Maryland starts tough stretch by handing Baylor its first loss

NO. 3 MARYLAND 79,

NO. 6 BAYLOR 76

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Coach Brenda Frese figured her team would be healthier entering this exciting stretch of nonconference challenges.

No. 3 Maryland isn’t at full strength yet, but the Terrapins passed their first big test anyway.

Ashley Owusu scored 24 points and Maryland handed No. 6 Baylor its first loss of the post-Kim Mulkey era, 79-76 on Sunday. This was the start of a stretch in which the Terrapins face Baylor, No. 5 North Carolina State and No. 7 Stanford in the span of a week.

They also take on No. 1 South Carolina next month.

“I felt like, with everyone coming back this year, I didn’t want to be surprised in March, and it felt like a little bit that we needed better competition to prepare us,” Frese said. “I didn’t think we’d be so shorthanded in these games.”

The Terrapins (6-0) won this game without guard Katie Benzan, who was out with an illness. Guard Diamond Miller has been working through knee problems and played only 10 1/2 minutes.

Two Maryland players went the full 40 minutes, and two others played over 39.

“It just says that we’ve got to be well conditioned and we can’t take plays off,” Owusu said. “We’ve got to play the same way from start to finish.”

The Terrapins led 76-65 before a furious Baylor rally nearly forced overtime. The Bears had the ball down by three, but Sarah Andrews missed a three-pointer in the final seconds.

“We got a great shot for a great shooter, who had made a couple in the game,” Baylor Coach Nicki Collen said.

This was the first significant test for the Bears (3-1) under Collen, who took over after Mulkey left for LSU. NaLyssa Smith had 30 points and 15 rebounds for Baylor, and Jordan Lewis added 29 points.

NO. 2 UCONN 60,

NO. 23 SOUTH FLORIDA 53

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Paige Bueckers had 21 points and seven assists to help Connecticut hold off South Florida in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.

Freshman Azzi Fudd added a season-high 18 points on six three-pointers for the Huskies (3-0), who had to fight to the final minutes to maintain a perfect mark against the Bulls (3-2). UConn squandered a 13-point second-quarter lead and an eight-point margin midway through the third, then found itself trailing in the final seconds of that quarter after giving up an 11-0 run.

Elena Tsineke scored 17 points to lead South Florida, which shot 37% but just 4 of 13 (31%) in the final quarter when the game hung in the balance. Bethy Mununga added 15 points and eight rebounds.

NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 80,

NO. 9 OREGON 63

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Zia Cooke scored 20 points and Laeticia Amihere added 18 to help South Carolina rout Oregon in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.

This was the first meeting between the Gamecocks (5-0) and the Ducks (3-1) since 2002.

Oregon came into the game shorthanded, with Ducks forward Nyara Sabally sitting out to rest her right knee, and sophomore guard Te-Hina Paopao, freshman guard Taylor Bigby and USC junior transfer Endyia Rogers because of injuries.

Chanaya Pinto scored 12 points to lead Oregon.

NO. 7 STANFORD 66,

GONZAGA 62

SPOKANE, Wash. — Hannah Jump and Francesca Belibi each scored 14 points for Stanford in its narrow win over Gonzaga.

Cameron Brink scored 12 points and Lexie Hull 11 for Stanford (3-1). Stanford leading scorer and rebounder Haley Jones, who had a triple-double in the previous game, did not play.

Melody Kempton scored 16 points for Gonzaga (3-1).

A late shooting slump doomed the Bulldogs in this game.

NO. 16 TENNESSEE 76,

NO. 12 TEXAS 70, OT

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jordan Horston scored 28 points with 15 rebounds, both career highs, and Tennessee made 6 of 8 free throws in overtime to defeat Texas.

Tamari Key scored 10 points, grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds and matched her career-high with 10 blocked shots for her second career triple- double and the fifth in school history. Alexus Dye and Jordan Walker both added 13 points for the Lady Vols (4-0), who got their second-consecutive win over a ranked opponent.

Mississippi State transfer Aliyah Matharu led the Longhorns ( 3- 1), who own a win at then No. 3 Stanford, with a career-high 27 points. Joanne Allen-Taylor added 11 points and Rori Harmon 10.

NO. 14 IOWA STATE 96,

SOUTHERN 55

AMES, Iowa — Aubrey Joens hit five three-pointers for the second consecutive game and increased her career best to 21 points to lead Iowa State over Southern.

Big sister Ashley Joens added 16 points, Lexie Donarski 15 and Nyamer Diew 13 off the bench for the Cyclones (4-0). Emily Ryan had a career high 13 assists and nine points.

Nakia Kincey paced the Jaguars (04) with 12 points. They went 4 of 17 behind the arc and shot 29% overall.

NO. 17 FLORIDA STATE 76,

GRAMBLING 53

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Morgan Jones scored a career-high 25 points and Valencia Myers added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Florida State in its win over Grambling.

Jones, a first-team All-ACC guard, made 8 of 12 field goal attempts and 9 of 14 free throws. She added 3 blocks, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. The Seminoles (4-0) also got 12 points from River Baldwin.

Alexus Holt finished with 13 points to lead Grambling (2-2).

AUBURN 59,

NO. 18 GEORGIA TECH 51

ATLANTA — Honesty Scott-Grayson scored 18, Aicha Coulibaly added 14 and Auburn used a big first half to topple Georgia Tech.

The Tigers (2-2) held Georgia Tech to 25% shooting in the first half while they shot 50% to build a 33-16 lead. After the Yellowjackets (4-1) cut 10 points off the deficit in the third quarter, Auburn steadied itself under first-year coach Johnnie Harris to defeat a ranked team on the road for the first time since Feb. 13, 2014.

Lotta-Maj Lahtinen scored 12 points and Nerea Hermosa 11 for Georgia Tech, which has never beaten Auburn.

Auburn was 5-19 last year and 0-15 in the SEC.

In other Top 25 women’s games Sunday, Rhyne Howard had 22 points with 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals as No. 19 Kentucky (3-1) bounced back from a loss at top 10 Indiana to defeat Winthrop ( 0- 4) 92- 47 in Lexington, Ky. ... Natalie Chou scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, IImar’I Thomas added 19 points and No. 20 UCLA (3-0) pulled away to beat Virginia (0-4) 69-57 in Los Angeles. ... Kirsten Deans scored 16 points and 10 of 11 West Virginia (3-0) players scored in the No. 22 Mountaineers’ 83-31 rout of Radford (1-3) in Morgantown, W.Va.