No. 1 UConn rolls on at Central Florida, now 23-0
ORLANDO, FLA. » Katie Lou Samuelson scored 19 points and Azura Stevens added 12 to help No. 1 UConn beat University of Central Florida 55-37 on Wednesday night.
It was the lowest scoring effort of the season for the Huskies (230, 11-0 American), who came into the game averaging an NCAA best 93.1 points.
Napheesa Collier had 11 points and had 12 rebounds for the Huskies, who led by 17 at the end of the first quarter and were never seriously challenged the rest of the game.
Zakiya Saunders led UCF with 13 points and Korneila Wright added 12 for the Knights (16-8, 8-3), who outscored UConn 17-7 in the final period, but didn’t get double figure scoring in any other period. NO. 4 LOUISVILLE 65, CLEMSON 46 » Asia Durr scored 15 points to lead Louisville, which survived a sluggish start, to a win over Clemson.
The Cardinals (25-1, 11-1 ACC) held the Tigers without a field goal for the final 8:36 of the first half. However, even with that Clemson (11-14, 1-11) still managed to take a 19-18 lead with 4:41 left in the second quarter after Alexis Carter sank two free throws.
Arica Carter responded with a jumper on Louisville’s ensuing possession to give the Cardinals the lead for good. That shot spurred a 14-2 run to end the half.
The Cardinals did get a scare late as Durr was knocked down on a foul by Aliyah Collier with 4:42 left. She eventually walked off the floor and off the court, but she did return to the bench a short time later. NO. 19 DUKE 59, WAKE FOREST 51» Lexie Brown scored 21 points, six combing in the last 2½ minutes, and Duke turned back Wake Forest in the first game since injured starter Haley Gorecki was lost for the season.
Gorecki, a 6-foot sophomore guard, was sidelined with a left hip injury after playing just nine minutes in the Blue Devils’ last game and missing the game before that. She was averaging 17.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the 11 games since becoming a starter. Earlier in her career she missed a year-and-a-half with a right hip injury.
Wake Forest (11-13, 3-8 ACC) led 28-27 at the half as Elisa Penna had 15 of her 23 points. Brown’s 3-pointer started a 10-0 run that helped Duke (19-6, 8-4) to a 3936 lead heading into the fourth quarter. NO. 22 OKLAHOMA STATE 71, NO. 24 TCU 54 » Kaylee Jensen and Loryn Goodwin combined for 46 points and 29 rebounds and Oklahoma State pulled away from TCU.
The teams entered the game with identical 16-4 records and tied for third in the Big 12 at 7-4, each with two wins over ranked opponents.