South Carolina keeps rolling
No. 1 Gamecocks’ win streak reaches 28
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Aliyah Boston had 14 points and 14 rebounds as No. 1 South Carolina won its 28th straight game with an 87-69 victory over Kentucky on Thursday night.
The Gamecocks (10-0 Southeastern Conference) stayed perfect at 22-0. South Carolina has opened 22-0 twice under coach Dawn Staley, in 2014-15 and the following year. Both runs ended against UConn. Next up for Gamecocks are the Huskies, although South Carolina has won three of the past four games over UConn including last April’s 64-49 victory to win the NCAA Tournament title.
Boston, the reigning AP player of the year, extended her school mark with her 75th career double-double and moved within 11 of the SEC record of 86 games with a doubledouble held by LSU great Sylvia Fowles.
Things weren’t perfect for South Carolina, which fell behind early, then had its 15-point halftime lead cut to 54-48 midway through the third quarter.
Still, its dominant inside game — South Carolina outscored the Wildcats 62-14 in the paint — was more than enough to shut down Kentucky (10-12, 2-8), the last team to defeat the defending national champions at the SEC Tournament last March.
Robyn Benton had 24 points to lead Kentucky, which has lost three of its past four games.
No. 3 LSU 82, GEORGIA 77: In Baton Rouge, La., Angel Reese had 23 points and 14 rebounds to extend her program-record streak of double-doubles to 22 games, and LSU (22-0, 10-0 SEC) narrowly remained unbeate. Diamond Battles scored 22 points for Georgia (15-9, 4-6
RANKED VS. RANKED: In Iowa City, Caitlin Clark scored 42 points and Monika Czinano had 28 as No. 6 Iowa (18-4, 10-1 Big Ten) defeated No. 8 Maryland 96-82.
Clark, who entered second in the nation in scoring at 27.1 points per game, was 13 of 19 from the field, including 6 for 11 on 3-pointers. She also had seven rebounds and eight assists.
It was the sixth time in her career that Clark scored 40 or more points.
Maryland (18-5, 9-3) had its fivegame winning streak snapped and fell into a third-place tie with No. 10 Ohio State.
NEW MEXICO STATE 62, CAL BAPTIST 61:
In Riverside, Calif., Soufia Inoussa scored on a layup with seven seconds left to deliver a victory for the Aggies (12-10, 7-3 Western Athletic Conference) over the Lancers (11-10, 7-3) before an announced 4,250 kids on what was announced as “education day.”
Sylena Peterson’s 15 points led the Aggies, whose league win total surpasses last season’s six. It also is NMSU’s third straight victory.
Men’s games
UAB 86, No. 19 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 77:
In Birmingham, Ala., Eric Gaines scored 21 points and the host Blazers (16-7, 7-5 Conference USA) ended the Owls’ (21-2, 10-1)
nation-best 20-game win streak. FAU hadn’t lost since falling 80-67 to Mississippi on Nov. 11 and made their debut in the AP Top 25 2 1/2 weeks ago.
Jordan “Jelly” Walker had 13 points and six assists for UAB (16-7, 7-5) in his return from a foot injury that had sidelined him since Jan. 11.
No. 3 HOUSTON 70, WICHITA STATE 61:
In Wichita, Kan. Jarace Walker had 15 points, including the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 4:27 left, and Houston rallied to beat Wichita State.
Marcus Sasser also scored 15 for the Cougars (21-2, 9-1 American Athletic Conference), who trailed by six midway through the second half.
Jaykwon Walton equaled his career high with 24 points for the Shockers (11-11, 4-6).