Baylor wins 55th straight Big 12 game

UConn women clinch 7th straight AAC title

WACO, Texas, Feb 23, (AP): NaLyssa Smith scored 22 points to lead five Baylor players in double figures and the No. 2 Lady Bears won their 55th consecutive Big 12 game, beating Oklahoma 101-69.

The defending national champions Lady Bears (25-1, 14-0 Big 12) moved within one win of their 10th consecutive regular-season conference title with four games left in the regular season.

Te’a Cooper added 16 points and 11 assists for the Lady Bears. Lauren Cox had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Juicy Landrum scored 14 points, and Moon Ursin had 10.

Gabby Gregory had 30 points with five 3-pointers to lead Oklahoma (1214, 5-9), which lost its fourth game in a row. Taylor Robertson had 16 points with four 3s, and Madi Williams 15 points.

UConn 66, UCF 53 In Storrs, Connecticut, Megan Walker scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead UConn to a win over UCF and the outright regular-season championship in the American Athletic Conference.

Anna Makurat added 17 points and Crystal Dangerfield had 12 of her 14 in the second half for the Huskies (233, and five assists and Northwestern won its seventh straight game, putting away Wisconsin in the fourth quarter.

Veronica Burton added 15 points with five rebounds and five assists for the Wildcats (24-3, 14-2 Big Ten Conference), who moved into a tie for first place with No. 7 Maryland with two games left in the regular season. The 24 wins are one shy of the school record by the 1978-79 team that went 25-4 and won the school’s lone Big Ten championship.

Abby Laszewski led the Badgers (1117, 3-14), who have lost six straight, with 14 points and Imani Lewis added 12 with 11 rebounds for her seven career double-double.

Iowa 100, Penn St 57 In Iowa City, Iowa, Monika Czinano scored 23 points, Kathleen Doyle added 18 with seven assists and five rebounds and Iowa rolled to a win over Penn State.

Makenzie Meyer and McKenna Warnock added 10 points apiece for the Hawkeyes (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten Conference), who enter the final weekend of the regular season a game behind No. 7 Maryland and No. 18 Northwestern.

Baylor guard Juicy Landrum (20) attempts to shoot over Oklahoma center Aspen Williston (31) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Feb 22 in Waco,

Texas. (AP)

Iowa, which reached 100 points for the fourth time this season and surpassed 90 for the third consecutive game, took care of the Nittany Lions (7-20, 1-15), who have lost 12 straight, quickly, en route to its 35th straight win at home.

S. Dakota 77, S. Dakota St 67 In Brookings, South Dakota, Chloe

Lamb scored 22 points, Madison McKeever added 19 and the two combined for 19 fourth-quarter points to help South Dakota fend off South Dakota State and claim the outright Summit League championship.

The Coyotes (26-2, 15-0) won their 15th straight game, all in conference play, but received a sterner test from the second-place Jackrabbits (20-9, 12-3) than in the 83-48 romp on Jan 19.

Leading by seven entering the final quarter, the Coyotes quickly expanded their margin to double figures and it remained that way until an 11-3 run got the Jackrabbits within seven with 2½ minutes to play. It was a six-point game with 45 seconds left but South Dakota made six straight free throws – four by McKeever – to ensure the win.

Indiana 75, Minnesota 69 In Minneapolis, Ali Patberg had a season-high 29 points, Grace Berger scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half, and Indiana beat Minnesota.

Berger made 9 of 12 from the field, grabbed nine rebounds and had five assists.

Sara Scalia hit a 3-pointer to give Minnesota (15-11, 5-11 Big Ten) a onepoint lead with 7:28 to play but Berger answered with back-to-back baskets and Brenna Wise added a layup and a 3-pointer before Berger made a jumper to cap a 11-3 spurt that made it 72-65 with two minutes to play.

Jasmine Powell led Minnesota with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The 5-foot-6 freshman has scored at least 20 points in four of the last five games.

The Golden Gophers have lost four in a row.

Princeton 87, Dartmouth 55 In Princeton, New Jersey, Bella Alarie scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Princeton won its 17th straight game, beating Dartmouth.

Grace Stone added 16 points and Abby Meyers had 10 for the Tigers (212, 9-0 Ivy League), who had 12 of 13 players score. Alarie earned her 39th career double-double.

Princeton led only 34-32 at the half but busted out in the third quarter with a 27-4 run behind Alarie’s 14 points and nine from Stone. The Tigers hit all four 3s and went 9 of 12, as well as 5 of 5 from the foul line. Dartmouth was 2 of 11 with four turnovers in that stretch. Later in the third, Alarie’s triple, which capped a 16-0 run, made it 61-36 with 2-1/2 minutes to go.

Anna Luce and Asha Taylor had 10 points each for Dartmouth (8-15, 2-8), which lost the first meeting 66-34.