Hartley scores 24, No. 1 UConn routs Houston
HOUSTON -- Bria Hartley and Stefanie Dolson scored 24 points apiece and No. 1 Connecticut beat Houston 92-41 on Saturday, extending the Huskies' winning streak to 34 games.
Dolson also had nine rebounds and Breanna Stewart added 16 points, seven boards and five assists as UConn (28-0, 15-0 American Athletic Conference) used a big run to end the first half and cruised to the win in coach Geno Auriemma's 1,000th game at the school. Auriemma improved to 867-133 with the Huskies.
Hartley passed Tiffany Hayes for 10th place on UConn's career scoring list with a layup with 7:38 remaining. Hartley now has 1,802 points, putting her 63 behind Svetlana Abrosimova for ninth.
The Huskies shot 64 percent from the field, including 80 percent in the second half.
Te'onna Campbell had 15 points, and Jessieka Palmer added 12 points for the Cougars (5-22, 1-15), who have dropped 18 of their past 20 games and four in a row.
Sims, No. 6 Baylor cruise past TCU 69-46
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Odyssey Sims matched her season low with 17 points and the No. 6 Lady Bears overcame a sluggish showing in a rare morning start for their 10th consecutive win, beating TCU 69-46 on Saturday.
The Lady Bears (24-3, 14-1 Big 12) stayed in sole possession of first place with three games left as they pursue a fourth consecutive conference regular-season title.
The Horned Frogs (15-12, 6-9) went scoreless for nearly 9 minutes in the first half and shot 25 percent for the game.
Baylor equaled its low for points in a victory, which came in the only game during the current winning streak that the Lady Bears didn't win by double digits, 69-66 in overtime at Oklahoma State. That was Sims' other 17-point game.
Freshman Nina Davis had 17 for Baylor, while freshman Khadijiah Cave and sophomore Kristina Higgins scored 10 apiece.
Zahna Medley led TCU with 13 points, but was 3 of 14 from the field and had six turnovers.
No. 13 West Virginia tops Kansas State 61-40
MANHATTAN, Kansas -- Christal Caldwell scored 21 points as No. 13 West Virginia throttled Kansas State 61-40 Saturday night, winning its seventh in a row and holding five of its last six foes to less than 62 points.
After a mid-week drubbing of 12th-ranked Oklahoma State, the Mountaineers (24-3, 13-2 Big 12) coasted through a disjointed game at Kansas State (10-16, 4-11) that saw long scoreless stretches.
Caldwell led the Mountaineers for the sixth time this season, picking up for Bria Holmes, who scored just five points on 2-for-11 shooting.
Kansas State led for the first 5 minutes, then went more than 9 minutes between field goals. By then the Mountaineers were up 20 just ahead of halftime. Drought hit the cold-shooting Wildcats (27 percent) again after halftime, going 10 minutes between Ashlynn Knoll 3-pointers. Knoll led K-State with 13 points.
Neither team scored for the better part of 5 minutes during that dry spell.
No. 25 Gonzaga tops Portland 72-61 for WCC title
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Haiden Palmer scored 12 points as No. 25 Gonzaga ground out a 72-61 win against Portland on Saturday, assuring the Bulldogs of a share of their 10th consecutive West Coast Conference title.
Twelve different Bulldogs scored as they won the game with rebounding and defense. Gonzaga (24-4, 13-2) had a 42-26 rebounding advantage, including 21-2 on the offensive end, good for 27 more shots, and forced 19 turnovers.
Cassandra Brown came off the bench to lead Portland (14-13, 7-9) with 16 points, hitting all four of her 3-pointers. Jasmine Wooten added 13 with seven assists but she had seven turnovers.
It was a far cry from the first meeting, won by Gonzaga 56-24. The Bulldogs had a late surge to take a 31-21 lead at the half and quickly bumped it up to 16 but couldn't shake Portland. The Pilots shot 61 percent in the second half, 51 for the game.
