Cold-shooting UM women stumble against No. 9 Duke on the road
Reigan Richardson scored a season-high 14 points and No. 9 Duke turned in another strong defensive performance to beat visiting Miami 50-40 on Sunday.
The Blue Devils (22-3, 12-2) maintained their solo perch atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings and capped their first week in the top 10 of The AP Top 25 poll since 2017.
Duke led by double figures early in the second quarter and closed the first half with nine straight points to take a 19-point lead. Miami (16-9, 9-5) didn’t get the deficit into single digits until the final 35 seconds and finished nearly 30 points below its scoring average in league play (69.5).
Still, it wasn’t an easy finish for the Blue Devils, who went cold after Richardson’s straightaway midrange jumper for a 49-34 lead with 7:27 left. Duke didn’t manage another field goal the rest of the way and shot 37% for the game.
Duke came in ranked second behind only topranked South Carolina in scoring defense (50.7) and seventh nationally in fieldgoal percentage defense by holding opponents to 34.4%. The Hurricanes shot 31.8% for the game, while the Blue Devils converted 15 turnovers into 15 points.
Jasmyne Roberts scored 12 points to lead the Hurricanes, who have put themselves in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid. But Miami couldn’t get anything going early, managing more turnovers (eight) than field goals (five) with nothing coming easily in the first half.
The Hurricanes entered having won three straight and nine of 11 dating to the start of January, which had allowed them to dig out from a 7-6 start. Miami’s 5-for-21 shooting in the opening half was too much to overcome.
The Hurricanes also managed just four threes after hitting 11 in Thursday’s win against Florida State.
TOP 10 WOMEN
No. 1 South Carolina, ●
88, No. 3 LSU 64: Kamilla Cardoso had 18 points and 13 rebounds, Zia Cooke scored 17 and host South Carolina beat LSU in a showdown of the last two unbeaten teams.
Aliyah Boston finished with 14 points and nine boards to help the Gamecocks win their 31st straight game.
The game, billed as a showcase between reigning AP player of the year Boston and Angel Reese, quickly become a highlight reel of South Carolina’s experience, talent and depth. The Gamecocks (25-0. 12-0 SEC) ran out to an 18-2 lead as they ended the record start of LSU (23-1, 11-1).
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Diamond Miller scored 31 points, and Maryland rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit to
No. 8 Maryland 82, Illinois 71:
beat Illinois. Abby Meyers scored 14 of her 18 points in the third quarter for the Terrapins, who improved to 13-0 all-time against the Illini.
This victory was in doubt for a while, though. Maryland missed all 17 of its three-point attempts but was able to rally thanks to its tenacious pressure defense.
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No. 6 Stanford 96, Arizona 64:
Agnes EmmaNnopu had 17 points and Cameron Brink had 15 points and eight rebounds despite playing only 12 minutes to help Stanford to a lopsided victory over Arizona State in a Pac-12 game. The Cardinal (24-3, 12-2 Pac-12) were 12 of 23 from distance, with nine makes in the first half. Guard Tyi Skinner had 23 points for the Sun Devils (7-16, 0-14), who have lost 14 in a row.
TOP 25 MEN Northwestern 64, No. ● 1 Purdue 58:
Boo Buie scored 26 points, Chase Audige had 15 and host Northwestern beat Purdue. Led by its experienced backcourt, Northwestern added a signature win to its bid for the school’s second NCAA Tournament appearance. The Wildcats got their first win in 19 games against the No. 1 team in the AP poll. Zach Edey had 24 points and eight rebounds for Purdue, which had won 11 in a row against Northwestern. Braden Smith finished with 10 points on 1-for-7 shooting.