Shepard, No. 2 Notre Dame bounce back with rout of BC
SOUTH BEND, IND. » Jessica Shepard scored 24 points in 22 minutes Sunday as No. 2 Notre Dame bounced back from its most lopsided loss in 16 seasons, routing Boston College 89-60.
Coming off a 33-point defeat at No. 3 Louisville, the Irish ran out to a 9-0 start against the young and overmatched Eagles. NO. 4 MISSISSIPPI STATE 75, ALABAMA 61 » Victoria Vivians scored 21 points, Teaira McCowan added 19 and Mississippi State beat Alabama.
Mississippi State (19-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) earned its 11th straight win by double digits and now gets a week of rest to prepare for a showdown at No. 6 Tennessee next weekend. NO. 5 BAYLOR 74, OKLAHOMA 52» Dekeiya Cohen scored 16 points to lead Baylor past Oklahoma.
Baylor rolled despite getting just nine points from leading scorer Kalani Brown. The 6-foot-7 junior, who entered averaging 21.5 points per game, played just 15 minutes because of foul trouble. NO. 6 TENNESSEE 86, NO. 9 SOUTH CAROLINA 70 » Jaime Nared scored 19 points as Tennessee bounced back from its first loss of the season and beat South Carolina, which played without injured All-American A’ja Wilson.
The Lady Vols (16-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) lost in overtime, 79-76, at Texas A&M on Thursday night. But with the 6-foot-5 Wilson sidelined with a right ankle sprain for the Gamecocks (143, 3-2), Tennessee took advantage of the middle, with Nared and Mercedes Russell helping build an 18-point lead late in the third quarter. NO. 8 OREGON 74, NO. 18 ARIZONA STATE 64 » Sabrina Ionescu scored 26 points and Ruthy Hebard added 20 to lead Oregon past Arizona State.
Maite Cazorla had 15 points and Satou Sabally scored 10 for the Ducks (172, 6-0 Pac-12), who won their ninth consecutive game and snapped a four-game losing streak against the Sun Devils (13-5, 4-2). NO. 13 FLORIDA STATE 107, VIRGINIA TECH 62 » Shakayla Thomas scored 21 points, Ama Degbeon had a doubledouble and Florida State tied a school record in its rout of Virginia Tech.
Degbeon had 10 points and 13 rebounds for her third career double-double and seven players scored in double figures as the Seminoles (162, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) tied the 1990-91 team with their fifth 100-point game of the season. NO. 14 UCLA 93, COLORADO 55 » Japreece Dean sank five 3-pointers and got a career-high 21 points to propel UCLA over Colorado.
The Bruins (13-4, 4-2 Pac12) took control early, opening the game with a deep 3-pointer from Kelli Hayes to spark a 16-0 run for their best start in a game this season. Colorado (11-6, 2-4) was held to just nine points in the opening quarter, all coming in the final 4:14. NO. 16 DUKE 55, VIRGINIA 48 » Lexie Brown, held scoreless in the first half, had nine of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and Duke ended Virginia’s eight-game winning streak.
After missing all seven of her shots before halftime, Brown made all the plays down the stretch to help the Blue Devils (14-4, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) improve to 11-0 home and knock the Cavaliers (12-7, 5-1) out of a firstplace tie. GEORGIA 92, NO. 17 TEXAS A&M 84, OT » Freshman Gabby Connally returned to her home state and scored 37 points, 15 in overtime, to lead Georgia past Texas A&M.
Connally, from San Antonio, came in averaging 8.8 points per game but against the Aggies made 10 of 17 shots, including four 3-pointers, plus 13 of 14 free throws. NO. 22 OREGON STATE 88, ARIZONA 48 » Kat Tudor scored 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range, and Oregon State rolled past Arizona.
Marie Gulich and Taya Corosdale added 13 points apiece for the Beavers (13-4, 4-2 Pac-12 Conference) and Mikayla Pivec had 10 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Gulich and McWilliams, who had six assists, both had 10 rebounds as Oregon State had a 49-22 rebounding advantage.