Ronsiek, Creighton upend DePaul
Creighton 83, No. 19 DePaul 72: Emma Ronsiek scored 27 points, Temi Carda added 18 and eight assists and Creighton (7-8, 6-5 Big East) became the first unraked team to beat DePaul (13-5, 10-3) this year, winning Saturday in Chicago.
Ronsiek was 9-for-12 shooting and Carda, one of the few players to wear a mask while playing, was 6 of 9 as the Bluejays went 29 of 50, including 8 of 15 from 3-point range For good measure they made their first 16 free throws, going 17 of 18.
Carly Bachelor added 13 points for Creighton, which has won three straight and beat a ranked team for the first team since winning at DePaul last season. Payton Brotzki scored 11 points and Morgan Maly 10 with nine rebounds.
Lexi Held and Sonya Morris scored 17 points apiece and Jorie Allen had 16 with seven rebounds for the Blue Demons, who had their four-game winning streak end.
Their other losses were to current top five teams Texas A&M, Louisville and UConn twice.
No. 1 UConn 83, Xavier 32: Christyn Williams scored 22 points and Connecticut (18-1, 15-0 Big East) breezed in its first visit to Xavier (4-7, 1-6) for its eighth straight win.
High-scoring Paige Bueckers and Olivia Nelson-Odoba each added 11 points for the Huskies.
UConn led 42-13 at halftime and Bueckers didn’t score after the break. She had seven assists.
Aaliyah Edwards had 16 points for the Huskies, whose only loss was to thenNo. 19 Arkansas 90-87 on Jan. 28.
No. 9 Maryland 94, Minnesota 62: Ashley Owusu scored 24 points and host Maryland (16-2, 12-1 Big Ten) completed a season sweep of Minnesota (711, 6-10).
Diamond Miller added 20 points with three steals and Katie Benzan finished with 17 points for the Terrapins, who have won five consecutive games by an average of 35 points.
Maryland stifled Minnesota with its pressure scored 23 points off 13 turnovers.
Kadi Sissoko led Minnesota with 16 points and seven rebounds. Sissoko has scored in double figures 12 times this season.
No. 12 South Florida 78, Tulane 69: Bethy Mununga scored 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and South Florida pulled away from Tulane.
Sydni Harvey scored 16 points and Elena Tsineke 13 for South Florida. The Bulls have won three straight following a stretch of seven postponements and one cancellation due to COVID-19 protocols.
Arsula Clark made a pair of free throws to bring the Green Wave within 69-65 with 2:48 left. But Harvey sank a pair of foul shots and Elisa Pinzan and Mununga made layups in consecutive possessions and the Bulls (13-1, 10-0 American Athletic Conference) were never threatened again.
No. 16 Gonzaga 69, San Diego 47: Jill Townsend scored 16 points, Kayleigh Truong added 13 and Gonzaga (19-3, 14-1 West Coast Conference) bounced back after its first loss in more than two months with a win at San Diego (12-6, 9-4).
Townsend scored just three points in a 61-56 loss to BYU on Thursday but had 12 points in the first quarter when the Bulldogs raced to a 23-10 lead, showing no ill effects from having their 17-game winning streak end.
Against the third-place Toreros, who only played three games in January, including a 58-56 win over BYU because of coronavirus issues, Gonzaga hit 10 of 17 shots shots in the first quarter, including three 3s.
San Diego only had a brief 47 seconds in the third quarter trailing by less than double digits.
No. 19 West Virginia 81, TCU 78: Esmery Martinez scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and host West Virginia (17-3, 11-3 Big 12) overcame a 38point performance by Lauren Heard and held on to defeat TCU (8-11, 3-11).
Heard, whose previous career high was 34 when West Virginia won the first meeting 79-70, kept the Horned Frogs in the game but after Kirsten Deans made 1 of 2 free throws with 11 seconds left, TCU couldn’t get off a potential tying shot.
Deans scored 15 points and Kysre Gondrezick, who had 30 in the last meeting, added 14 for the Mountaineers, who were coming off a loss to Oklahoma that ended their 11-game winning streak.
Heard was 12 of 20 from the field, making 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
No. 23 South Dakota State 69, North Dakota State 60: Tylee Irwin scored a career-high 31 points to help shorthanded South Dakota State complete the road sweep of North Dakota State.
Irwin passed the 1,000-point milestone on a 3-pointer with 7:59 left in the fourth quarter and set a career high for the second straight night. She scored 25 for South Dakota State (19-2, 12-0 Summit League) in Friday night’s 86-78 win over the Bison (14-6, 9-5).
Irwin made 11 of 15 from the field, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and made all five foul shots. Her boost in production came in the absence of Jackrabbits leading scorer Myah Selland (19.2 ppg) and fellow starter Tori Nelson (9.4).
No. 24 Northwestern 67, Wisconsin 54: Sydney Wood and Lindsey Pulliam scored 14 points each and host Northwestern (12-5, 10-5 Big Ten) snapped a two-game skid with a win over Wisconsin (5-15, 2-15).
Veronica Burton was only 1-of-8 shooting but made all 10 of her free throws and scored 13 points with nine assists for the Wildcats.
Sydney Hilliard scored 15 points with five assists for the Badgers. Imani Lewis, coming off a pair of 27-point games that included double-digit rebounds, finished with 11 points and eight boards.
No. 25 Missouri State 75, Bradley 52: Brice Calip scored 17 points, Abby Hipp had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Missouri State beat Bradley for its 11th straight win.
Sydney Wilson added 13 points and Jasmine Franklin had 10 for Missouri State (15-2, 11-0 Missouri Valley Conference), which is off to its best MVC start since going 11-0 in 2004. The Bears had a 12-0 conference start in 1996.
Gabi Haack scored 24 points to lead Bradley (12-10, 8-7).