Morris, LSU pop visiting Tennessee
BATON ROUGE — Alexis Morris scored a career-high 31 points, stirring a raucous sellout crowd with a series of clutch transition layups in the fourth quarter, and third-ranked LSU remained unbeaten with a 76-68 victory over Tennessee on Monday night.
Angel Reese had 18 points and 17 rebounds for her program-record 21st straight double-double for LSU (21-0, 9-0 SEC). Reese highlighted her performance with a transition layup while being fouled during a decisive 11-0 run after the Lady Volunteers had pulled as close as 53-52 in the fourth quarter.
Jordan Walker scored 19 points and Rickea Jackson had added 17 for Tennessee (16-8, 8-1), which has lost two straight, albeit to teams both ranked in the top five.
Jordan Horston scored 11 for Tennessee, which nearly rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half before the Tigers’ final surge kept the Lady Vols at arm’s length in the final minutes.
LSU led by as many as nine in the first half after Last-Tear Poa’s three-pointer made it 32-23 late in the second quarter.
Tennessee closed to 34-31 after Jackson scored inside. But threes by Carson and Morris helped LSU start to pull away again. Morris’ free throws ignited an 8-0 run, capped by Reese’s driving layup that made it 48-34 in the middle of the third quarter.
Tennessee went more than four minutes without scoring before Jackson’s layup made it 48-36. Tennessee then began defending the entire length of the court and it had a disruptive effect on the Tigers, who did not hit a field goal for the last 5:45 of the third.
That allowed Tennessee to pull to 50-47 on Puckett’s three in the final minute of the period.
The Vols were as close as 53-52 after Jackson’s free throw, but Morris responded with a driving leaner while being fouled for a three-point play. Soon after, Reese converted a steal into a transition layup as she was fouled. Morris then scored twice more in transition, sending the crowd, and Coach Kim Mulkey, into a triumphant frenzy.
Tennessee shot 8 of 19 from three-point range to keep the game close, but did not match up well inside.
The Lady Vols continued to be a victim of their difficult schedule. They now have a half-dozen losses against ranked teams and most of those losing margins were single digits.
NO. 8 MARYLAND 87, PENN STATE 66
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Abby Meyers scored 24 points and Diamond Miller added 14 as No. 8 Maryland began a busy week with a rout of Penn State on Monday night.
The Terrapins (18-4, 9-2 Big Ten) face No. 6 Iowa on Thursday and No. 10 Ohio State on Sunday, but they made short work of the Lady Lions (12-10, 3-8), holding them to 18 points in the first half.
Maryland closed the opening quarter with a 20-2 run and made its final nine shots of the period. The Terps have won 11 of 12.
Maryland, which trails Big Ten-leading Indiana by a game in the loss column, led 9-7 before blitzing Penn State over the latter half of the first quarter. Meyers and Miller scored six points each during the run, and the Terps were up 29-9 after one.
Makenna Marisa scored 23 points for Penn State, which has dropped five of six.