Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 6 NC State, No. 7 USC upset

 

[February 26, 2024]  Taina Mair tallied 20 points and Reigan Richardson and Kennedy Brown each had 15 as host Duke upset No. 6 North Carolina State 69-58 on Sunday in Durham, N.C.

In avenging a 15-point road loss last month, the Blue Devils (18-9, 10-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) never trailed and held NC State to 33.3 percent shooting. Duke triumphed over a ranked team for the second time in four days after winning at No. 17 Syracuse on Thursday.

NC State (23-5, 11-5) has lost consecutive games for the first time this season. Aziaha James had 15 points to pace the Wolfpack, with River Baldwin adding 14 points and 10 rebounds and Saniya Rivers providing 13 points.

Duke's lead was 35-19 at halftime on Ashlon Jackson's buzzer-beating 3-pointer. The Blue Devils won despite not taking a free throw until 2:02 remained in the game.

No. 1 South Carolina 103, Kentucky 55

Bree Hall scored 18 points and reserves MiLaysia Fulwiley and Sania Feagin collected 17 and 16 points, respectively, off the bench as the visiting Gamecocks cruised in Lexington, Ky.

Ashlyn Watkins added 13 points, Te-Hina Paopao had 11 points and Chloe Kitts provided 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Gamecocks (27-0, 14-0 Southeastern Conference). South Carolina reached the 100-point mark for the sixth time this season and the first time since early December. The Gamecocks hadn't reached the 75-point mark in its three previous games.

Ajae Petty notched 16 points and eight rebounds, reserve Saniah Tyler had 15 points and Maddie Scherr supplied 11 points for Kentucky (11-17, 4-10).

No. 2 Ohio State 79, Maryland 66

Celeste Taylor's 20 points led five Ohio State starters in double figures as the Buckeyes clinched at least a tie for the Big Ten Conference regular-season title with their 14th consecutive victory in Columbus, Ohio.

Jacy Sheldon had 17 points and six assists and Cotie McMahon added 15 points as the Buckeyes (24-3, 15-1 Big Ten) shot 50 percent from the field. Rebeka Mikulasikova had 11 points and Taylor Thierry produced 10 points.

Bri McDaniel's 21 points and Brinae Alexander's 16 points led Maryland (16-11, 8-8), which was dinged by 15 turnovers.

With two games left, the Buckeyes hold a two-game lead on No. 4 Iowa and No. 14 Indiana.

No. 3 Stanford 81, Arizona State 67

Kiki Iriafen racked up 22 points and 20 rebounds and the host Cardinal bounced back from Friday's loss to visiting Arizona to secure its fifth victory in the last six games.

Cameron Brink's 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists were crucial for Stanford (24-4, 13-3 Pac-12), which rode a big second quarter to a 36-23 halftime lead. Jzaniya Harriel (12 points) made four 3-pointers and Hannah Jump (11 points) hit three 3s.

Jalyn Brown's 18 points and Trayanna Crisp's 13 points were tops for Arizona State (11-17, 3-13).

No. 4 Iowa 101, Illinois 85

Caitlin Clark secured the 16th triple-double of her career as the Hawkeyes beat the Fighting Illini in Iowa City, Iowa.

Clark piled up 24 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a bounce-back win for Iowa (24-4, 13-3 Big Ten) following its loss at Indiana on Thursday. Hannah Stuelke chipped in 20 points and nine rebounds, while Kate Martin added 13 points.

Illinois (13-13, 7-9) were led by 26 points from Makira Cook. Genesis Bryant added 19 points and six assists, while Kendall Bostic had 10 points and 17 rebounds.

Iowa never trailed and notched 28 assists on 36 made baskets.

No. 18 Utah 74, No. 7 Southern California 68

Alissa Pili sank 12 of 14 free throws on the way to 23 points in the Utes' road victory in Los Angeles.

Kennady McQueen's 14 points, Dasia Young's 13 and Matyson Wilke's 11 were also crucial for the Utes (20-8, 10-6 Pac-12), who had a 33-12 scoring edge on 3-pointers. Pili also had nine rebounds.

JuJu Watkins, who racked up 30 points, tried to rally the Trojans. Watkins' basket with 1:37 left made it 67-63, but Pili posted the next three points.

No. 8 Virginia Tech 74, North Carolina 62

Elizabeth Kitley racked up 34 points on 11-for-17 shooting from the field and No. 8 Virginia Tech clinched at least a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title by defeating North Carolina 74-62 at sold-out Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.

Kitley, who was also 12-for-14 on free throws, had a huge Senior Day outing along with classmate Georgia Amoore, who had 19 points and 11 assists. Amoore became Virginia Tech's all-time leader in assists.

The Hokies (23-4, 14-2 ACC), who shot 52.9 percent from the floor, broke out to a 24-7 lead, but the advantage was just 33-27 at halftime. The margin grew to 17 points near the midway mark of the fourth quarter.

