No. 6 LSU blows out No. 7 Oklahoma 112-78 to reach SEC semifinals
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — MiLaysia Fulwiley had 22 points and eight assists, Flau’jae Johnson scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half and No. 6 LSU ran away from seventh-ranked Oklahoma 112-78 on Friday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament for its fifth straight victory.
LSU had the second-highest point total in SEC Tournament history, behind only Tennessee’s 118 in 1980.
Mikaylah Williams scored 14 points and Jada Richard had 13 for the Tigers (27-4), who held the Sooners to 36% shooting from the field and forced 22 turnovers. LSU shot 53% and made 13 of 24 3-point attempts.
LSU moves on to face No. 3 South Carolina, the tournament’s top seed and three-time defending champion, in Saturday’s semifinals.
Aaliyah Chavez scored 20 points and Sahara Williams had 19 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma (24-7), which had its seven-game win streak snapped.
LSU shot 57% in the first quarter and Fulwiley made a runner to beat the buzzer and give the Tigers a 28-19 lead. The Sooners twice got back within striking distance of the lead, but LSU began to pull away and increased its lead to 26 early in the fourth quarter.
NO. 2 UCLA 78, WASHINGTON 60
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Big Ten Player of the Year Lauren Betts had 26 points and eight rebounds and Kiki Rice added 18 points and six assists to help UCLA overcome a sluggish start and beat Washington in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
The regular-season champion Bruins (29-1) won their 23rd consecutive game, matching last season’s mark for the longest winning streak in school history. UCLA also has won 22 straight Big Ten games, a streak that began with last year’s march to the conference tourney crown.
Avery Howell scored 18 points to lead the Huskies (21-10). Brynn McGaughy had 12 points and all-conference guard Sayvia Sellers had 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting after scoring 25 in Thursday’s win over Southern California. Washington had a two-game winning streak snapped with its second loss to the Bruins this season.
Still, this game didn’t follow the expected script in front of a sparse, midday crowd in Indianapolis.
Washington charged out to a 13-6 lead after one quarter and UCLA coach Cori Close called timeout when the Huskies extended the margin to 22-12 with 6:26 left in the second.
The game then turned quickly. UCLA responded to the stoppage with 15 consecutive points while allowing just one basket the rest of the half as they rallied to take a 27-24 halftime lead.
NO. 3 SOUTH CAROLINA 87, NO. 17 KENTUCKY 64
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Joyce Edwards scored 21 points, Madina Okot added 12 points and 13 rebounds and 3 South Carolina routed Kentucky in the first of four Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinal games at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Tessa Johnson added 15 points and Ta’Niya Latson 12 for the top-seeded Gamecocks, who raced to a 17-point halftime lead and never let up.
South Carolina (30-2) looked laser focused as it began its quest for a fourth straight SEC Tournament title and 10th in the past 12 seasons under coach Dawn Staley, shooting 53% from the field, forcing 19 turnovers and outscoring Kentucky 46-24 in the paint.
Amelia Hassett had 15 points and Clara Strack scored 13 to lead Kentucky (23-10).
The Gamecocks will play Saturday against the winner of the game between No. 6 LSU and No. 7 Oklahoma.
NO. 4 TEXAS 83, ALABAMA 60
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Jordan Lee scored 16 points, Madison Booker contributed 11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in limited action and Texas rolled into the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals with victory over Alabama.
Bryanna Preston added 13 points for Texas, which has won six straight.
Texas (29-3) will face No. 24 Mississippi, an 89-78 winner over No. 5 Vanderbilt, on Saturday. No. 3 South Carolina and No. 6 LSU square off in the other semifinal.
Diana Collins, Jessica Timmons and Alancia Ramsey each scored eight points for Alabama (23-10), the only unranked team to reach the tournament’s quarterfinals.
This one was never competitive.
Alabama, which lost five of its final six regular-season games, seemed to find its footing by beating Missouri and Tennessee in the tournament’s first two rounds. But the Crimson Tide appeared to have run out gas by the time tipoff arrived Friday night.
The Longhorns made 16 of 29 shots from the field to open the game and sprinted to a 40-12 lead early in the second quarter in front of a sparse crowd.
Texas forced 14 turnovers in the first half and led by 33 at the break.
NO. 24 MISSISSIPPI 89, NO. 5 VANDERBILT 78
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Latasha Lattimore scored 28 points and Cotie McMahon had 27 as No. 24 Mississippi built a 32-point third-quarter lead and held on late to beat fifth-ranked Vanderbilt 89-78 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.
Tianna Thompson added 16 points for the Rebels (23-10), who jumped to a 23-2 lead in the first quarter and rode the wave of momentum to their second win this season over Commodores (27-4).
