Women's Top 25 roundup: Nebraska stuns No. 2 Iowa, Caitlin Clark

 

[February 12, 2024]  Nebraska held Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark scoreless in the fourth quarter as the Cornhuskers erased a 14-point deficit to upset the No. 2 Hawkeyes 82-79 on Sunday in Lincoln, Neb.

Jaz Shelley hit a 3-pointer for Nebraska (16-8, 8-5 Big Ten) with 20.5 seconds remaining to give the Cornhuskers their first lead of the second half. She then made four free throws in the final moments of the game to seal the win, as game-tying 3-point attempts by Clark and Kate Martin were off the mark.

Shelley finished with 23 points and five assists, while Alexis Markowski added 15 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Logan Nissley also scored 15 points and Natalie Potts chipped in 14 points. Nebraska was previously 0-8 against Iowa teams that featured Clark.

Clark finished with 31 points on 10-of-25 shooting and also led the Hawkeyes with 10 assists and eight rebounds. She is eight points shy of passing Kelsey Plum's Division I women's college basketball all-time scoring mark. Clark did become, however, the first Division I woman to amass at least 3,000 points and 1,000 assists for her career.

No. 1 South Carolina 83, No. 11 UConn 65

Te-Hina Paopao churned out 21 points as the Gamecocks remained undefeated this season and extended their Division I-leading home winning streak to 54 games by thumping the Huskies in Columbia, S.C.

Paopao shot 8 of 12 from the field and hit 5 of 7 treys as Gamecocks (23-0) never trailed to remain the only unbeaten team in Division I, men's or women's. Ashlyn Watkins racked up 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, while Raven Johnson bundled 10 points with 12 boards for South Carolina. Chloe Kitts tacked on 14 points before fouling out.

Paige Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards both paced the Huskies (20-5) with 20 points each, with Edwards grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds. Ashlynn Shade contributed 14 points for UConn, which was outshot 46.5 percent to 36.6 percent and outscored 34-22 in the paint.

No. 3 North Carolina State 83, Pitt 47

River Baldwin stacked up 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks as the Wolfpack powered past the Panthers in Pittsburgh.

North Carolina State (21-3, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated Pitt for the ninth straight time by breaking the game open with an explosive second quarter. The Wolfpack shot 13 of 16 from the field and outscored the Panthers 30-6 in the period to carry a 53-20 lead into halftime. Pitt (7-18, 1-11) never pulled closer than 27 points and lost its fifth in a row.

Madison Hayes paired her game-high 16 points with six rebounds, while Aziaha James logged five points, five boards and eight assists for NC State. Mimi Collins pitched in 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the win. Aaryn Battle's 11 points led the Panthers, who also got 10 points apiece from Jala Jordan and Marley Washenitz.

No. 17 Oregon State 65, No. 4 Colorado 59

The Beavers built a large lead behind four double-digit scorers and held on late to beat the Buffaloes in Boulder, Colo.

Talia von Oelhoffen led the charge with 18 points, Timea Gardiner and Raegan Beers followed with 12 apiece and Lily Hansford added 11 for Oregon State (20-3, 9-3 Pac-12). The Beavers surged ahead by 25 late in the third quarter before weathering a field-goal drought over the game's final 7:49 as Colorado threatened with a 17-1 run before running out of time.

Jaylyn Sherrod scored six of her 14 points for the Buffaloes (20-4, 10-3) in the fourth quarter, during which Colorado outscored Oregon State 21-5. Aaronette Vonleh finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in the Buffaloes' first loss since their 68-62 setback against the then-No. 25 Beavers on Jan. 26 in Corvallis, Ore.

No. 5 Ohio State 86, Michigan State 71

Crisp passing and lights-out shooting fueled the red-hot Buckeyes' rout of the Spartans in East Lansing, Mich.

Ohio State (21-3, 12-1 Big Ten) dished out a season-high 28 assists on 34 made field goals and shot 57.6 percent from the field to stack up its 11th straight win. The Buckeyes vaulted to sole possession of first place in the Big Ten standings after No. 2 Iowa lost at Nebraska.

Celeste Taylor posted 20 points, Rebeka Mikulasikova had 19, Jacy Sheldon notched 18 and Taylor Thierry recorded 12 for Ohio State. Michigan State (17-7, 7-6), which padded the final margin with a 14-0 run to close the game, was led by Theryn Hallock's 18 points. DeeDee Hagemann and Julia Ayrault each hit for 10 in the Spartans' second straight loss.

No. 6 Stanford 73, Washington State 58

The Cardinal clamped down in the fourth quarter to pull away from the pesky Cougars in Pullman, Wash.

Stanford (22-3, 11-2 Pac-12) clung to a 53-51 lead entering the final period before stifling Washington State to two buckets on 11 attempts throughout the stanza. Hannah Jump scored seven points in the frame as the Cardinal outscored the Cougars 20-7 in the fourth quarter to improve to 74-0 all-time against Washington State (15-10, 4-8).

Jump finished with 20 points for Stanford, which also got double-doubles from Cameron Brink (21 points, 11 rebounds) and Kiki Iriafen (17 points, 14 rebounds) in its third straight win. Eleonora Villa and Astera Tuhina led the Huskies' upset bid with 16 and 13 points, respectively, while Beyonce Bea grabbed seven rebounds, including the 1,000th of her career.

No. 9 UCLA 78, Arizona State 45

Lauren Betts scored 18 points in her return to the starting lineup as the Bruins blasted the Sun Devils in Los Angeles.

Betts, who hadn't started since Jan. 22 while dealing with an undisclosed medical issue, made nine of her 10 field goals to complement seven rebounds and three blocks for UCLA (19-4, 8-4 Pac-12), which has won back-to-back games for the first time since the first week of January. The Bruins finished 32-of-62 from the field (51.6 percent) and suffocated Arizona State (10-14, 2-10) to 16-of-60 shooting (26.7 percent).

