Boston dominant for Gamecocks

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley wants to make sure people remember how special Aliyah Boston is. The Gamecocks’ All-American has done a pretty good job reminding them on her own this season.

Boston, the reigning AP Player of the Year, had 11 points and 10 rebounds for her 68th career double-double to keep No. 1 South Carolina undefeated with a 102-39 victory over Coastal Carolina on Wednesday. Boston, who played just 13 minutes, moved four games away from matching the program’s all-time mark for double-doubles held by Sheila Foster established four decades ago.

“She’s the best player in the country, let’s not forget that,” Staley said. “There are so many narratives starting to circulate. She’s the best player in the country, hands down.”

Boston is averaging close to a double-double — like her previous two seasons — with 12.5 points and 9.5 rebounds a game this season and accomplishing it in fewer minutes per game than her sophomore and junior seasons.

Ashlyn Watkins had 16 points and Zia Cooke 14 as the defending national champs improved to 12-0 for a second straight season and the fourth time in Staley’s 15 years as coach.

Arin Freeman scored 15 points to lead Coastal Carolina.

NO. 3 OHIO STATE 84, NO. 16 OREGON 67

SAN DIEGO — Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 27 points, Taylor Mikesell added 25 and No. 3 Ohio State trounced 16thranked Oregon to win the San Diego Invitational.

Ohio State (13-0) is off to its best start since 2011-2012, when the Buckeyes won their first 15 games

Oregon (10-2) was led by forward Grace VanSlooten, who scored 29 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

NO. 4 INDIANA 67, BUTLER 50

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Mackenzie Holmes scored 17 of her 21 points in the first half, and Indiana (12-0) defeated Butler (5-7).

Yarden Garzon added 13 points and Sydney Parrish 10 for the Hoosiers (12-0).

NO. 5 NOTRE DAME 85, WESTERN MICHIGAN 57

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Maddy Westbeld scored 10 points in four minutes and Notre Dame ( 10- 1) started the second half on a 17-0 spree to beat Western Michigan (5-6).

The Fighting Irish (10-1) led 38-30 at the half, but scored on seven of their first eight possessions during the third quarter with 3 three-pointers. Westbeld scored a season-high 23 points, including 15 in the third quarter, and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

NO. 8 VIRGINIA TECH 80, HIGH POINT 66

HIGH POINT, N.C. — Elizabeth Kitley scored 25 points and dished out a career-best seven assists as No. 8 Virginia Tech (11-1) captured a road victory over High Point (2-8).

The reigning ACC Player of the Year hit 11 of 14 shots, and had 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

NO. 9 UCONN 98, SETON HALL 73

STORRS, Conn. — Aaliyah Edwards had 23 points, leading six players who scored in double figures for UConn in its rout of Seton Hall.

Caroline Ducharme and Nika Muhl each had 16 points and were a combined 8 of 11 from three-point range. Lou Lopez Senechal had 14 points, Aubrey Griffin added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Dorka Juhasz had 10 points and 10 rebounds for UConn (92, 2-0 Big East).

Sidney Cooks had 18 points and Lauren Park-Lane finished with 17 for Seton Hall (9-4, 2-1).

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma missed his second straight game due to illness. Associate coach Chris Dailey ran the team and improved to 15-0 when filling in for Auriemma.

NO. 13 IOWA 92, DARTMOUTH 54

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Caitlin Clark’s 20 points tied her for the quickest men’s or women’s Division I player to reach 2,000 career points since at least 19992000, and Iowa (10-3) beat Dartmouth (2-11) for its fifth straight victory.

Clark hit the career scoring mark in her 75th game, tying Elena Delle Donne for the quickest DI player to hit the mark. She also had 10 rebounds and six assists.

NO. 15 MARYLAND 88, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 51

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Shyanne Sellers scored 18 points, Diamond Miller had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks as Maryland (10-3) beat Purdue Fort Wayne (4-8).

Abby Meyers added 14 points and Brinae Alexander had 13 off the bench for Maryland (10-3).

NO. 18 ARIZONA 78, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 59

ARLINGTON, Texas — Esmery Martinez had 13 points and 9 rebounds as No. 18 Arizona (10-1) beat Texas-Arlington (6-6).

NEBRASKA 85, NO. 20 KANSAS 79, 3OT

LINCOLN, Neb. —- Jaz Shelley scored 24 points, hitting two of Nebraska’s three 3-pointers in the third overtime, and the Cornhuskers (10-3) handed No. 20 Kansas (10-1).

NO. 24 BAYLOR 73, LONG BEACH STATE 52

WACO, Texas — Caitlin Bickle scored 17 points, Sarah Andrews missed a triple-double by one point and Baylor (93) beat Long Beach State (5-5).

Andrews had career highs of 14 assists and 12 rebounds to go with 9 points.

NO. 25 ST. JOHN’S 80, WAGNER 51

NEW YORK — Jayla Everett scored a season-high 24 points to lead St. John’s (12-0) over Wagner (5-6) and its best start in program history.