Longhorns stay on top of Big 12 standings

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NO. 24 TEXAS 69,

WEST VIRGINIA 56

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Sonya Morris scored 17 points, Rori Harmon scored nine of her 14 in the fourth quarter and No. 24 Texas turned back West Virginia 69-56 on Wednesday night to stay on top of the Big 12 Conference standings.

The Longhorns led from the start, running their stretch without trailing to 143 minutes, but it wasn’t until Harmon scored Texas’ last seven points over 21/ minutes that the win was secured. The final margin matched the largest of the game.

With No. 12 Iowa State losing at Kansas State, Texas is alone at the top of the Big 12.

Taylor Jones had 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting for Texas (17-6, 8-2), which held its seven opponents below 60 points. Shaylee Gonzales added 11 points. Harmon had 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. Deyona Gaston had eight points and nine rebounds. The Longhorns had a 3925 rebounding average and held West Virginia to 3 of 18 behind the arc.

Sarah Bates had 12 points off the bench for the Mountaineers (14-6, 5-4).

Gaston opened the game with a three-point play and after a West Virginia basket the Longhorns ran off 10 consecutive points, the last four by Jones. But the Mountaineers scored the last six to trail 19-14 after one quarter.

West Virginia scored the last eight points of the third quarter to trail 48- 45. The Longhorns led by 13 in the middle of the quarter.

NO. 5 UCONN 64, PROVIDENCE 54

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Dorka Juhasz had 19 points and 17 rebounds and Nika Muhl added 14 points as No. 5 UConn held off Providence.

Lou Lopez Senechal and Aubrey Griffin each finished with 13 points as the Huskies registered their 14th consecutive win. The quest for the 15th consecutive win will feature a rematch of last year’s National Championship as UConn squares off against top-ranked South Carolina on Sunday.

The Huskies (21-2, 13-0) shot 51% and held the Friars to 36%. UConn committed 20 turnovers, many of which helped Providence ( 13- 11, 4-9) stay in the picture. Olivia Olsen led Providence with 13 points while Janai Crooms and Nariah Scott each had 11 points.

The Huskies shot 69% in the first quarter in building a 20-14 lead that likely would have been greater had UConn not turned the ball over six times. There were more turnover issues in the second quarter, yet UConn carried a 37-26 lead into halftime with Juhasz and Muhl each netting 11 points.

UConn appeared on the verge of seizing control after a layup from Lopez Senechal made it 45-30, but the underdog Friars made it interesting. Five consecutive points from Scott, a reserve guard, capped off a 9- 0 run that forced UConn to call timeout with 1:23 left in the third quarter after Providence pulled to within six (45-39).

NO. 10 OHIO STATE 90, WISCONSIN 67

MADISON, Wis. — Taylor Thierry scored a career- high 25 points and Taylor Mikesell added 21 to help No. 10 Ohio State beat Wisconsin, snapping the Buckeyes’ three-game losing skid.

Thierry also had seven rebounds for Ohio State (20-3, 9-3), which started the season with 19 consecutive wins before losing three in a row.

Serah Williams scored 23 points and Avery LaBarbera added 17 for Wisconsin (7-16, 2-9), which has lost five of its last six games.

Ohio State scored 12 points off Wisconsin turnovers to take a 45-34 halftime lead. The Buckeyes finished with 24 points off Badgers’ miscues in the game.

But no lead was safe early in the second half for Ohio State.

The Buckeyes missed their first three shot attempts in the third quarter as Wisconsin used an 11-5 spurt to trim Ohio State’s lead to 50-49.

Badgers reserve Brooke Schramek capped the run with a three-pointer. Cotie McMahon wouldn’t let the Buckeyes lose, scoring 15 of her 19 points in the second half.

NO. 19 VILLANOVA 73, MARQUETTE 54

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Maddy Siegrist had 24 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks, Lucy Olsen added 16 points, 6 assists and 4 steals and No. 19 Villanova pulled away in the second quarter to beat Marquette.

Siegrist scored 10 points during an 18-0 second-quarter run that put Villanova ahead 31- 15. Marquette missed 13 consecutive shots during the seven-minute stretch.

Siegrist was scoreless in the first quarter but ended the half with 14 points and the Wildcats led 37- 17 as Marquette was just 7 of 33 (21%) from the floor. The Golden Eagles finished the game 19 of 61 (31%) with 15 turnovers.