UA women win
Amber Ramirez scored 22 points as the No. 25 Arkansas women’s basketball team defeated Alabama 66-48 on Thursday night.
TOP 25 WOMEN NO. 25 ARKANSAS 66, ALABAMA 48
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Amber Ramirez scored 22 points, Alexis Tolefree added 17, and No. 25 Arkansas beat Alabama 66-48 on Thursday night.
Arkansas (17-4, 5-3 SEC) has won nine of its last 10 games against Alabama and won in Tuscaloosa for the eighth consecutive time.
The Razorbacks scored the final 12 points of the first quarter to open an eightpoint lead and outscored Alabama (12-9, 2-6) 18-4 in the second — the Crimson Tide’s lowest-scoring quarter of the season — to make it 33-11 at halftime.
De’Sha Benjamin led Alabama with 10 points while Jasmine Walker collected a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with her eight points.
The Crimson Tide took a 7-3 lead when Jordan Lewis hit a three-pointer with 6:19 left in the first quarter but went scoreless over the next seven minutes, 43 seconds and went nearly 131/2 minutes until its next field goal. They missed 18 consecutive, and 28 of their next 29, shots as Arkansas built a 26-point lead.
Although beaten on the boards 47-42, Arkansas came up with 12 steals while Alabama managed only one.
The Crimson Tide were guilty of 21 turnovers and made 17 of 56 (30.4 %) of their shots from the floor. Arkansas made only 11 turnovers while shooting 21 of 64 (32.8 %) from the floor.
Tolefree led the Razorbacks in rebounding with seven while Makayla Daniels handed out a game-high four assists.
In other women’s games involving Top 25 teams, Leticia Amihere scored 16 points and No. 1 South Carolina held Mississippi scoreless in the first quarter and limited Ole Miss to two points in the first half on the way to an 87-32 win in Oxford, Miss. The Gamecocks (20-1, 8-0 SEC) led 18-0 after one quarter and scored 27 unanswered points before Mississippi (7-14, 0-7) got its first basket. South Carolina led 32-2 at the break. Mikiah Herbert Harrigan scored eight points, blocked two shots and added a steal in the early decisive surge as the Lady Rebels missed 19 consecutive shots and had 16 turnovers. … Freshman Rickea Jackson scored 18 of her season-high 22 points in the second half and No. 9 Mississippi State rallied to beat Auburn 78-73 in Starkville, Miss. Jackson made 10 of 14 shots from the field for the Bulldogs (19-3, 7-1 SEC), who trailed 40-33 at halftime. Jordan Danberry (Conway) scored 13 points for Mississippi State. … Amanda Paschal stepped in for injured star Rhyne Howard and scored a career-high 18 points to lead No. 13 Kentucky over Missouri 62-47 in Columbia, Mo. Howard, who leads the SEC and is third in the country in scoring at 23.2 points a game, will be out until mid-February with a broken pinky finger on her left hand. She was injured in the third quarter of Monday’s win over Auburn. Chasity Patterson scored 12 points and Blair Green had 11 for Kentucky (17-3, 6-2), which went 4 of 16 from threepoint range but shot 45.5% overall. … N’dea Jones had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Aahliyah Jackson scored her only point with one second left and No. 15 Texas A&M edged Georgia 64-63 in College Station, Texas. After Jackson made 1 of 2 free throws, Gabby Connally threw in a three-pointer at the buzzer for the Bulldogs. A&M improved to 18-3 and 6-2. … Rennia Davis scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half and No. 22 Tennessee shook off Vanderbilt in the fourth quarter for a 78-69 victory in Nashville, Tenn. The Lady Vols (17-4, 7-1 SEC) have won six consecutive conference games. The Commodores (12-9, 2-6), who lost their fifth in a row, shot only 38% but stayed close initially with their defense, making 10 steals and scoring 15 points off turnovers in the first half. After committing 13 turnovers in the first half, the Lady Vols had only four in the second. Jazmine Massengill finished with 14 points and Jordan Horston and Burrell 11 each for Tennessee, which shot 52% from the field. … Crystal Dangerfield scored 24 points, Megan Walker added 21 points and 11 rebounds and No. 4 UConn beat Cincinnati 80-50 to win its 129th consecutive American Athletic Conference game. Olivia Nelson Ododa and Christyn Williams (Central Arkansas Christian) each chipped in with 12 points for the Huskies (19-1, 9-0 American), who led just 35-31 at halftime before pulling away in the second half. Williams also had three rebounds and two assists.