Cooke sparks late outburst; South Carolina keeps rolling

NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 66, NO. 8 MARYLAND 59

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Zia Cooke knew South Carolina needed a late lift and she was more than ready to deliver.

Cooke scored 20 points, including the go-ahead layup with 5:13 to play, and the topranked Gamecocks outlasted No. 8 Maryland 66-59 on Sunday in the Jimmy V Classic for their fourth victory over a top10 opponent this season.

Cooke had tied the game moments earlier at 55-all with two foul shots, then took the ball away from Maryland point guard Ashley Owusu and sped down court for the basket that put South Carolina ahead for good.

It sparked the rest of her team to keep pushing to close out the game. Maryland got within 61-59 on Angel Reese’s three-point play with 2:04 left, but South Carolina held the Terrapins (9-3) scoreless the rest of the way to improve to 10-0 for the first time in six seasons.

Aliyah Boston added 16 points, 16 rebounds and 7 blocked shots for the Gamecocks.

Maryland overcame a 53-47 deficit in the fourth quarter with eight consecutive points.

That’s when Cooke turned things around — and showed some life after the career 14-point-per-game scorer was 3 of 20 for a combined 14 points her past two games.

Reese had 20 points to lead the Terrapins, who were seeking their first win over a No. 1 team since topping North Carolina in 2006.

NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 64, NO. 14 KENTUCKY 58

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ahlana Smith and Hailey Van Lith each made two late baskets and Louisville beat Kentucky for the fifth consecutive time.

Smith hit a go-ahead jumper with 2:47 remaining. Chelsie Hall added three free throws in the final 17 seconds as the Cardinals (8-1) won their eighth consecutive game.

Hall finished with 15 points, while Smith and Van Lith had 13 each.

Kentucky (6-3) had rallied from a 4942 deficit to lead 54-53 on a jumper by Dre’Una Edwards with 3:37 left.

Edwards and Treasure Hunt each scored 14 points for the Wildcats.

NO. 9 TENNESSEE 84, GEORGIA STATE 60

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tamari Key scored 16 points to lead Tennessee past Georgia State.

The 6-6 Key, who also had 11 rebounds, was one of five Lady Volunteers (9-0) to score 10 or more points. Keyen Green scored 14, Sara Puckett had 12, Brooklynn Miles 11 and Jordan Horston 10.

Taniyah Worth scored 13 points for Georgia State (4-5).

TCU 87, NO. 18 TEXAS A&M 75

FORT WORTH— Lauren Heard scored a season-high 33 points, Aja Holmes added a career-high 22 off the bench, and TCU surprised Texas A&M.

Heard was 18 of 21 from the line for the game and TCU (4-4) made 25 of 32 free throws as a team.

Kayla Wells scored 20 points to lead the Aggies (9-2), who have lost two of three.

NO. 24 LSU 96, TEXAS SOUTHERN 55

BATON ROUGE — Faustine Aifuwa scored 14 points, Khayla Painter added 13 and LSU coasted past Texas Southern.

LSU (7-1) won its sixth in a row and first as a ranked team under Coach Kim Mulkey.

Jala Buster scored 13 points for Texas Southern (0-6).

In other women’s Top 25 games Sunday, Elissa Cunane had 15 points and nine rebounds as No. 2 North Carolina State defeated Saint Mary’s 101-73. Cunane scored nine points during an early 18-0 run that put the Wolfpack (10-1) in control. Kayla Jones added 13 points, Jakia Brown-Turner had 11 points and six rebounds for N.C. State, which won its 10th consecutive game. Jade Kirisome led Saint Mary’s (5-4) with 17 points. … Cameron Brink scored a career-high 25 points to go with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots, and No. 4 Stanford ran away from Pacific 91-62. Lexie Hull added 16 points and three blocks for the Cardinal (6-2). Dynamic freshman guard Anaya James scored 18 points and Sam Ashby added 11 points for Pacific (2-7). … Freshman Madi Conner came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points and No. 6 Arizona used a 10-0 run in the third quarter to put away New Mexico 77-60. The Wildcats improved to 9-0 for the fourth time in school history and second time in three seasons. … Mackenzie Holmes scored a career-high 30 points and No. 10 Indiana beat No. 20 Ohio State 86-66. The Hoosiers (82, 2-0 Big Ten) never trailed and pulled away in the second quarter, shooting 62.5% behind 11 points from Nicole Cardano-Hillary, who finished with 17 points. … Naz Hillmon scored 17 of her 25 points in the second half and No. 13 Michigan beat Minnesota 73-61. Leigha Brown scored 10 of her 19 after the break to help the Wolverines (10-1, 2-0 Big Ten) pull away. Jasmine Powell scored 19 points and Sara Scalia 13 for the Gophers (6-6, 0-2). … Ashley Joens came up with a key blocked shot in the closing seconds and No. 15 Iowa State needed a defensive stand to hold off Northern Iowa, 70-69. Emmerson Green hit a three-pointer with 1:11 left, then followed with a three-point play with :34 to play to get Northern Iowa within one, 70-69. Iowa State’s Lexi Donarski was stripped in the backcourt by Karli Rucker and then Donarski knocked the ball away from Rucker under the UNI basket to stop the go-ahead basket but the Panthers retained possession. Kam Finley’s jumper from the lane was blocked by Joens. … Elisa Pinzan scored a career-high 24 points and Dulcy Mendjiadeu Fankam scored 10 in a row in a fourth-quarter rally to lead No. 17 South Florida past VCU 64-57. Mendjiadeu Fankam finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds for USF (6-3). Sarah Te-Biasu scored 17 points for VCU (5-4). … Olivia Miles scored seven of her 12 points to help open the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run for No. 22 Notre Dame and the Irish beat Purdue Fort Wayne 78-41. Sonia Citron and Maya Dodson each scored 12 points for Notre Dame (9-2). Riley Ott scored 21 points to lead the Mastodons (4-6).

ASUN WOMEN

TULSA 78, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 46

The University of Central Arkansas women’s basketball went on the road Sunday and suffered one of its worst defeats of the season.

The 32-point loss was the Sugar Bears’ second-worst of the year, behind a 103-40 season-opening defeat to Kansas State.

Hannah Langhi led UCA with 10 points. Lashiyah Fowler had 9 points, and Carley Hudspeth added 7.

The Golden Hurricane had three scorers in double figures, with Wyvette Mayberry generating a game-high 24 points. Delanie Crawford and Temira Poindexter had 15 and 13 points respectively.