Charisma Osborne and Kiki Rice each had 12 points, while Christeen Iwuala and Londynn Jones both notched 10 for UCLA. Jalyn Brown produced 25 points to lead an otherwise dormant Sun Devils offense that found no more than six points from any other scorer.

No. 12 Notre Dame 98, Florida State 94 (2OT)

Sonia Citron scored 18 points and hit the game-winning free throw in double overtime as the Fighting Irish prevailed in Tallahassee, Fla., in an uptempo shootout between the ACC's top two scoring offenses. Second graf of article

Citron propelled Notre Dame ahead 96-94 on two foul shots with four seconds left before Kylee Watson scurried to steal the Seminoles' ensuing inbounds pass at midcourt. Watson shoveled the ball to Hannah Hidalgo, who tacked on two more free throws with a second left to seal it for the Fighting Irish (18-5, 8-4).

Hidalgo powered Notre Dame with 27 points, seven rebounds and nine assists and finished 13 of 14 from the foul line, while Maddy Westbeld racked up 19 points and 14 boards. Anna DeWolfe poured in a season-high 24 points for the Fighting Irish, who entered Sunday leading the ACC with 82.3 points per game.

Florida State (17-8, 8-5), whose 81.0 scoring average ranked second in the conference, was led by a quartet of double-digit scorers. Ta'Niya Latson poured in 34 points, Sara Bejedi added 16 and O'Mariah Gordon and Makayla Timpson hit for 18 apiece. Latson added seven rebounds to complement Timpson's game-high 15 boards.

No. 13 LSU 85, Alabama 66

Angel Reese piled up 27 points and 19 rebounds as the Tigers engineered a dominant second half to crush the Crimson Tide in Baton Rouge, La.

After falling behind 41-31 at halftime, LSU (21-4, 8-3 Southeastern Conference) opened the third quarter on a 15-1 run to surge ahead. The Tigers outscored Alabama 30-9 in the third period and led by as many as 25 in the fourth to earn their third straight win. LSU won despite hitting two 3-pointers compared to the Crimson Tide's 14.

Flau'jae Johnson added 16 points, Mikaylah Williams registered 14 points and nine rebounds and Last-Tear Poa contributed 11 points for the Tigers. Aaliyah Nye catalyzed Alabama (19-7, 6-5) with 19 points. Loyal McQueen delivered 14 points, Jessica Timmons finished with 13 and Sarah Ashlee Barker tallied 11 for the Crimson Tide.

No. 14 Indiana 95, Purdue 62

Mackenzie Holmes became the Hoosiers' all-time leading career scorer in their blowout win over the visiting Boilermakers in Bloomington, Ind.

Holmes finished with 17 points to boost her career total to 2,365, moving past Tyra Buss's previous program record of 2,364 points from 2014-18. Chloe Moore-McNeil scored a game-high 22 points, Sara Scalia added 19 and Lexus Bargesser paired 12 points with nine rebounds as Indiana (20-3, 11-2 Big Ten) improved to 13-0 this season at home.

Mary Ashley Stevenson led Purdue (10-13, 3-9) with 16 points. Caitlyn Harper pitched in 13 points and Sophie Swanson had 11 for the Boilermakers, who fell to 0-6 this season against ranked opponents.

No. 23 Syracuse 73, No. 15 Louisville 72

Dyaisha Fair posted 29 points and ended both halves with a flourish as the Orange avenged their road loss earlier this month to the Cardinals with a tight ACC victory in Syracuse, N.Y.

After closing the first half with a long buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left wing, Fair won the game for Syracuse (20-4, 10-3) by hitting two free throws after Louisville's Olivia Cochran was whistled for a controversial intentional foul with two seconds left. Fair made all six of her free throw attempts for the Orange, who lost 81-69 to the then-No. 16 Cardinals on Feb. 1 in Louisville.

Syracuse's Georgia Woolley chipped in 14 points and Alyssa Latham delivered nine points, five rebounds and six blocks. Nyla Harris piled up 22 points and 11 boards to lead the Cardinals (20-5, 9-3). Kiki Jefferson scored 13 points as Louisville finished 2-2 amid a four-game stretch against ranked opponents.

No. 16 Virginia Tech 74, Boston College 63

Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley combined for 50 points as the Hokies improved to 13-0 at home this season with an ACC conference win over the Eagles in a sold-out Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.

Amoore charted 26 points to complement 24 from Kitley, who grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds in Virginia Tech's seventh straight win. Kitley added two blocks for the Hokies (20-4, 11-2), as did Clara Strack, who supplied seven points and six boards.

Boston College (11-15, 3-10) matched Virginia Tech by making 27 field goals but hit four fewer 3-pointers and seven fewer free throws en route to its seventh straight loss. Teya Sidberry and T'yana Todd each contributed 15 points for the Eagles.

No. 20 Utah 70, Oregon 48

Alissa Pili rattled off 14 points in the second half to help the Utes pull away from the Ducks in Salt Lake City.

Pili finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Jenna Johnson poured in a season-best 20 as Utah (18-7, 8-5 Pac-12) recovered from its lowest scoring output in the game this season, a 58-44 home loss to No. 17 Oregon State on Friday. Maty Wilke rounded out the Utes' double-digit scorers with 17 points. Utah stifled Oregon to 25 percent shooting in the fourth quarter as the Utes outscored the Ducks 18-7 to notch their seventh win in their last nine games.

Phillipina Kyei paced Oregon (11-14, 2-10) in its seventh straight loss with 15 points and 12 boards. Grace VanSlooten registered 14 points as the Ducks made one 3-pointer compared to Utah's 12.

--Field Level Media

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