Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
LSU reaches overtime, rallies to down Georgia
TOP 25 WOMEN
NO. 3 LSU 82, GEORGIA 77, OT
BATON ROUGE — Angel Reese had 23 points and 14 rebounds and No. 3 LSU narrowly remained unbeaten with an 82-77 victory over Georgia in overtime Thursday night.
Alexis Morris highlighted her 15-point night with a three-pointer from the right corner in the final minute of the extra period to give LSU (22-0, 10-0) a 77-74 lead, and the Tigers held on from there.
Diamond Battles scored 22 points for Georgia (15-9, 4-6), which had a chance to pull within a point when De’Mauri Flournoy was fouled behind the three-point line with 8 seconds left. But Flournoy made just one free throw.
Morris rebounded Flournoy’s last miss and then hit two free throws for the final margin.
Reese grabbed 11 of her rebounds on the offensive end, helping LSU score 20 vital second-chance points.
Sa’Myah Smith and LaDazhia Williams each scored 10 points for LSU, which rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Brittney Smith scored 13 points, Javyn Nicholson 12 and Alisha Lewis 11 for Georgia, which held the Tigers to their second-lowest regulation point total this season.
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 87, KENTUCKY 69
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Aliyah Boston had 14 points and 14 rebounds as No. 1 South Carolina won its 28th consecutive game with a victory over Kentucky.
The Gamecocks (10-0) stayed perfect at 22-0 and now head for an NCAA Tournament title game rematch at No. 5 UConn on Sunday.
Things weren’t perfect for South Carolina, which fell behind early, then had its 15-point halftime lead cut to 54-48 midway through the third quarter.
Still, its dominant inside game — South Carolina outscored the Wildcats 62-14 in the paint — was more than enough to shut down Kentucky (10-12, 2-8).
Robyn Benton had 24 points to lead Kentucky.
NO. 9 NOTRE DAME 72, BOSTON COLLEGE 59
BOSTON — Olivia Miles scored 22 points with 10 assists and 8 rebounds, combining with Sonia Citron to score 14 consecutive points in the fourth quarter when No. 9 Notre Dame pulled away from Boston College.
Citron finished with 23 points to help the Irish (18-2, 9-1) bounce back from their first league loss of the season, a 69-65 defeat at North Carolina State on Sunday.
Maria Gakdeng scored 16 points, T’Yana Todd had 13 and Andrea Daly scored 10 with eight rebounds for BC (14-11, 4-8).
NO. 11 NORTH CAROLINA 73, VIRGINIA 62
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Freshman Kayla McPherson came off the bench to score 14 points and No. 11 North Carolina cruised to a victory over Virginia.
McPherson has played just two games in the last 800 days. She had a knee injury that sidelined her for her senior year of high school and a different lower-body injury that kept her out of the Tar Heels’ first 20 games this season. It didn’t show against Virginia.
McPherson connected on 6 of 10 shots with two three-pointers and added four assists for the Tar Heels (17-5, 8-3).
Deja Kelly finished with 13 points and five rebounds for North Carolina.
London Clarkson scored 23 points off the bench to lead the Cavaliers (14-9, 3-9).
NO. 13 VIRGINIA TECH 78, SYRACUSE 64
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Elizabeth Kitley had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks, Cayla King scored 19 points with five three-pointers and No. 13 Virginia Tech beat Syracuse.
Kitley missed her first four shots and went scoreless in the first quarter before making all four shots in the second quarter to finish with eight points at the break. King reached 200 career three-pointers.
Georgia Amoore added 15 points and Taylor Soule scored 12 for Virginia Tech (18-4, 8-4).
GEORGIA TECH 68, NO. 15 N.C. STATE 62
ATLANTA — Tonie Morgan tied her career-high with 17 points and contributed two of the six free throws Georgia Tech made in the last 30 seconds to secure a win over No. 15 North Carolina State.
The Yellow Jackets took a 56-53 lead on Kayla Blackshear’s three-point play with 5:03 to go and then Nerea Hermosa scored the next three Tech baskets on Morgan assists.
The Wolfpack missed a tying three-pointer with a minute to play and Hermosa turned an offensive rebound into two free throws for a 65-60 lead with 29.3 seconds to play. N.C. State had turnovers on its next two possessions, which led to three more free throws. Morgan made it 68-60 with 15.6 remaining.
Hermosa had 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Yellow Jackets (12-10, 3-8).
Diamond Johnson scored 17 points for the Wolfpack (16-6, 6-5).
NO. 16 DUKE 53, PITT 44
DURHAM, N. C. — Shayeann Day- Wilson and Celeste Taylor each scored 13 points and No. 16 Duke beat Pittsburgh.
Taylor scored nine of her points in the fourth quarter to help Duke pull away. Pittsburgh was within 35-32 with 1:47 left in the third quarter. But the Panthers missed their next 11 field goals attempts before a make with 3:26 remaining in the game.
Elizabeth Balogun added nine points and Kennedy Brown grabbed nine rebounds for Duke (19-3, 9-2).
Emy Hayford, averaging 1.8 points per game, scored 12 points for Pittsburgh (7-15, 0-11).
NO. 18 MICHIGAN 74, ILLINOIS 57
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Leigha Brown scored 27 points to propel No. 18 Michigan to a victory over Illinois.
Brown sank 10 of 13 shots from the floor and all seven of her free throws for the Wolverines (18-5, 8-4).
Kendall Bostic and Genesis Bryant both had 18 points to pace the Fighting Illini (17-6, 7-5).
NO. 23 FLORIDA STATE 72, WAKE FOREST 44
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Ta’Niya Latson scored 19 points, Makayla Timpson added 16 points and No. 23 Florida State eased by Wake Forest.
Florida State pulled away in the second quarter by outscoring Wake Forest 21-4.
Valencia Myers added 12 points in 17 minutes for Florida State (20-5, 9-3).