UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) - Breanna Stewart scored 22 points Saturday to lead top-ranked UConn to a 72-42 rout of eighth-seeded Cincinnati in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament.
Bria Hartley added 17 points for the Huskies (32-0), Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 12 and Stefanie Dolson had 10 points and nine rebounds.
UConn extended the school’s third longest winning streak to 38 games. The Huskies, who won their regular-season conference games by an average of 37 points, will play No. 24 Rutgers in the semifinals. The Scarlet Knights beat SMU 68-49 earlier Saturday.
Jeanise Randolph had 14 points for Cincinnati (13-18).
No. 2 NOTRE DAME 83, No. 14 N.C. STATE 48
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Jewell Loyd scored 16 points to help Notre Dame advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
Kayla McBride was among four in double figures with 10 points for the top-seeded Fighting Irish (31-0), who had no trouble putting away the injury-depleted Wolfpack. Notre Dame scored the first 12 points, led by 28 at halftime and by 37 from there to continue their dominating run in their new league.
The Fighting Irish, who shot 60 percent in a 26-point win against Florida State in Friday’s quarterfinals, shot 52 percent in the first half on the way to their second lopsided win against the fourth-seeded Wolfpack (25-7) in a week.
Notre Dame, which will face Duke for the title, will try to become the first team to go 19-0 through ACC regular-season and tournament play since the Blue Devils in 2001-02 and 2002-03.
No. 3 LOUISVILLE 88, HOUSTON 43
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) - Shoni Schimmel scored 15 points and Antonita Slaughter added 14 to lead Louisville to an easy win in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference.
Sara Hammond added 11 points - all in the first 8 minutes - for the Cardinals (29-3).
Louisville jumped all over the Cougars, racing out to a 26-4 lead. Schimmel got the Cardinals on the board hitting a 3-pointer, the 99th of the season for the senior which set a new school record. Schimmel broke Sara Nord’s mark.
Schimmel’s layup made it 30-6 midway through the first half. Houston (6-25) didn’t string together consecutive baskets until nearly 14 minutes were gone in the game. Marche’ Amerson’s jumper made it 30-10 with 5:42 left.
Louisville led 46-19 at the half and never looked back.
USC 72, No. 4 STANFORD 68
SEATTLE (AP) - Cassie Harberts scored 10 straight points in the final three minutes, and Southern California held on in the closing seconds to advance to the Pac-12 championship game.
USC will play for the conference title and an automatic NCAA tournament bid on Sunday night against either Oregon State or Washington State. It will be the first time since the tournament’s inception in 2002 that Stanford will not play in the championship game and will mark the Trojans’ second appearance in the title game.
Harberts’ scoring run came after Stanford had rallied from a 10-point deficit to take a 60-57 lead with 5:06 remaining. Harberts finished with 13 points. Alexyz Vaioletama led USC (21-12) with 19 points.
Chiney Ogwumike scored 30 points for Stanford (29-3), but did not score in the final seven minutes.
No. 12 KENTUCKY 68, No. 5 SOUTH CAROLINA 58
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) - Bria Goss scored 14 points and Kentucky advanced to the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game.
DeNesha Stallworth and Linnae Harper each had 12 points for Kentucky (24-7), which will play in its fourth SEC tournament final in the last five years. The Wildcats, who will face Tennessee for the championship, won their only league title in 1982.
South Carolina (27-4), the SEC regular-season champion, had 16 turnovers, most coming in the first 10 minutes. The Gamecocks were playing in only their second semifinal, following an appearance in 2012.
The Gamecocks scored the game’s first points on a basket by Elem Ibiam, who had 16 points. Kentucky scored the next 12 points and never lost the lead.
No. 6 TENNESSEE 86, No. 15 TEXAS A&M 77
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) - Isabelle Harrison had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Tennessee held off Texas A&M to earn a spot in the SEC tournament title game.
Meighan Simmons had 15 points and Bashaara Graves had 14 for Tennessee (26-5).
Courtney Walker scored 26 points to lead Texas A&M (24-8). Courtney Williams added 22, but the high-scoring sophomores were not enough to beat the Lady Vols.
Texas A&M, the defending champion, led by 10 points in the first half but couldn’t match Tennessee’s inside game. The Lady Vols took a 48-26 advantage in rebounds and scored 50 points in the paint.
No. 7 WEST VIRGINIA 67, TCU 59
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Asya Bussie had 18 points and 13 rebounds to help No. 7 West Virginia advance to the Big Ten tournament semifinals.
Taylor Palmer scored 11 points and Christal Caldwell added 10 for the Mountaineers, who won their 11th consecutive game and will next face Texas.
West Virginia (28-3) won all three meetings with TCU this season, but by just a combined 16 points.
Zahna Medley scored a season-high 32 points for the Horned Frogs (18-14). She made 8 of 17 field goals and 6 of 12 3-pointers. None of her teammates scored more than six points.
