2nd-ranked Gonzaga rips Pepperdine
No. 4 Louisville women easily defeat Virginia
SPOKANE, Wash. — Rui Hachimura scored 23 points as No. 2 Gonzaga beat Pepperdine 92-64 on Thursday night, keeping the door open to a possible No. 1 ranking next week.
Zach Norvell Jr. added 21 and Brandon Clarke had 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for Gonzaga (26-2, 13-0), which won its 17th consecutive game, the longest streak in the nation.
Darnell Dunn scored 16 and Jade Smith had 13 for Pepperdine (12-16, 5-9), which lost to the Zags for the 36th consecutive time dating to 2002.
Gonzaga shot 63 percent while holding Pepperdine to 39 percent to coast to victory.
Gonzaga opened the second half with a 15-2 run to go up 68-35. Pepperdine then went on a 21-3 run to cut Gonzaga’s lead to 71-56, but the Zags replied with a 12-2 run to push the lead back to 25 at 83-58 with 5 minutes left.
No. 7 MICHIGAN 69, MINNESOTA 60: In Minneapolis, Jordan Poole scored 22 points to lead a long-range shooting spree by Michigan as the Wolverines beat Minnesota to set up a weekend matchup against Michigan State for first place in the Big Ten.
Jon Teske had 17 points and seven rebounds, and Ignas Brazdeikis added 10 points for the Wolverines (24-3, 13-3).
They are tied with the Spartans at the top of the conference, with Purdue a half-game behind. TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE 87, EASTERN
NEW MEXICO 78: In Commerce, Texas, the Greyhounds’ record dropped to 12-12 (9-7 Lone Star) in a loss to the Lions (20-5, 12-3). Devin Pullum led Eastern with 19 points. ANGELO STATE 99, WESTERN NEW MEXICO 71: In San Angelo, Texas, ASU (16-7, 9-5 Lone Star) routed Western despite 18 points from the Mustangs’ Jon-Reese Woodson. Western is 5-17, 2-13.
Women
No. 4 LOUISVILLE 71, VIRGINIA 49: In Charlottesville, Va., Dana Evans scored 13 points and Louisville used a 16-0 run spanning halftime to take command and beat Virginia.
Asia Durr added 12 points and Sam Fuehring 11 for the Cardinals (24-2, 11-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who bounced back from a loss to No. 14 Miami on Sunday.
Jocelyn Willoughby had 16 points and 13 rebounds to lead Virginia (10-16, 4-9), and Lisa Jablonowski had 13. The Cavaliers led 28-25 at halftime, but the Cardinals scored the first 12 points after halftime to open a 37-28 lead. They wound up outscoring the Cavaliers 46-21 in the second half. No. 5 NOTRE DAME 89, DUKE 61: In South Bend, Ind., Arike Ogunbowale scored 25 points to become Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer as the Fighting Irish routed Duke.
Ogunbowale hit 11 of 19 shots as she passed South Bend native Skyler Diggins-Smith’s 2,357 points scored from 2009-13 for coach Muffet McGraw. Ogunbowale has 2,371.
Her jumper, after a steal, over Duke’s Haley Gorecki at the free-throw line with 8:49 remaining in the second quarter swished through the basket and took her past Diggins-Smith. No. 6 MISSISSIPPI STATE 80, MISSISSIPPI 66: In Oxford, Miss., Anriel Howard scored 21 points, Jordan Danberry added 20 and Teaira McCowan scored 15 in Mississippi State’s win over Mississippi.
It was a much tighter game than Mississippi State might have anticipated, but a dominant third quarter helped the Bulldogs pick up their 10th straight victory over their in-state rival.
Ole Miss (9-18, 3-10 Southeastern Conference) kept things close throughout the first half, trailing 37-29 at the break.
Mississippi State (24-2, 12-1) outscored the Rebels 26-14 in the third quarter to pull away.
No. 8 MARYLAND 71, MINNESOTA 69: In College Park, Md., Kaila Charles made a buzzer-beating layup to cap a furious comeback by Maryland, which never led until that final basket sealed a victory over Minnesota.
The Terrapins trailed 54-38 in the third quarter, by 11 with 8:59 remaining and 67-60 with 1:58 to go before closing with an 11-2 run against the stunned Golden Gophers.
Maryland (24-3, 13-3 Big Ten) is atop the conference standings by one game over Iowa.
No. 9 N.C. STATE 80, WAKE FOREST 46: In Raleigh, N.C., Aislinn Konig scored 14 points and handed out six assists to help North Carolina State breeze to an easy win over Wake Forest.
Kiara Leslie and Kayla Jones added 14 points apiece, and Kai Crutchfield contributed 12 as the Wolfpack held Wake Forest to 27 percent shooting from the field and rushed out to a 47-20 halftime lead.
N.C. State (23-3, 10-3 ACC) improved to 38-5 against the Deacons in games held in Raleigh.
INDIANA 75, No. 10 IOWA 73: In Bloomington, Ind., Bendu Yeaney scored with 3.8 seconds left and blocked a potential gamewinning shot to lift Indiana to an upset of Iowa.
With the game tied at 73, she drove for go-ahead basket. Tania Davis tried a 3 at the buzzer that Yeaney blocked to snap a four-game skid for the Hoosiers (18-10, 7-9 Big Ten).
Iowa (21-6, 12-4) fell a game behind conference leader Maryland with two games left in the regular season.
TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE 62, EASTERN NEW MEXICO 55: In Commerce, Texas, Treyanna Clay scored a team-high 16 points for the Greyhounds (18-7, 13-3 Lone Star) in a loss to A&M-Commerce (17-8, 12-5).
The loss cost Eastern a share of first place in the conference.
ANGELO STATE 88, WESTERN NEW MEXICO 51: In San Angelo, Texas, Cassandra Vickery scored 15 points for the Mustangs (9-15, 5-12 Lone Star) in a defeat to Angelo State (19-4, 14-3).