Ole Miss will face No. 4 Texas in Saturday’s semifinals.
Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes, who averaged more than 30 points per game in conference play this season, missed her first 12 shots — including five 3s — and didn’t make a first field goal until 2:31 remained in the third quarter after battling early foul trouble.
Blakes then helped a fuel a frantic fourth-quarter rally in which Vanderbilt trimmed the lead to nine with three minutes to go. She finished with 24 points.
Aubrey Galvan added 18 points for Vanderbilt.
NO. 8 MICHIGAN 80, OREGON 58
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Syla Swords scored 17 points and Olivia Olson had 16 as Michigan beat Oregon in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
The Wolverines (25-5) will face No. 9 Iowa in Saturday’s semifinals.
The final margin was Michigan’s largest lead of the game. Olson went 7 of 11 from the field for the Wolverines, who shot 44%. Ashley Sofilkanich added 14 points and Kendall Dudley scored 10.
Katie Fiso scored 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Ehis Etute had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Ducks (22-12).
Oregon made 41% of its shots. Both teams struggled from 3-point range as the Ducks were 3 of 19 and the Wolverines 4 of 19.
Oregon committed 17 turnovers, eight more than Michigan.
NO. 9 IOWA 64, ILLINOIS 58
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ava Heiden scored 16 points and Hannah Stuelke finished with 13 points and five rebounds despite playing with an injured right elbow, leading Iowa past 10th-seeded Illinois and into the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
The Hawkeyes (25-5) have won seven straight and need two more wins to capture their fifth conference tourney crown in eight years. Taylor Stremlow had nine points and six assists, while Journey Houston grabbed 12 rebounds for Iowa.
Jasmine Brown-Haggard finished with 22 points and Berry Wallace added 13 for Illinois. The conference’s youngest team played its third game in three nights after advancing to the quarterfinal round following wins over Wisconsin and No. 18 Michigan State.
Stuelke’s return seemed to reinvigorate the Hawkeyes. She was injured during Iowa’s victory over the Fighting Illini on Feb. 26 and missed the Hawkeyes’ regular-season finale last weekend. Coach Jan Jensen said the injury was so severe Stuelke struggled to shoot during the week, consulted with wrestling trainers about how to treat it and then fell ill, making Friday’s availability unclear.
None of it didn’t seem to bother Stuelke, who went 6 of 11 from the field and helped Iowa take control quickly before getting some extra rest late in the game.
NO. 10 TCU 63, BYU 46
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Marta Suarez had 17 points and eight rebounds, Taylor Bigby scored 11 of her 13 points in the first quarter, and TCU began the defense of its women’s Big 12 Tournament championship with a quarterfinal victory over BYU.
Olivia Miles added 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the top-seeded Horned Frogs (28-4), who will play No. 12 seed Kansas State in the semifinals on Saturday.
Delaney Gibb scored 17 points to lead the ninth-seeded Cougars (22-11), who finished the regular season with three straight wins, and then beat Houston and Utah in the first two rounds of the conference tournament to help their NCAA Tournament hopes.
The Horned Frogs certainly looked like a team riding a six-game win streak into the postseason. They held BYU to a single field goal over the first 5 1/2 minutes, built a 24-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 18 in the second.
TCU did it all without a whole lot from Miles, too. The Big 12 player of the year was 0 for 3 from the field and had three turnovers in a scoreless first half, while her foul in the final seconds allowed BYU to hit a free throw to close within 32-19 at the break.
NO. 11 OHIO ST. 50, NO. 19 MINNESOTA 55
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Elsa Lemmila had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Jaloni Cambridge also scored 17, and Ohio State beat Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
Fourth-seeded Ohio State (26-6) plays No. 1 seed and second-ranked UCLA — which beat the Buckeyes 82-75 on Dec. 28 — in the semifinals Saturday.
Cambridge added six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Chance Gray hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.
Mara Braun hit a 3-pointer that cut Minnesota’s deficit to 58-55 with 1:32 left in the game. Neither team scored again until Cambridge made a jumper with 16 seconds left.
Grace Grocholski led No. 5 seed Minnesota (22-9) with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sophie Hart had 12 points and a career-high 19 rebounds and Amaya Battle added 10 points. Hart has 1,000 career points, 966 for the Gophers. Tori McKinney had two points on 1-for-4 shooting in just 16 foul-plagued minutes.
Kennedy Cambridge had six of Ohio State’s 12 steals and added five points, four assists and three rebounds.
NO. 12 LOUISVILLE 87, SYRACUSE 61
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Tajianna Roberts scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Mackenly Randolph had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Louisville beat Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
Second-seeded Louisville (26-6) plays No. 3 seed and 16th-ranked North Carolina in the semifinals Saturday.
