Women’s College Basketball | Top 25 results | Monday
Big East Tournament Championship
No. 10 UConn 78, Georgetown 42
UNCASVILE, Conn. — Paige Bueckers scored 27 points and had five blocks to help No. 10 UConn beat Georgetown 78-42 on Monday night to win its 22nd Big East Tournament title.
It was the 29th title overall for the Huskies, who haven’t lost in a conference championship contest since 2013, when Notre Dame beat them for the Big East title.
UConn (29-5), which has been in 20 consecutive conference tournament championship games, has won all four titles since rejoining the Big East in 2020-21 after taking seven straight during its run in the American Athletic Conference.
Georgetown was making its first appearance in the championship game in school history. The Hoyas (22-11) already have the most wins since the 2011-12 team had 23. That was the last time the school made the NCAA Tournament. Despite making the title game, they are a long shot to make the NCAAs with a very weak non-conference schedule.
Big 12 Tournament Semifinals No. 6 Texas 71, No. 16 Kansas State 64
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Madison Booker scored 17 points, Shay Holle hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with just over a minute to go, and Texas beat Kansas State to set up a Big 12 Tournament title game rematch against Iowa State.
Aaliyah Moore added 14 points and Holle finished with 11 for the secondseeded Longhorns (29-4), who blew a 14-point, first-half lead before rallying from a 57-55 deficit with four minutes to go to earn a shot at their second title in the last three years.
The No. 4-seeded Cyclones, who knocked off top-seeded Oklahoma earlier in the day, beat Texas 67-58 in the finale a year ago.
Ayoka Lee had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the third-seeded Wildcats (25-7). Serena Sundell added 12 points but also had six of their 17 turnovers.
Iowa State 85, No. 19 Oklahoma 68
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Audi Crooks had 25 points, Addy Brown added 16 and fourth-seeded Iowa State romped over top-seeded Oklahoma, giving the Cyclones a chance to defend their women’s Big 12 Tournament title.
Emily Ryan added 12 points and 10 assists for the Cyclones (20-10), who beat the Sooners in last year’s semifinals before topping Texas for the title. Iowa State will now get a rematch Tuesday night against the No. 6 Longhorns, who beat Kansas State in their semifinal later in the day.
Payton Verhulst had 23 points for the Sooners (22-9), who will head to the SEC next season having lost their last seven Big 12 semifinals. Sahara Williams added 16 points and league co-player of the year Skylar Vann finished with 12.
Iowa State overcame 21 turnovers by shooting 12 of 23 from the 3-point arc.
West Coast Tournament Semifinal No. 14 Gonzaga 72, Pacific 61
LAS VEGAS — Eliza Hollingsworth had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Yvonne Ejim also had a double-double and Gonzaga defeated Pacific in the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals for the Bulldogs’ 24th straight win.
Ejim had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Gonzaga (30-2), which had its closest game against a league opponent this season. Brynna Maxwell added 17 points and Kaylynne Truong had 13 with seven assists.
The Zags face the winner of Portland-Santa Clara in the Tuesday championship game.
The Tigers gave the Bulldogs their closest regular-season game, falling 91-78 on Feb. 17. Ironically, two weeks earlier, Gonzaga had its largestever win over a Division I opponent when it beat Pacific 104-39. The Zags beat conference teams by 30.7 points a game.
Mountain West Tournament Quarterfinal No. 21 UNLV 83, Fresno State 35
LAS VEGAS — Amarachi Kimpson and Alyssa Brown each scored 16 points, and UNLV routed ninth-seeded Fresno State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament for coach Lindy La Rocque’s 100th victory.
Top-seeded UNLV (28-2) won its 13th straight game to advance to the semifinals on Tuesday against Colorado State. The Lady Rebels are looking to win the conference tournament for a third straight season.
Kimpson and Brown each made a 3-pointer in the first minute of the second quarter to put the lead in double figures for good at 25-13. The Lady Rebels closed the quarter on a 12-0 run to go ahead 44-20 at the break.
Kiara Jackson, Kimpson and Brown each scored 10 points in the first half as UNLV shot 58.6% from the field. Fresno State was just 9 of 31 from the field in the first half, with scoring from just five different players.