No. 2 Texas A&M beats LSU
No. 2 Texas A&M 77, LSU 58: Texas A&M coach Gary Blair expected a letdown when his second-ranked Aggies opened the SEC Tournament after clinching their first regular-season league title this past Sunday.
He also expected his deep, talented group to play their way out of it.
Kayla Wells had 16 points while Alexis Morris added 13 off the bench as Texas A&M pulled away to defeat LSU 77-58 on Friday. It was the first game since the Aggies (23-1) beat No. 7 South Carolina 66-57 and cut down the nets in celebration of the title. He knew it’d be a bumpy start against LSU.
Facing LSU (9-13) to start tournament play had to be a scary prospect for Texas A&M.
No. 3 North Carolina State 68, Virginia Tech 55: Elissa Cunane scored a season-high 27 points with nine rebounds to help third-ranked North Carolina State beat Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Jada Boyd added 13 points off the bench for the second-seeded Wolfpack (18-2), the reigning tournament champion.
Kitley had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Hokies (14-9), the tournament’s seventh seed.
No. 4 Stanford 79, Oregon State 45: Cameron Brink scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead No. 4 Stanford into the Pac-12 Tournament title game with a victory over Oregon State.
Kiana Williams had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists for Stanford (24-2).
Aleah Goodman scored 12 points and Taylor Jones pulled down 13 rebounds to lead Oregon State (11-7).
No. 5 Louisville 65, Wake Forest 53: Freshman Hailey Van Lith scored a season-high 24 points and helped fifthranked Louisville (22-2) pull away in the fourth quarter to beat Wake Forest in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
They had trouble again with the ninth-seeded Demon Deacons (12-12).
No. 7 South Carolina 75, Alabama 63: Zia Cooke scored 22 points, Aliyah Boston had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 7 South Carolina withstood a late charge Alabama for a victory at the SEC Tournament.
The Gamecocks (20-4) led by 27 points halfway through the second quarter but saw most of that margin disappear down the stretch after Ariyah Copeland drew the Crimson Tide (16-9) within 66-59 with 5:07 to go.
No. 14 Tennessee 77, Mississippi 72: Rennia Davis had a career-high-tying 33 points and 14 rebounds and No. 14 and third-seeded Tennessee advanced to the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals for the first time in five years with a win over 11th-seeded Mississippi.
The Lady Volunteers (16-6) will face No. 7 South Carolina on Saturday.
Ole Miss (11-11) kept it close until Davis sealed the win on a pair of free throws with four seconds left.
No. 16 Georgia 78, No. 17 Kentucky 66: Jenna Staiti and Maya Caldwell scored 20 points each and 16th-ranked Georgia (19-5) beat No. 17 Kentucky in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament.
No. 24 Rutgers 71, No. 22 Ohio State 63: Arella Guirantes scored a careerhigh 20 points with 10 rebounds, Tyia Singleton earned her first career double-double, and No. 24 Rutgers beat 22nd-ranked Ohio State.
Tekia Mack added 11 points for the Scarlet Knights (14-3, 10-3).
Braxtin Miller scored 19 points and Jacy Sheldon 15 for Ohio State (13-7, 9-7).
No. 23 Missouri State 87, Evansville 54: Jasmine Franklin and Sydney Wilson had 16 points apiece, and No. 23 Missouri State pulled away in the second quarter and cruised to a victory over Evansville.
The back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference regular season champion Bears (19-2, 15-0 Missouri Valley) extended their winning streak to 15.
Elle Ruffridge added 14 points Missouri State.
Abby Feit scored 16 points for Evansville (6-15, 2-14).
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