STORRS, Conn. (AP) - Azura Stevens came off the bench to score 22 points and lead top-ranked UConn to a closer-than-expected 78-60 win over Tulsa on Thursday night.
Napheesa Collier had 19 points and Kia Nurse added 17 for the Huskies (17-0, 6-0 American Athletic Conference), who have never lost in the conference. UConn has won 76 straight regular-season games and all four conference tournaments.
Shug Dickson had 17 points and Erica Wakefield scored 13 to lead Tulsa (8-11, 2-4), which had lost each of its previous seven games to the Huskies by an average of just under 49 points.
Tulsa took an early 9-6 lead on a 3-pointer from Dickson and led for just over two minutes of the first quarter. But a steal and breakaway layup by Gabby Williams capped a 16-0 run and UConn led 26-11 after 10 minutes.
NO. 2 LOUISVILLE 77, PITTSBURGH 51
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Myisha Hines-Allen had 13 points and a career-high 18 rebounds as Louisville stayed undefeated, beating Pittsburgh for its NCAA-leading 20th win.
Hines-Allen shot 5 for 11 and also had four assists. Louisville (20-0, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) pulled away by scoring the first 16 points of the fourth quarter.
Asia Durr, the other half of Louisville’s dominant duo, was held in check by the Panthers. She came in averaging 21.1 points per game, but she scored just nine.
Pitt (9-10, 1-5) was led by redshirt junior Yacine Diop, who scored 26 points to tie her career high.
NO. 5 NOTRE DAME 84, NO. 6 TENNESSEE 70
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Arike Ogunbowale scored 27 points, and Notre Dame completed its largest-ever comeback to beat Tennessee.
The Irish (17-2) trailed by 23 points early in the second quarter but rallied with an aggressive defense that forced 28 Tennessee turnovers, 15 in the second half. The previous biggest deficit that the Irish had overcome in a victory was an 18-point hole against Duke in the Junkaroo Jam on Nov. 26, 2011.
A 12-0 run by the Irish coincided with a nearly three-minute scoreless skid by Tennessee (16-2) to give Notre Dame a 70-65 lead with 4:12 to play that it would not relinquish.
Marina Mabrey finished with 20 points, Jackie Young scored 18 and Jessica Shepard had 12 for Notre Dame. Meme Jackson had 18 points, Jaime Nared scored 14 and three players - Rennia Davis, Mercedes Russell and Evina Westbrook - each had 12 for Tennessee.
NO. 10 SOUTH CAROLINA 95, VANDERBILT 82
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Alexis Jennings scored a season-high 27 points, and South Carolina beat Vanderbilt despite the banged-up Gamecocks’ injury list growing longer.
The Gamecocks (15-3, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) again played without two-time SEC player of the year A’ja Wilson, who has a sprained right ankle, and minus her backup Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan, out with a bone bruise in her left knee.
Senior guard Lindsey Spann hit 5 of 7 3-pointers before hurting a knee with 7:16 left in the third quarter. Then guard Tyasha Harris, the SEC’s assists leader, went down with 4:33 left in the third after hurting her right leg and having to be helped off the court. Spann returned for the fourth quarter. Harris didn’t return.
LeLe Grissett added 22 points for the Gamecocks, Spann finished with 17, Harris had 12 and Doniyah Cliney 10.
Erin Whalen scored a career-high 25 points for Vanderbilt (5-15, 1-5). Christa Reed added 23, and Cierra Walker 13.
NO. 11 MISSOURI 67, MISSISSIPPI 48
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Sophie Cunningham scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Missouri hit 12 3-pointers to roll past Mississippi, giving the Tigers their best start in program history.
Hannah Schuchts had a career-best four 3-pointers and tied a career-high with 12 points, and Jordan Frericks had 12 points for the Tigers (16-2, 4-1 Southeastern Conference). Lauren Aldridge had eight assists as the Tigers had helpers on 24 of their 25 baskets.
Amber Smith opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and after Alissa Alston’s basket for Ole Miss, the Tigers reeled off 17 straight points.
Missouri finished 12 of 27 from distance and shot 42 percent overall.
Promise Taylor had 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 13 rebounds for Ole Miss (11-7, 1-4).
NO. 12 FLORIDA STATE 81, WAKE FOREST 79, OT
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Imani Wright made nine 3-pointers and scored 31 points, Shakayla Thomas added 28, including all six of Florida State’s points in overtime, and the Seminoles rallied from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat Wake Forest.
Wright’s career-high ninth triple came with 9 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 75. Ariel Stephenson, who led Wake Forest with 21 points, missed a close-range shot at the end of regulation.
In overtime, Thomas scored on FSU’s first two possessions but the Seminoles (17-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) missed their next seven shots.
The Demon Deacons (10-9, 2-4) went 1 of 5 in the extra session and had two turnovers.
NO. 15 DUKE 86, VIRGINIA TECH 75
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Haley Gorecki scored a career-high 28 points, Lexie Brown added 23 to surpass 1,000 for her career and Duke defeated Virginia Tech.
Gorecki made 7 of 10 3-pointers while Brown reached 1,000 points in 53 games, the second-fastest in history for the Blue Devils (15-4, 4-2 ACC), who won their fourth straight. Brown has 1,013 points with Duke and 1,841 for her career, which includes two seasons at Maryland.
Taylor Emery had 30 points, going 6 of 8 from 3-point range, to lead the Hokies (13-6, 2-4). Alexis Jean had 17 points and Regan Magarity had 13 rebounds to go with six points.
NO. 16 TEXAS A&M 73, ALABAMA 54
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - Khaalia Hillsman and Chennedy Carter scored 20 points apiece, and Texas A&M defeated Alabama.
Danni Williams added 13 points for the Aggies (15-5, 4-2 Southeastern Conference). Hillsman had 10 rebounds and Jasmine Lumpkin 11 to help build a 45-31 advantage on the boards. It was the fourth-straight double-double for Hillsman, who matched her career-high with five blocks. Carter, a freshman, had her fourth-straight 20-point game.
Jordan Lewis had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Crimson Tide (13-6, 3-3).
NO. 23 GREEN BAY 85, DETROIT MERCY 27
DETROIT (AP) - Frankie Wurtz scored 15 points, Jessica Lindstrom added 14 points and nine rebounds and Green Bay rolled to victory over Detroit Mercey after holding the Titans scoreless in the second period.
Green Bay (16-2, 6-1 Horizon) took off to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter before outscoring the Titans 19-0 in the second for a 38-6 halftime lead that reached 64-12 after three periods. The Phoenix scored a season-high total while the Titans’ 27 points are the second-fewest the Phoenix had given up in their Division-I era.
Lyndsey Robson and Madison Wolf scored 12 points each for Green Bay while the Titans (1-17, 1-6) were led by Zoey Oatis with eight.
PENN STATE 70, NO. 25 RUTGERS 67
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Teniya Page made 4 of 5 free throws with a second left and finished with 34 points to lead Penn State past Rutgers.
Down 11 with seven minutes to go, the Scarlet Knights rallied behind Tyler Scaife, taking a 65-64 lead on her 3-point play and going up 67-66 on her jumper on the right baseline with 38.7 seconds left.
Page was fouled by Nigia Greene on her game-winning 3-point attempt. The call also drew a technical on Rutgers’ bench. Page made the first free throw to tie the game, and after a miss made her final three.
Amari Carter had 10 points and De’Janae Boykin had 10 rebounds for Penn State (12-8, 3-4 Big Ten).
Khadaizha Sanders led Rutgers (17-4, 5-2) with 14 points.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.