Texas State women fall in Sun Belt final
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Peyton Mcdaniel made seven 3-pointers and scored 30 points, Kiki Jefferson added four 3s and 22 points and No. 1 seed James Madison beat second-seeded Texas State 81-51 on Monday for its first Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship.
It was James Madison's first title-game appearance since the 2016-17 team fell to Elon in the Colonial Athletic Association championship. The Dukes (26-7) will play in their first NCAA Tournament since 2016.
Mcdaniel was 5 of 5 from distance in the first half and Jefferson made another just before the halftime buzzer to give James Madison a 38-28 lead.
Jefferson made James Madison's 11th 3-pointer in 14 attempts midway through the fourth for a 76-46 lead.
The Dukes finished with a season-high 12 3s in 16 tries.
Da'nasia Hood, coming off a 30-point, 16rebound performance in the semifinals, was held to 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting for Texas State (23-9). Taelour Pruitt added 12 points and Kennedy Taylor scored 10.
Texas State had won five straight since a 58-54 loss to James Madison on Feb. 16. The Bobcats were playing in the championship game for the first time since 2018.
No. 18 A&M has poll’s biggest leap
Texas A&M was the week's biggest climber, leaping six spots to No. 18 in the Associated Press men's poll Monday after beating Alabama in its regular-season finale.
That's part of a strong finish under fourth-year coach Buzz Williams, with the Aggies going 17-3 since mid-december and losing just once since the start of February. Before this season, A&M hadn't been ranked since February 2018.
While Houston was No. 1 for a third straight week, UCLA rose two spots to No. 2 for their highest ranking of the season. UCLA (27-4) has won its last 10 games, including a showdown with Arizona in the regular-season finale behind Jamie Jaquez Jr. to complete a perfect home record.
“I will say this, the recipe for success in March usually — I mean, aside from talent — is a great point guard and some senior leadership, like a guy like Jaime Jaquez,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said afterward. “I mean, we've got a chance. But as you know, that tournament's crazy. It isn't ‘March Normal.' ”
Kelvin Sampson's Cougars remained firmly entrenched at the top in their third stint at No. 1 this season, earning 58 first-place votes with the other three going to UCLA.
Houston hadn't reached No. 1 before this season since 1983 during the “Phi Slama Jama” era, but the Cougars have now spent a total of seven weeks at the top to tie Purdue for the most of any team this season.
Houston (29-2) closed out its regular-season schedule by winning at Memphis on a last-second basket Sunday, marking its 11th straight win.
The only change in the top five came with UCLA trading places with No. 4 Alabama, with Kansas remaining at No. 3 despite a loss at Texas in Saturday's regular-season finale and the Boilermakers staying at fifth.
Marquette stayed at No. 6, followed by the Longhorns climbing two spots to No. 7. Arizona, Gonzaga and Baylor rounded out the top 10.
S. Carolina adds to historic run
South Carolina stands alone with the secondlongest streak atop the Associated Press Top 25 women's poll as the Gamecocks remained No. 1 for a 37th consecutive week.
The Gamecocks (32-0) won the Southeastern Conference tournament over the weekend to remain undefeated heading into the NCAA tourney. South Carolina, which received all 28 first-place votes from a national media panel Monday, broke a tie with Louisiana Tech for most consecutive weeks at No. 1. The defending national champions now trail only Uconn's run of 51 straight weeks atop the Top 25.
With the final poll of the season set to come out next week, the Gamecocks are poised to go wire-to-wire at No. 1 this year ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa moved up five spots to No. 2 after running through the Big Ten tournament.
The Hawkeyes routed Ohio State by 33 points in the title game Sunday behind another strong effort from Caitlin Clark, who had the third tripledouble in conference tournament history.
It is the Hawkeyes' best ranking since they had an eight-week run at No. 2 in 1994.