MCCOWAN’S night leads the way in Bulldogs’ win.

TOP 25/SEC WOMEN

NO. 7 MISSISSIPPI STATE 89, NO. 15 SOUTH CAROLINA 74

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Teaira McCowan had one of the best nights of her career, finishing with 26 points and 24 rebounds to lead No. 7 Mississippi State past No. 15 South Carolina 89-74 on Thursday night.

Mississippi State (17-1, 5-0) beat the Gamecocks for just the second time in 14 tries dating back to 2011. It was a tight game for most of the night, but the Bulldogs never trailed in the fourth quarter, largely thanks to McCowan’s dominant game in the post.

The 6-foot-7 All-American earned her 54th career double-double with one of her best performances. She had 12 offensive rebounds and shot 9 of 15 from the field. She matched South Carolina in rebounding all by herself, 24-24.

Jordan Danberry added 20 points for the Bulldogs.

South Carolina (12-5, 4-1) was led by Te’a Cooper’s 27 points. Tyasha Harris added 17. The Gamecocks shot a decent 44 percent from the field and hit 10 three-pointers, but were overwhelmed in the post.

NO. 4 LOUISVILLE 91, VIRGINIA 43

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Asia Durr scored 20 points in 23 minutes as No. 4 Louisville routed Virginia.

The Cardinals (16-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) shot a season-best 57 percent from the field. They broke the game open with a 24-3 run to start the second quarter. Durr scored the final five points of the burst as her three-pointer gave Louisville a 39-17 lead with 2:20 left in the half.

That dominance carried over to the second half where the Cardinals used a 19-2 third quarter run to ensure there would be no comeback by the Cavaliers (7-11, 1-4).

NO. 17 MICHIGAN STATE 77, NO. 9 MARYLAND 60

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Jenna Allen scored 16 points and Nia Clouden added 15 to lift No. 17 Michigan State over No. 9 Maryland.

The Spartans (13-4, 3-3 Big Ten) led almost throughout, racing out to a 20-4 advantage in the first quarter. Maryland (15-2, 4-2) closed to within three at halftime, but Michigan State took control again in the third.

It was the second victory over a top-10 team for the Spartans this season. They beat No. 3 Oregon on Dec. 9.

Michigan State made 5 three-pointers in the first quarter. The Spartans made only one after that, but they kept playing with confidence. Taryn McCutcheon scored 12 points for Michigan State, which had lost three of its previous four games.

NO. 12 SYRACUSE 82, PITTSBURGH 50

PITTSBURGH — Digna Strautmane scored 22 points, nine in the pivotal third quarter, and No. 12 Syracuse beat Pittsburgh, winning its ninth consecutive game.

Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi added 16 points and Tiana Mangakahia 14, also with 9 in the third quarter, as the Orange (15-2, 4-0 ACC) outscored the Panthers 28-8 to break the game open.

Mangakhia had 5 points in an 8-0 surge early in the third quarter that pushed the lead to 48-35 and then Strautmane had 6 in a 14-0 run. By the end of the quarter, when Syracuse was 7 of 15 from the field with 3 three-pointers and 11 of 12 from the line, a six-point lead swelled to 66-40.

The Panthers (9-9, 0-4), who have lost four consecutive, made 6 field goals and shot 21 percent in the second half. Cassidy Walsh had 3 threes and 13 points.

BRIGHAM YOUNG 70, NO. 13 GONZAGA 68

PROVO, Utah — Shaylee Gonzales scored 17 points and Paisley Johnson made two free throws with 1:02 left for what proved to be the winning points in Brigham Young’s victory over No. 13 Gonzaga, ending the Bulldogs’ 12-game win streak.

The victory left BYU (15-4, 7-0) alone in first atop the West Coast Conference after its ninth consecutive victory.

Laura Stockton led Gonzaga (16-2, 5-1) with 15 points and Zykera Rice added 13.

NO. 16 KENTUCKY 64, LSU 60

BATON ROUGE, La. — Maci Morris scored 20 points and Keke McKinney hit a three-pointer with under a minute left to lift No. 16 Kentucky over LSU.

Kentucky (16-3, 3-2 SEC) led the entire game until LSU (11-6, 2-3) took its only lead on Ayana Mitchell’s basket with 5:06 left. Kentucky retook the lead but another Mitchell bucket tied it with 45 seconds remaining. McKinney hit her go-ahead three with 20 seconds to go then added a free throw as LSU missed its final two shots.

Faustine Aifufa scored 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting for LSU.

ALABAMA 86,

NO. 20 TENNESSEE 65

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Cierra Johnson scored eight of her 17 points in a dominating fourth quarter and Alabama sent No. 20 Tennessee to its fourth consecutive loss, 86-65, the first time since 1970 the Lady Vols lost four consecutive games.

Alabama (10-8, 2-3 SEC), which has won five consecutive in the series after losing 42 consecutive, led 60-55 entering the fourth quarter. Tennessee (12-5, 1-4) missed its first 12 shots of the fourth quarter and by the time Evina Westbrook broke the drought with 3:21 to play, the Crimson Tide had put together a 17-3 run and led 77-60.

Westbrook had 19 points for the Lady Vols and freshman Zaay Green 14 with 11 rebounds for her first career double-double.

NO. 22 IOWA 75, MICHIGAN 61

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Megan Gustafson had 21 points and 16 rebounds for her 16th double-double and added 6 assists to lead No. 22 Iowa to victory over Michigan.

Eight players scored in the third quarter when the Hawkeyes (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten Conference) made 10 of 16 shots, including 2 three-pointers, to stretch a 32-29 lead to 54-38. The Wolverines went 4 of 12 and never got the deficit below double figures in the fourth quarter despite making 11 of 17 shots.

Naz Hillmon had 16 points and Hallie Thome 15 for Michigan (11-7, 2-4).

NO. 23 MINNESOTA 78, WISCONSIN 50

MADISON, Wis. — Kenisha Bell had 25 points and 10 assists and No. 23 Minnesota ended a four-game losing streak with a wire-to-wire victory over Wisconsin.

Annalese Lamke added 15 points and Taiye Bello 14, with both grabbing nine rebounds, as the Golden Gophers (13-4, 2-4 Big Ten) won for the first time since matching the school’s second-best start in history.

Marsha Howard led Wisconsin (10-8, 1-5) with 10 points.

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NO. 5 GONZAGA 73, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 55

SPOKANE, Wash. — Zach Norvell Jr. scored 17 points and No. 5 Gonzaga used a stout defense to beat Loyola Marymount.

Brandon Clarke added 13 points, Corey Kispert 12 and Rui Hachimura 10 for Gonzaga (17-2, 4-0 West Coast), which beat Loyola Marymount for the 20th consecutive time. The Bulldogs have won 18 consecutive games at home.

James Batemon led Loyola Marymount (13-5, 1-3) with 12 points.

NO. 6 MICHIGAN STATE 70, NEBRASKA 64

LINCOLN, Neb. — Cassius Winston scored a career-high 29 points, Nick Ward added 15 and Michigan State pulled away from Nebraska.

Michigan State (16-2, 7-0) relied on tough defense to extend its school-record Big Ten winning streak to 19 games. The Cornhuskers (13-5, 3-4) had their school-record 20-game home win streak end.

James Palmer, who led Nebraska with 24 points, struggled mightily from the field, going 6 of 21.