No. 19 Tennessee upsets No. 5 UConn 80-76
Tennessee guard Talaysia Cooper (55) drives as she’s defended by UConn forward Aubrey Griffin (44) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Zee Spearman scored 18 points, including a basket with 12 seconds left, to lead No. 19 Tennessee to an 80-76 win over No. 5 UConn on Thursday night.
The Lady Volunteers (17-5) led 78-76 when Jewel Spear found Spearman for the basket. It was Tennessee’s first victory over the Huskies (21-3) since 2007. The Lady Vols had lost all four meetings since the rivalry was renewed in 2020.
Samara Spencer scored 14, Spear had 12 and Talaysia Cooper added 11.
Sarah Strong scored 18 points for the Huskies. Paige Bueckers collected 14, Kk Arnold had 11 and Azzi Fudd 10.
Strong scored 12 points in the first half as UConn jumped to a 39-37 advantage. Tennessee outrebounded the Huskies, 24-19, but shot just 18.8% from 3-point (3 of 16). UConn forced the Lady Vols into 10 turnovers.
NO. 2 SOUTH CAROLINA 74, GEORGIA 42
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — No. 2 South Carolina continued its domination of the Southeastern Conference, beating Georgia for its 17th consecutive win while holding the Lady Bulldogs to their fewest points of the season.
MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 13 points as South Carolina (21-1, 10-0 SEC) led almost the entire game. The defending national champion Gamecocks extended their lead to double figures in the opening minutes while relying on their superiority near the basket.
South Carolina outscored the Lady Bulldogs 40-22 in the paint and claimed a 47-28 advantage in rebounds.
Mia Woolfolk scored nine points with seven rebounds for Georgia (9-15, 1-9), which suffered its seventh straight loss. South Carolina has won the last 19 games in the series.
NO. 3 NOTRE DAME 96, STANFORD 47
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Hannah Hidalgo scored 24 points and No. 3 Notre Dame handed Stanford the worst defeat of its storied women’s basketball program as the Fighting Irish rolled to a victory.
Notre Dame’s 49-point romp topped the 45-point victory in 1983 (96-51) by Long Beach State that had been Stanford’s worst loss until Thursday’s debacle in South Bend.
Stanford’s Nunu Agara, a 6-foot-2 sophomore forward who averages 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds a game, left the game in the first quarter with an injury. She only played five minutes and did not score.
Olivia Miles scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Notre Dame (20-2, 11-0 ACC).
Cassandre Prosper and Maddy Westbeld scored 13 points each for Notre Dame.
Tess Heal led Stanford (11-11, 3-8 ACC) with 10 points.
NO. 4 TEXAS 87, NO. 24 VANDERBILT 66
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Madison Booker scored 20 points, Shay Holle added 16 and No. 4 Texas beat No. 24 Vanderbilt for its seventh straight win.
Booker converted 7 of 12 shots from the field while adding six rebounds and four assists as Texas won its 19th straight home game dating to last January. Holle hit 4 of 5 3-pointers.
Taylor Jones had 13 points and six rebounds, and Jordan Lee scored 12 for Texas (23-2, 9-1 Southeastern Conference), which shot 52.8% from the field and is 15-0 when shooting 50% or better.
Khamil Pierre led Vanderbilt (18-6, 5-5) with 26 points and Mikayla Blakes had 22.
NO. 6 LSU 71, MISSOURI 60
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Flau’Jae Johnson scored 19 points, and Mikaylah Williams added 16 to help No. 6 LSU beat Missouri.
Aneesah Morrow scored 13 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for LSU (24-1, 9-1 SEC), which has won its last six games.
Morrow recorded her 22nd double-double in 25 games which is the most in all of college basketball.
Grace Slaughter scored 18 points, Ashton Judd added 17 points and Angelique Ngalakulondi grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds before fouling out with 5:52 remaining for Missouri (12-13, 1-9), which has lost its last six meetings against LSU since a win on Jan. 5, 2020.
Judd hit a 3-pointer with 4:41 remaining in the third quarter to put Missouri ahead 38-36, but LSU pulled ahead on Johnson’s three-pointer a minute later to take a 41-38 lead it would not relinquish.
Judd scored five points in the first quarter to help Missouri pull out to a 15-11 lead at the end of the period that saw both teams combine to hit just 10 of 32 shots from the field.
NO. 10 DUKE 74, CLEMSON 55
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Toby Fournier scored 20 points off the bench and No. 10 Duke pulled away for a victory over Clemson.
Fournier, a contender for Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year, shot 9 of 12 from the floor and also had four rebounds.
It was the sixth time this season the freshman has scored at least 20 points, and Duke (18-5, 9-2) is now 6-0 in those games.
Maddi Cluse scored 19 points ande Anya Poole had 11 for the Tigers (11-12, 4-8), who lost their third consecutive game and have lost seven of their last eight.
Ashlon Jackson added 15 points and four assists for the Blue Devils while Oluchi Okananwa chipped in 14 points and three steals.
NO. 15 OKLAHOMA 66, MISSISSIPPI 56
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Payton Verhulst scored 10 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter, Sahara Williams added 14 points and No. 15 Oklahoma used a 12-2 closing run to beat Mississippi.
Oklahoma (17-6, 5-5 SEC) has lost back-to-back games (for the first time this season) and three of its last four.
Kennedy Todd-Williams made a layup that tied it 54-all with 3:50 to play but Nevaeh Tot made 1 of 2 free throws 11 seconds later. Verhulst added a layup and a 3-pointer before Williams hit two foul shots, stole the ball, was fouled as she made a layup and the and-1 free throw to make it 65-56 with 56 seconds remaining.