Reyna Scott made 7 of 10 from the field and finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Cardinals. Skylar Jones scored 12 while Imari Berry and Laura Ziegler each added 11 points.
Syracuse (23-8), the No. 7 seed, announced before the game that Dominique Darius — who averages 12.6 points and has a team-high 106 assists this season — would miss the rest of the tournament due to a hand injury suffered in the Orange’s 70-59 win over California in the second round.
Uche Izoje had 22 points, 16 in the first half, and nine rebounds for the Orange. Sophie Burrows added 12 points and nine rebounds and Jasmyn Cooper scored 11.
NO. 13 DUKE 60, CLEMSON 46
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Toby Fournier had 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, Delaney Thomas added 14 points, and Duke cruised past Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
The defense for top-seeded Duke (22-8) stunned Clemson (21-11) in the first half, forcing 11 turnovers and four shot-clock violations. The Blue Devils responded on offense, going 5 of 9 beyond the 3-point arc and 14 of 30 from the field against the same team that upset them 53-51 merely 12 days ago.
Duke went on a 10-0 run late in the second quarter to extend its lead to 38-19 at the half. Fournier had 12 points in the first half.
Clemson turned a 25-point deficit to 13 within the final minutes of the game, but Duke closed it out.
NO. 15 WEST VIRGINIA 67, ARIZONA STATE 54
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Sydney Shaw hit five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, Gia Cooke scored 16, and West Virginia beat No. 10 seed Arizona State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
No. 15 West Virginia (25-6) plays Saturday in the semifinals against Colorado. The Mountaineers have won 25 games in each of coach Mark Kellogg’s first three seasons.
Shaw tied the program record for 3-pointers in a Big 12 Tournament game. Jordan Harrison added 10 points, five assists and three steals for West Virginia.
Marley Washenitz led Arizona State (24-10) with 14 points and Heloisa Carrera scored 10. Gabby Elliott left the game due to an apparent knee injury with 5:33 left in the third quarter but returned to start the fourth and finished with nine points — all in the first half.
NO. 16 NORTH CAROLINA 85, VIRGINIA TECH 68
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Lanie Grant scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Nyla Harris had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and third-seeded North Carolina beat No. 6 seed Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Friday night.
North Carolina (26-6) plays No. 12 and second-seeded Louisville in the semifinals Saturday.
Grant hit 4 of 7 from 3-point range and Harris made 8 of 11 from the field. Elina Aarnisalo totaled 18 points, six assists and five rebounds for UNC, and Nyla Brooks added 10 points.
Harris made a layup that gave the Tar Heels the lead for good and sparked an 11-2 run that made it 30-22 with 4:33 left in the second quarter. Aarnisalo hit a 3-pointer and added two free throws as UNC scored eight of the final nine first-half points to take a 13-point lead into the intermission.
Carleigh Wenzel made 14 of 15 from the free-throw line and finished with 26 points for Virginia Tech (23-9) but was 6-of-17 shooting, 0 of 6 from 3-point range.
COLORADO 62, NO. 20 BAYLOR 53
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Desiree Wooten had 21 points, Zyanna Walker scored 19 and Colorado upset Baylor in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
No. 6 seed Colorado will play 15th-ranked West Virginia, the No. 2 seed, in a semifinal matchup on Saturday. No. 1 seed TCU plays No. 12 seed Kansas State in the other semi after the Wildcats upset No. 4 seed Oklahoma State 74-73 in the day’s first quarterfinal.
Wooten came off the bench to make 8 of 16 shots with three 3-pointers for the Buffaloes (22-10), who advanced to a conference semifinal for the first time in 11 years. She added five rebounds and three assists. Reserve Logyn Greer had nine points and four boards.
Taliah Scott scored 14 points to pace the third-seeded Lady Bears (24-8). Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while reserve Kyla Abraham added 10 points and six boards.
NO. 25 FAIRFIELD 69, SACRED HEART 53
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Kaety L’Amoreaux scored 21 points, Meghan Andersen added 16 points and Fairfield eased by Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament for its ninth victory in a row.
Fairfield (26-4), the No. 2 seed, continues its quest for a third straight MAAC championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. The Stags already secured their third straight regular-season title, the seventh in program history.
L’Amoreaux, the conference player of the year, and Andersen combined for 22 points in the first half to help Fairfield build a 35-24 lead. Andersen scored five points during a 12-0 second-quarter run that gave the Stags a 14-point lead.
Fairfield led by double figures the entire second half. The Stags closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run and led by as many as 27 in the fourth before Sacred Heart scored the final 11 points of the game against reserves.
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