No. 2 UConn holds off No. 23 USF
No. 2 UConn 60, No. 23 South Florida 53: Paige Bueckers had 21 points and seven assists to help Connecticut (3-0) hold off South Florida (3-2) in Sunday’s semifinals of the inaugural women’s Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Freshman Azzi Fudd added a seasonhigh 18 points on six 3-pointers for the Huskies, who had to fight to the final minutes to maintain a perfect mark against the Bulls. UConn squandered a 13-point second-quarter lead and an eight-point margin midway through the third, then found itself trailing in the final seconds of that quarter after giving up an 11-0 run.
But Bueckers hit a contested turnaround 3-pointer from in front of the UConn bench to tie it at 45 at the end of the third.
No. 1 South Carolina 80, No. 9 Oregon 63: Zia Cooke scored 20 points and Laeticia Amihere added 18 to help South Carolina (5-0) rout Oregon (3-1) in the semifinals of the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis women’s tournament in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
South Carolina’s victory sets up a matchup Monday against No. 2 UConn for the tournament title Monday. The Huskies edged No. 23 South Florida in the other semifinal.
This was the first meeting between the Gamecocks and the Ducks since 2002. The two teams were favored to play for the national championship in 2020 before the NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Both are very different teams since then.
No. 3 Maryland 79, No. 6 Baylor 76: Ashley Owusu scored 24 points and host Maryland (6-0) handed Baylor (3-1) its first loss of the post-Kim Mulkey era.
The Terrapins led 76-65 before a furious Baylor rally nearly forced overtime. The Bears had the ball down by three, but Sarah Andrews missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
No. 7 Stanford 66, Gonzaga 62: Hannah Jump and Francesca Belibi each scored 14 points for Stanford (3-1) in a narrow win over host Gonzaga (3-1).
Cameron Brink scored 12 points and Lexie Hull 11 for the defending national champions, who lost at home to Texas a week ago and are now 3-1.
No. 16 Tennessee 76, No. 12 Texas 70 (OT): Jordan Horston scored 28 points with 15 rebounds, both career highs, Tamari Key had a triple-double and host Tennessee (4-0) made 6 of 8 free throws in overtime to defeat Texas (3-1).
Key scored 10 points, grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds and matched her career-high with 10 blocked shots for her second career triple-double and the fifth in school history. Alexus Dye and Jordan Walker both added 13 points for the Lady Vols, who got their second-straight win over a ranked opponent.
No. 14 Iowa State 96, Southern 55: Aubrey Joens hit 5 3-pointers for the second-straight game and increased her career best to 21 points to lead host Iowa State (4-0) to a win over Southern (0-4).
Big sister Ashley Joens added 16 points, Lexie Donarski 15 and Nyamer Diew 13 off the bench for the Cyclones. Emily Ryan had a career high 13 assists and nine points.
No. 17 Florida State 76, Grambling 53: Morgan Jones scored a career-high 25 points, Valencia Myers added 10 points and 10 rebounds, and host Florida State (4-0) defeated Grambling (2-2).
Jones, a first-team All-ACC guard, made 8 of 12 field goal attempts and 9 of 14 free throws. She added three blocks, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Auburn 59, No. 18 Georgia Tech 51: Honesty Scott-Grayson scored 18, Aicha Coulibaly added 14 and Auburn (2-2) used a big first half to upset host Georgia Tech (4-1).
The Tigers held Georgia Tech to 25% shooting in the first half while they shot 50% to build a 33-16 lead. After the Yellowjackets cut 10 points off the deficit in the third quarter, Auburn, which was 519 last year and 0-15 in the SEC, steadied itself under first-year coach Johnnie Harris to defeat a ranked team on the road for the first time since Feb. 13, 2014.
No. 19 Kentucky 92, Winthrop 47: Rhyne Howard had the third triple-double in Kentucky history to lead the host Wildcats (3-1) to a win over Winthrop (0-4).
Howard scored 22 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists – plus five steals – for the first UK triple-double since Makayla Epps (21-11-12) on Nov. 18, 2015, as the Wildcats bounced back from a loss at top 10 Indiana.
No. 22 West Virginia 83, Radford 31: Kirsten Deans scored 16 points, 10 of 11 West Virginia players scored and the host Mountaineers (3-0) routed Radford (1-3).
Esmery Martinez added 12 points, making five of seven shots, and added seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals in 15 minutes for the Mountaineers. A’riana Gray added 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Jasmine Carson also scored 11.