21 points and Diamond DeShields added 19 as No. 17 North Carolina rolled to an 86-50 win against Pittsburgh on Thursday.
Coming off an 11-point win at No. 3 Duke on Monday, the Tar Heels (19-6, 7-4 ACC) shot 48.6 percent from the field and limited the Panthers (10-15, 2-9) to 27.9 percent, including a dismal 2 for 21 from 3-point range.
Asia Logan led Pitt with 14 points.
No. 18 Kentucky trounces Mississippi 108-78
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Jennifer O'Neill scored 27 points as No. 18 Kentucky trounced Mississippi 108-78 on Thursday.
Kentucky (18-6, 6-5 SEC) bounced back from its upset loss to Florida last Sunday in a big way by shooting 47 percent, including 8 of 16 from beyond the arc. DeNesha Stallworth scored 19 points and gathered 11 rebounds, Bria Goss added 15 points and Linnae Harper had 10 for the Wildcats.
Tia Faleru led Ole Miss (10-16, 1-11) with career highs in points (31) and rebounds (16) while Valencia McFarland added 21 points.
Palmer leads No. 20 Gonzaga past San Diego 66-48
SAN DIEGO -- Haiden Palmer had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 7 steals as No. 20 Gonzaga won its 13th consecutive game with a 66-48 win at San Diego.
Keani Albanez had 12 points as did reserve Kiara Kudron, who matched her career-high by hitting 5 of 6 shots, for the Bulldogs (23-3, 13-1) who handed the Toreros (19-6, 8-6) their first loss in 14 home games. It was Gonzaga's 14th consecutive win against San Diego.
Sophia Ederaine had 21 points and 9 rebounds for the Toreros, who shot 31 percent and committed 23 turnovers. Amy Kame, their leading scorer at 16.4 points, was held to 7.
No. 21 Nebraska tops Michigan 76-68
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Jordan Hooper scored 23 points -- moving into second on Nebraska's all-time scoring list -- and grabbed nine rebounds as the No. 21 Cornhuskers beat Michigan 76-68 Thursday night.
Hooper made 8 of 10 field goals, including 3 of 3 behind the arc, and 4 of 4 free throws for Nebraska (18-5, 8-3 Big Ten), which shot 59 percent from the floor, 55 percent from 3-point range and 86 percent from the free-throw line.
The Cornhuskers used a 20-9 run, including eight points from Hooper, to open up a 57-45 lead with 14:16 left.
Michigan (15-10, 6-6) scored six consecutive to pull within 74-68 with 37 seconds remaining, but Hoover found Allie Havers for a jumper 12 seconds later to ice the game.
