UIW women rally to top SE Louisiana
Incarnate Word erased an eight-point deficit in the final minute, storming back to beat Southeastern Louisiana 53-51 on Thursday in the Mcdermott Center.
The Cardinals (18-9, 11-5 Southland) notched a sixth straight win, securing a top-four seed and a bye in the Southland Conference tournament by knocking off the league's second-place team.
UIW converted just two field goals through the first nine minutes of the final quarter, giving Southeastern Louisiana a 51-43 lead with a minute to play.
Nina De Leon Negron drew a foul and hit both free throws, and a foul was called on Southeastern Louisiana as the teams fought for positioning on a potential rebound. Destiny Terrell went to the line and made one of two to cut the margin to five points.
Southeastern Louisiana (17-10, 13-3) missed a pair of free throws, and De Leon Negron drew a foul after an offensive rebound and converted both, trimming the deficit to one possession at 51-48 with 30 seconds remaining.
Southeastern Louisiana missed another two free throws, and Aliyah Collins drove for a layup to put UIW within 51-50 with 22.8 seconds to play.
Jorja Elliott created a steal for the Cardinals on the ensuing inbounds pass, and De Leon Negron was fouled on a layup attempt, again hitting both free throws to put UIW ahead 52-51 with 8.4 seconds remaining.
Southeastern Louisiana had three shots for the win in the closing seconds but came up empty.
De Leon Negron scored 15 points with five rebounds and a teamhigh five assists, while Chloe Storer added 12 on 4-for-6 shooting. Terrell netted eight points and pulled in a game-high 13 rebounds.
Greg Luca
NO. 17 NOTRE DAME 71 NO. 5 VIRGINIA TECH 58
Freshman Hannah Hidalgo had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the host Fighting Irish (22-6, 12-5 Atlantic Coast) past the Hokies.
Virginia Tech (23-5, 14-3) had its 10-game winning streak snapped, but ended up claiming its first ACC regular-season championship outright as No. 12 North Carolina State defeated No. 19 Syracuse 75-71 in overtime on Thursday. The Hokies won the ACC Tournament crown last season and reached the Final Four.
NO. 7 USC 95 ARIZONA 93 (2 OT)
Kayla Padilla hit a tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation and made another key 3 in the second overtime to lift the host Trojans (22-5,12-5 Pac-12).
The Wildcats (16-13, 8-9 Pac-12) were blown out by USC less than a month ago, but used a big run to take a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 98 ARKANSAS 61
Ashlyn Watkins had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the visiting Gamecocks (28-0, 15-0 SEC) past the Razorbacks.
Arkansas (18-12, 6-9) was wholly ineffective offensively, missing its first eight shots from the floor in the quarter, seven of which came from 3point range, and committing five turnovers in those 10 minutes.
NO. 4 STANFORD 67 NO. 11 OREGON STATE 63
Cameron Brink had a career-high 23 rebounds and 25 points as the Cardinal (25-4, 14-3 Pac-12) claimed the conference regular-season title.
Brink, a 6-foot-4 senior forward, also had four assists and a blocked shot as Stanford (25-4, 14-3) beat Oregon State (22-6, 11-6) for the 14th straight time.
NO. 8 UCLA 70 ARIZONA STATE 41
Lauren Betts had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Kiki Rice added 14 points for the Bruins (23-5, 12-5 Pac-12).
NO. 9 LSU 80, GEORGIA 54
Angel Reese added another double-double to her season-long list with 17 points and 15 rebounds, and the visiting Tigers beat the Bulldogs for their seventh straight win.
LSU (25-4, 12-3 SEC) was dominant in the matchup of the league’s No. 1 and No. 14 scoring offenses. The Tigers, who average 88.5 points per game, stretched their lead to 20 points late in the first half over Georgia, which averages 64.3 points. Halley Van Lith sank four 3-pointers and led the Tigers, who clinched the No. 2 seed in the SEC, with 18 points.
Men
NO. 19 WASH. STATE 75 USC 72
Isaiah Watts and Andrej Jakimovski scored 18 points each, and Myles Rice added 16 to help the Cougars (22-7, 13-5 Pac-12) rally to the victory. Washington State trailed by 12 points late in the first half and didn’t take their first lead until 2:35 remaining on a 3-pointer from Watts, his fifth of the game.
NO. 17 SAINT MARY'S 83 PEPPERDINE 57
Augustas Marciulionis had 17 points and 11 assists, Luke Barrett added 14 points and the visiting Gaels won the West Coast Conference regular-season championship.
Saint Mary’s (24-6, 15-0) extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 games in wrapping up its first outright regular-season championship since 2012.
NO. 23 GONZAGA 86 SAN FRANCISCO 68
Graham Ike scored 26 points as the visiting Bulldogs clinched a bye into the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament.
Gonzaga (23-6, 13-2) won its 29th straight game against San Francisco (22-8, 11-4) to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament behind No. 17 Saint Mary’s. The top two teams get byes to the semifinals meaning Gonzaga will need to win only two games in Las Vegas to win the conference tournament and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.