Madison Scott hit a jumper almost three minutes into the fourth quarter that gave the Rebels their biggest lead at 51-44. Verhulst answered with a jumper, Lexy Key followed with a 3-pointer and Verhulst added a three-point play to put Oklahoma back in front about two minutes later.
Starr Jacobs led Ole Miss (15-7, 6-4) with 15 points and Christeen Iwuala added 11 points and nine rebounds.
NO. 16 MARYLAND 79, OREGON 61
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Sarah Te-Biasu scored a season-high 26 points, Kaylene Smikle added 21 points and nine rebounds and No. 16 Maryland beat Oregon.
Saylor Poffenbarger scored 13 and grabbed 11 rebounds and Allie Kubek scored 11 points for Maryland (18-5, 8-4 Big Ten), which bounced back from a 66-65 last-second loss to Illinois.
Kubek made a layup 4 minutes into the first quarter that gave Maryland the lead for good and sparked a 13-3 run that made it 19-9 at the end of the first quarter and the Terrapins led by double figures the rest of the way.
Te-Biasu — the Atlantic 10 player of the year last season at VCU — hit three 3-pointers and scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the first half to help the Terrapins take a 39-22 lead into the intermission.
The Terrapins shot 54% (25 of 46), hit 9 of 20 (45%) from 3-point range and made 20 of 23 (87%) from the free-throw line and limited Oregon to 32% (19 of 59) shooting for the field.
Ehis Etute scored 14 points with seven rebounds and Ari Long added 11 points for Oregon (16-7, 7-5). The Ducks had a four-game win streak snapped last time out when they scored a season-low 48 in a 32-point loss at Michigan.
NO. 17 GEORGIA TECH 70, SMU 69
ATLANTA (AP) — Kara Dunn scored 15 points, Zoesha Smith made the winning free throws in the final seconds and No. 17 Georgia Tech ended the game on a 12-3 run and beat SMU.
SMU took the lead late in the third quarter and Nya Robertson’s 3-pointer stretched the Mustangs’ advantage to 66-58 with 4:53 remaining. Dunn scored six points before Chazadi Wright’s layup tied it 68-all with 30 seconds to play.
Smith gave Georgia Tech a two-point lead but Tonie Morgan was called for a personal foul that sent Robertson to the foul line. Robertson missed the first free-throw attempt and made the second to end it.
Morgan finished with 14 points for Georgia Tech (19-4, 7-4 ACC), which had won four of its last five games. Wright added 12 points and Smith had 11. Dunn and Smith each grabbed eight of the Yellow Jackets’ 36 rebounds.
TK Pitts scored 18 of her 19 points in the second half to lead SMU (10-14, 2-10). Jessica Peterson scored 12 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Mustangs. Roberston and Zanai Jones also scored 12 points apiece and Kaysia Woods had 11.
LOUISVILLE 70, NO. 21 CALIFORNIA 63
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Olivia Cochran scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Louisville turn back No. 21 California.
Imari Berry scored 14 points for the Cardinals (16-7, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Ja’Leah had 11.
Ugonne Onyiah led the Golden Bears (19-5, 7-4) with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Ioanna Krimili added 12 points, Marta Suarez and LuLu Twidale both had 11 and Kayla Williams 10. Reserves had just four points.
It was the second win over a ranked team in eight matchups for the Cardinals and they have three more ahead in the final three weeks of the season. Cochran surpassed 1,500 career points.
Jayda Curry seemed to have all but sealed the game when she turned a steal into a three-point play against her former team for a 62-46 lead midway through the fourth.
NO. 22 FLORIDA STATE 101, VIRGINIA 68
CHARLOTTSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Ta’Niya Latson scored 27 points with 12 assists and No. 22 Florida State coasted to a win over Virginia for its sixth-straight win.
Makayla Timpson had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks, which tied her career high, for the Seminoles (19-4, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), O’Mariah Gordon added 15 points and Amaya Bonner had 12 off the bench. The 12 assists are a career-high for Latson, the nation’s leading scorer at 26.1 per game.
Paris Clark and Kymora Johnson scored 16 points for the Cavaliers (12-12, 4-8) and Breona Hurd added 14. Johnson had eight rebounds and six assists.
Florida State was 10 of 26 on 3-pointers and shot 52% overall despite 7-of-18 shooting in the fourth quarter. The Seminoles turned 18 Virginia turnovers into 25 points and only committed seven turnovers.
Sydney Bowles opened the game with a layup and her 3-pointer about 4 minutes in made it 11-0 for Florida State. An 8-0 run to close the quarter made it 26-9.
NO. 23 ALABAMA 84, FLORIDA 66
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Aaliyah Nye made a career-high nine 3-pointers to finish with 27 points, Sarah Ashlee Barker had 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks, and No. 23 Alabama pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Florida.
Alabama (19-5, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) earned its first win in Gainesville since the 2020-21 season. The Crimson Tide have won three straight against Florida for the first time since 1986-88.
Alabama had its lead trimmed to 58-55 early in the fourth quarter before making nine straight shots to pull away.
Nye, who made six 3-pointers in a 72-57 win over Georgia on Sunday, set a career high with 3:25 left in the fourth quarter on her eighth 3-pointer to give Alabama a 77-61 lead. Her ninth came with 13.2 seconds left — on just her 12th attempt.
Essence Cody added 16 points and nine rebounds, and Zaay Green scored 15 for Alabama.
Liv McGill scored 22 points, reaching 20-plus for the 10th time in her career, for Florida (12-12, 3-7). Ra Shaya Kyle added 15 points and Laila Reynolds scored 14.