No. 1 South Carolina mauls Vandy for 19th straight win

UCLA rallies past Oregon State in OT

COLUMBIA, SC, Feb 18, (AP): Freshman Aliyah Boston had 12 points and 14 rebounds and No. 1 South Carolina used its relentless defense for a big run in the first quarter en route to its 19th straight win, 95-44 over Vanderbilt.

LeLe Grissett had 14 points to lead the Gamecocks (25-1, 12-0 Southeastern Conference). Tyasha Harris and Destanni Henderson each had 12 points to help South Carolina take control with a swarming defense that triggered its fastpaced attack.

It happened quickly. After the Commodores (13-12, 3-9) hit four shots in a row to draw

Mairella Fasoula had 11 points to lead Vanderbilt.

In Los Angeles, Charisma Osborne scored 22 points, including seven in overtime, and No. 8 UCLA rallied to beat 15th-ranked Oregon State 83-74.

Japreece Dean added 22 points and 12 assists and Michaela Onyenwere had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Bruins (22-3, 11-3 Pac-12). They overcame a 14-point deficit in the third quarter.

Mikayla Pivec had 19 points and nine rebounds before fouling out with 3:42 left in overtime for the Beavers (19-7, 7-7), who have dropped three in a row. Destiny Slocum also had 19 points but was held to three points in the five-minute extra session.

The Bruins never trailed in overtime, getting 3-pointers from Osborne and Dean. The Beavers were limited to two field goals and three free throws.

Dean’s jumper with 2 seconds remaining hit the glass and bounced away to force overtime.

The game was tied five times in the fourth, the last at 67-all on a basket by Maddie Washington.

Dean had a 3-pointer rim out on the previous possession for UCLA.

The Beavers built a 14-point lead – their largest of the game – with a 14-5 spurt to open the third. The Bruins answered with a 22-11 run, highlighted by two 3-pointers from Osborne and another from Dean, to trail 56-53 going into the fourth.

Slocum appeared to take an awkward turn and went down early in the second quarter with the Beavers trailing by four. She was helped off the court while not putting weight on her right foot.

Slocum returned with four minutes to play in the period and promptly hit a 3-pointer. She made another one to help the Beavers outscore the Bruins 17-10 in the quarter and lead 31-26 at halftime.

The Bruins were coming off an 80-66 loss to No. 3 Oregon on Friday and have not dropped consecutive games this season. Onyenwere’s streak of three straight games with 20 or more points ended.

Vanderbilt forward Mariella Fasoula (34) is fouled attempting a shot against South Carolina forward Laeticia Amihere (right), and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (left), during the first half of an NCAA college basketball

game on Feb 17 in Columbia, South Carolina. (AP)