No. 6 LSU wins thriller against No. 16 Tennessee 89-87 with Gilbert’s last-second layup
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kailyn Gilbert made a layup with 1 second left to give No. 6 LSU an 89-87 victory over No. 16 Tennessee on Thursday night.
Tennessee’s Zee Spearman had a good look but missed a short jumper that would have sent the game to overtime. The Lady Vols (13-2, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) took their second narrow loss in five days to a top-10 team.
Aneesah Morrow had 23 points and 21 rebounds to lead the Tigers (18-0, 3-0). Gilbert finished with 22 points, Flau’Jae Johnson had 20 and Mikaylah Williams 16.
Jewel Spear scored 25 points and Talaysia Cooper had 24 for Tennessee, which trailed by 18 in the second quarter. Ruby Whitehorn and Samara Spencer scored 10 each.
Morrow had a double-double by halftime. Her 19 points and 10 rebounds helped LSU take a 46-39 lead at the intermission. Johnson had 11 points for the Tigers.
NO. 2 SOUTH CAROLINA 90, TEXAS A&M 49
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — No. 2 South Carolina beat Texas A&M in a final tuneup before its biggest stretch of the season.
The Gamecocks (15-1, 3-0 Southeastern) are playing thin after junior forward Ashlyn Watkins suffered a season-ending injury in their last game, but they rolled over the Aggies (8-7, 1-2) with smothering defense. Texas A&M shot a mere 20% in the first half, as South Carolina built a 20-point lead, and finished at 29%.
Freshman Joyce Edwards led the Gamecocks with 19 points and 10 rebounds to complete her seventh double-double. Sole Williams had 10 points to pace the Aggies.
The Gamecocks led by 30 midway through the third quarter. They used the advantage to audition replacements for Watkins, such as Maryam Dauda playing nine minutes in some of her most extended action of the season.
NO. 3 NOTRE DAME 100, WAKE FOREST 64
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Hannah Hidalgo had 23 points and six steals as No. 3 Notre Dame overpowered Wake Forest.
Liatu King scored 17 points, Sonia Citron scored 16 and Olivia Miles added 13 points and nine assists for the Fighting Irish (13-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Notre Dame has won all 13 meetings with the Demon Deacons.
Elise Williams scored 18 points, Demeara Hinds scored 17 and Malaya Cowles added 15 for Wake Forest (7-8, 0-4).
Notre Dame’s defense sparked a 15-2 run in just under three minutes that built Notre Dame’s lead to 40-19 in the second quarter. The Fighting Irish forced four turnovers and hit 6 of 7 shots during the surge.
NO. 5 TEXAS 84, NO. 18 ALABAMA 40
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Madison Booker scored 21 points in just 18 minutes and No. 5 Texas beat No. 18 Alabama for its ninth straight win.
Texas (16-1, 3-0 SEC) has won 16 consecutive home games since late January 2024. The Longhorns led 29-7 after the first quarter on their way to snapping Alabama’s six-game winning streak.
Taylor Jones had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Texas, and point guard Rori Harmon added 10 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Karly Weathers scored seven points to lead Alabama (15-2, 2-1). Zaay Green, the leading scorer for Alabama this season with 17 points a game, was limited to five. She committed nine of the Crimson Tide’s 20 turnovers.
Alabama shot 27 from the field, including 4 for 23 on 3-pointers. The Crimson Tide averaged nine 3-point baskets a game before getting shut down by Texas.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 81, NO. 10 OKLAHOMA 77
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Jerkaila Jordan scored 24 points, 18 in the second half, and Mississippi State held on for a win over No. 10 Oklahoma.
Jordan made 10 of 17 field goals and had six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Eniya Russell scored 12 points and reserve Destiney McPhaul added 10 points for the Bulldogs (14-3, 1-2 Southeastern Conference).
Raegan Beers had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Payton Verhulst scored 15 points and Liz Scott added 12 for Oklahoma (13-3, 1-2).
The Bulldogs put together a 7-0 run to close out the third quarter and took a 53-49 lead into the fourth. They got critical stops and hit free throws down the stretch.
The Bulldogs had an 11-point lead against No. 2 South Carolina last Sunday before the Gamecocks went on a 34-2 run and won 95-68. It looked like the Bulldogs might be on the same path against Oklahoma — Mississippi State led 31-17 in the second quarter before Oklahoma closed the half on a 14-1 run to trim the Bulldogs’ lead to 33-32.
