Houston gets defensive in holding off Cincinnati
Stanford women crushed at home by No. 3 Oregon
HOUSTON — Houston coach Kelvin Sampson has made defense a big part of the Cougars’ DNA.
With No. 25 Cincinnati threatening an upset on Houston’s home court, the 12thranked Cougars clamped down completely.
Houston held Cincinnati scoreless over the final 6:11, staving off the Bearcats 65-58 on Sunday for a key American Athletic Conference win.
“That’s what coach preaches every day at practice,” DeJon Jarreau said. “We defend and rebound. We go at it, we compete. We try our best to carry it over to the game because that’s our culture. If you aren’t buying into our culture, you aren’t playing.”
Jarreau scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and added eight rebounds and five assists. He scored 11 consecutive points in the second half, including six straight to give Houston a 63-58 lead with 3 ½ minutes left.
“I just took what they gave me,” Jarreau said. “They were on our shooters, so that gave me a lane to go and make a play.”
Corey Davis Jr. also had 16 points. Davis and Jarreau each made free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal it for the Cougars (23-1, 10-1).
Top 25 Women
No. 2 LOUISVILLE 72, VIRGINIA TECH
63: In Blacksburg, Va., Asia Durr scored 34 points and Louisville overcame a near-collapse.
Sam Fuehring added 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Cardinals (23-1, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their ninth in a row. Fuehring made consecutive driving baskets in the final quarter after the Hokies had closed to within 62-56 with under four minutes to play, allowing Louisville to avoid an upset.
No. 3 OREGON 88, No. 11 STANFORD 48: In Stanford, Calif., Sabrina Ionescu had 27 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Oregon ran its NCAA-best winning streak to 16 games by running away from Stanford to snap a 29-game losing streak at Maples Pavilion.
Ionescu scored 17 of her points in the first half and made 12 of 20 shots as the Ducks (23-1, 12-0 Pac-12) ended Stanford’s 22-game home winning streak.
The loss was one of the worst in Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer’s 33 seasons at Stanford.
No. 4 NOTRE DAME 97, No. 24 FLORIDA STATE 70: In South Bend, Ind., Arike Ogunbowale scored 27 points and Jessica Shepard added 26 as Notre Dame (21-3, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) got its transition game going again to beat Florida State.
Ogunbowale moved closer to becoming the school’s leading scorer. She has 2,301 points. Skylar Diggers-Smith is the alltime leader at 2,357.
The Seminoles (20-4, 8-3) lost for the first time on the road this season.
No. 6 MISSISSIPPI STATE 91, TENNESSEE 63: In Starkville, Miss., Teaira McCowan had 24 points and 15 rebounds, Jordan Danberry added 20 points Mississippi State (22-1, 10-0 SEC( pulled away late to beat Tennessee.
No. 7 OREGON STATE 82, CALIFORNIA 74: In Berkeley, Calif., Destiny Slocum scored 26 points and Oregon State (20-4, 10-2 Pac-12) overcame an 11-point deficit to beat California.
No. 8 MARQUETTE 93, VILLANOVA 55: In Milwaukee, Natisha Hiedeman scored 22 points, Allazia Blockton had 19 and Marquette (21-3, 12-0 Big East) beat Villanova for its 12th consecutive victory.
No. 10 MARYLAND 62, No. 20 RUTGERS 48: In Piscataway, N.J., Kaila Charles scored 17 points and Maryland (22-2, 11-2 Big Ten) extended its lead in the Big Ten over Rutgers (17-6, 9-3).
No. 15 SYRACUSE 96, BOSTON COLLEGE 69: In Syracuse, N.Y., Miranda Drummond made 6 of 9 3-pointers and scored 24 points, and Syracuse (18-5, 7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat Boston College.
No. 16 IOWA 78, OHIO STATE 52: In Columbus, Ohio, Megan Gustafson had 19 of her 29 points in the second half as Iowa (19-5, 10-3 Big Ten) pulled away to beat Ohio State.
UCLA 100, No. 17 UTAH 90: In Salt Lake City, Kennedy Burke scored 26 points, Michaela Onyenwere added 25 points for the sophomore’s 11th 20-plus game of the season and UCLA (15-9, 8-4 Pac-12) upset Utah (18-5, 7-5) as the Bruins ran their winning streak in this series to 13 games.
No. 25 MIAMI 65, PITTSBURGH 51: In Pittsburgh, Beatrice Mompremier scored 23 points with 13 rebounds and Miami (21-5, 9-2) kept Pitt winless in the Atlantic Coast Conference.