TCU made just 2 of 11 3-pointers in the second half after making 4 of 8 in the first.
No. 9 BAYLOR 81, KANSAS 47
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Nina Davis scored 20 points to help Baylor to an easy win in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.
Odyssey Sims, the nation’s scoring leader and Big 12 Player of the Year, added 15 points for the top-seeded Lady Bears (27-4). Baylor, the three-time defending tournament champion, advanced to play No. 18 Oklahoma State in the semifinals on Sunday.
Baylor has won 13 of 14 since losing at Kansas 76-60 on Jan 19, including two victories over Oklahoma State.
Chelsea Gardner had 21 points and nine rebounds and Dakota Gonzalez added 10 points and six rebounds for No. 8 seed Kansas (13-19), which shot just 34 percent from the field and suffered its worst loss of the season. The Jayhawks were coming off an 87-84 overtime win over Kansas State the night before.
No. 10 DUKE 66, No. 13 NORTH CAROLINA 61
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Tricia Liston scored 17 points and Ka’lia Johnson hit the go-ahead free throws with 44.1 seconds left to help Duke rally past North Carolina in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Johnson’s two free throws broke a 60-all tie and helped the second-seeded Blue Devils (27-5) avoid a three-game sweep by their fiercest rival. Duke went 6 for 6 at the foul line in the final minute of a tight game, holding off UNC freshman star Diamond DeShields and the sixth-seeded Tar Heels (24-9).
After Oderah Chidom hit two more free throws to make it 64-61 with 17.5 seconds left, DeShields launched a 3-pointer for the tie but it rattled out. Chidom got the rebound and was fouled, knocking down two more free throws with 9.2 seconds left to seal Duke’s trip to Sunday’s championship to face No. 2 Notre Dame.
No. 16 NEBRASKA 86, No. 19 MICHIGAN STATE 58
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP) - Tear’a Laudermill scored 20 points and Rachel Theriot added 18 as Nebraska used a 50-point first half to cruise past Michigan State in the Big Ten semifinals.
The Cornhuskers (24-6) advance to the tournament championship game against No. 23 Iowa, the fifth-seeded, on Sunday.
Nebraska was on top 24-17 in the first half prior to Laudermill’s 3-pointer that capped a 9-0 Cornhusker run and stretched the lead to 33-17 over Michigan State (22-9). Over the next 6 minutes, Nebraska upped that margin to 23 points and led the Spartans 50-27 at the break.
The Cornhuskers scored first in the second period, opening a 26-point lead, and coasted the remainder of the half, while shooting 52 percent from the floor.
Branndais Agee led Spartan scorers with 18 points.
No. 18 OKLAHOMA ST 67, IOWA STATE 57
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Brittney Martin scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Oklahoma State pulled away late in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.
The Cowgirls (23-7) got 14 points each from Tiffany Bias and Brittany Atkins and Kendra Suttles, who was clutch off the bench down the stretch, had 11.
The Cyclones (20-10) tied the game at 52 with 8:45 to play but went cold. OSU used a 6-0 surge for separation and closed the game by hitting 6 of 8 free throws. Suttles scored seven straight points for the Cowgirls as they pulled away.
Hallie Christofferson led Iowa State with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Nikki Moody had 14 points. ISU shot just 34 percent, going 7 for 25 from 3-point range.
Oklahoma State shot 50 percent and forced Iowa State into 16 turnovers.
No. 23 IOWA 77, OHIO STATE 73
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Theairra Taylor scored 21 points and made a go-ahead layup with 1:32 left as Iowa held on in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament.
After Taylor’s go-ahead layup gave Iowa (26-7) a 75-73 lead, Ameryst Alston missed a layup on Ohio State’s ensuing possession. Martina Ellerbe then missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer for Ohio State (17-18) with 10 seconds left and Melissa Dixon sunk two free throws for Iowa with a second remaining as the Hawkeyes advanced to the Big Ten title game for the first time since 2010.
Bethany Doolittle and Ally Disterhoft each added 18 points and Melissa Dixon scored 16 for Iowa, which never trailed.
Alston led Ohio State with 20 points while Ellerbe and Darryce Moore each added 15 for the Buckeyes.
No. 24 RUTGERS 68, SMU 49
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) - Kahleah Copper scored 22 points and Tyler Scaife added 18 to help Rutgers rally past SMU in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals.
Trailing 35-31 early in the second half, the Scarlet Knights (22-8) went on a 18-4 run to take control. Scaife had six points and Copper had five during the spurt.
Scaife’s two free throws made it 49-39 with 8:20 left in the game. SMU couldn’t get closer than seven the rest of the way.
The Scarlet Knights will play Connecticut in the semifinals on Sunday.
Keena Mays scored 23 points to lead SMU (17-13). She helped the Mustangs build a 30-24 halftime lead hitting five 3-pointers in the first half. SMU scored the first five points before Rutgers went on a 16-0 run. Then Mays took over as the Mustangs outscored the Scarlet Knights 25-8.
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