Deja Kelly poured in a season-high 29 points for North Carolina (18-10, 10-6), which was trying to knock off a Top 10 for the second game in a row after toppling No. 6 North Carolina State on Thursday night. Lexi Donarski added 10 points.

Washington 61, No. 9 Oregon State 51

Elle Ladine tallied 23 points and connected on three of the Huskies' four 3-point baskets in an upset of the Beavers in Seattle.

Dalayah Daniels had 15 points, boosting the Huskies (15-12, 5-11 Pac-12) to back-to-back wins for the first time since mid-December.

Timea Gardiner's 13 points led Oregon State (22-5, 11-5), which lost for the second time in three games. Lily Hansford had 11 points and Dominika Paurova scored 10.

Kansas 58, No. 10 Kansas State 55

S'Mya Nichols pumped in 22 points and the host Jayhawks pulled off a surprise in Lawrence, Kan.

Taiyanna Jackson added 11 points and Holly Kersgieter had 10 points for Kansas (16-11, 9-7 Big 12), which turned a 51-47 hole into a 58-52 lead. Kersgieter made the go-ahead shot and later added three free throws.

Ayoka Lee had 14 points, making seven of 21 shots from the field, for the Wildcats (23-5, 12-4), who scored only four points in the final 4 1/2 minutes. Kansas outscored Kansas State in every quarter except for the second.

No. 13 LSU 75, Tennessee 60

Hailey Van Lith scored a season-high 26 points as the Tigers comfortably beat the Volunteers in Knoxville, Tenn.

Van Lith shot 4 of 5 from 3-point range as LSU (24-4, 11-3 SEC) won its sixth straight game. Angel Reese scored her 2,000th career point while tallying 11 points and 15 rebounds in the win, and Mikaylah Williams chipped in 15 points.

Rickea Jackson led Tennessee (16-10, 9-5) with 16 points and nine rebounds.

No. 15 UConn 104, DePaul 67

Paige Bueckers pumped in 30 points and the visiting Huskies rolled behind 57.6 percent shooting from the field to beat the Blue Demons in Chicago.

Aaliyah Edwards added 23 points and 17 rebounds and Ashlynn Shade had 13 points for UConn (24-5, 16-0 Big East). Bueckers was 9-for-15 from the field and 11-for-13 on free throws.

Kate Clarke poured in 24 points and Katlyn Gilbert finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for DePaul (12-17, 4-12), which lost for the second time to UConn this season and had its losing stretch extended to four games. The Blue Demons committed 18 turnovers as UConn gathered 14 steals, four by Edwards.

No. 17 Syracuse 63, Pitt 53

Dyaisha Fair posted 23 points, though the host Orange needed a huge fourth quarter in a tougher-than-expected home victory.

Syracuse (23-5, 13-4 ACC), which was a home upset victim against Duke on Thursday, needed a 22-4 fourth-quarter advantage to pull out the victory.

Georgia Woolley's 14 points and reserve Sophie Burrows' 11 points also boosted the Orange. In order to gain a share of the ACC crown, second-place Syracuse would need to win Thursday at No. 6 North Carolina State and have first-place Virginia Tech lose twice next week.

Liatu King's 29 points paced the Panthers, who shot just 3-for-17 on 3-pointers. Pitt (8-21, 2-14) lost by 13 points last month at home to the Orange, but led 30-25 at halftime Sunday and stretched that edge to eight points entering the fourth quarter. Bella Perkins had 11 points off the Pitt bench, while King also had 10 rebounds.

No. 19 Notre Dame 79, Boston College 55

Hannah Hidalgo scored 19 points and Maddy Westbeld added 19 to help the Irish beat the Eagles in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Hidalgo also piled up seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals in the third straight win for Notre Dame (21-6, 11-5 ACC). The Fighting Irish also were aided by 16 points from Sonia Citron and 11 from Anna DeWolfe.

Dontavia Waggoner powered Boston College (11-18, 3-13) with 25 points and 15 rebounds. No other Eagle scored in double figures.

Virginia 73, No. 20 Louisville 68

Camryn Taylor scored 22 points as the Cavaliers notched a significant upset victory over the host Cardinals.

The result snapped Louisville's streak of 56 wins over unranked opponents at home, a mark that dated back to the 2014-15 season. It is also Virginia's first win at Louisville in seven tries and snapped the Cavaliers' overall 10-game losing streak against the Cardinals.

Virginia (14-13, 6-10 ACC) was also boosted by 18 points, six rebounds and six assists from Kymora Johnson, 12 points from Paris Clark and 11 from Jillian Brown. Louisville (22-7, 11-5) was led by Nyla Harris' 17 points and nine rebounds.

--Field Level Media

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