VIRGINIA TECH 105, NO. 13 GEORGIA TECH 94, 2OT
ATLANTA (AP) — Lani White scored six of her 20 points in the second overtime, Carleigh Wenzel and Rose Micheaux each had double-doubles and Virginia Tech handed No. 13 Georgia Tech its first loss of the season.
The Yellow Jackets scored the last four points in regulation to tie the game at 80 and turned an offensive rebound into a buzzer beating 3-pointer by Rusne Augustinaite to knot it at 92-all after one overtime. Then the Hokies dominated the second extra period.
White hit consecutive baskets on Wenzel assists to open the second overtime and the Hokies scored the first eight points. Georgia Tech missed all six shots and went 2 of 4 from the line.
Wenzel had 24 points and a career-high 10 assists and Micheaux had 20 points with 12 rebounds for the Hokies (11-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Carys Baker and Matilda Ekh both added 17 points.
Kara Dunn scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets (15-1, 3-1). Tonie Morgan added a career-high 28 points. Standout freshman Dani Carnegie only played six minutes and scored two points after getting hurt.
Georgia Tech had won 13 games by double figures and were only giving up 57 points a game.
NO. 19 NORTH CAROLINA 53, NO. 14 DUKE 46, OT
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Alyssa Ustby scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and No. 19 North Carolina made 10 of 14 free throws in overtime to beat No. 14 Duke after blowing a 16-point lead in the second half.
After the Blue Devils scored the first three points in overtime, Blanca Thomas made three free throws before Lexi Donarski drilled a 3-pointer to put the Tar Heels up 46-43. North Carolina made three more free throws before Ashlon Jackson hit a 3 for Duke to make it 49-46 with 42 seconds to play.
Lanie Grant and Reniya Kelly then made two free throws apiece to ice it for the Tar Heels.
Grant scored nine points, going 7 of 7 from the foul line, and Kelly had eight for North Carolina (14-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won despite shooting 32% with a season-high 26 turnovers.
Jackson had 10 points for Duke (12-4, 3-1).
NO. 15 KENTUCKY 71, FLORIDA 55
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Georgia Amoore had 18 points and four steals, Dazia Lawrence scored 14 points and made four 3-pointers, and No. 15 Kentucky beat Florida.
Kentucky scored the opening seven points of the game and Amoore’s three-point play made it 10-2. Amoore also capped an 8-0 run that spanned the first-quarter break for a 25-10 lead. Lawrence’s third 3-pointer of the game extended it to 30-12 with 6:32 left in the first half.
Amoore finished the first half with 14 points to help build a 41-19 lead. Amoore capped her scoring with 5:28 left in the third quarter to come two points shy of her seventh straight game with 20-plus.
Kentucky led by 20-plus for most of the third quarter until Laila Reynolds scored Florida’s final six points to get within 56-37.
Clara Strack added 12 points and eight rebounds for Kentucky (14-1, 3-0 SEC).
Reynolds scored 15 points for Florida (10-7, 1-2). Jeriah Warren added 13 points and Liv McGill had 10. Ra Shaya Kyle, averaging 15.9 points per game, was held to four second-half points.
ILLINOIS 62, NO. 23 IOWA 57
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Kendall Bostic had 17 points and 14 rebounds, Genesis Bryant scored seven of her 12 points in the fourth quarter and Illinois beat No. 23 Iowa.
Illinois (12-4, 2-3 Big Ten) won its second series meeting in the last 10 games, including a 90-86 win at home on Jan. 1, 2023.
Iowa (12-4, 2-3), coming off a 74-66 loss to No. 8 Maryland, has lost back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 1, 2022.
Illinois trailed 29-20 with 4:09 left before halftime before closing on a 7-0 run. Then Adalia McKenzie began the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer and the Ilini led the rest of the third quarter.
Iowa missed eight straight shots spanning halftime.
The Hawkeyes tied it at 50 with 8:29 left in the fourth but only made two of their next eight shots. Bostic made a basket on back-to-back possessions, including a three-point play, to go ahead 57-53 and Bryant added a 3-pointer with 2:31 left for a six-point lead.