Baylor women win 16th straight, 68-42 over Iowa State
WACO, Texas — Nina Davis scored 17 points, Kalani Brown had 16 and second-ranked Baylor won its 16th consecutive game, beating Iowa State 68-42 Wednesday night in a surprisingly low-scoring contest.
In a game matching the Big 12’s two highest-scoring teams, Baylor (18-1, 7-0 Big 12) was held nearly 25 points below its national-best 92.6 per-game average. And the Lady Bears still won by 26 as Iowa State was held to a season low after 79 per game before that.
The Lady Bears took control with a 10-1 run in a 95-second span early in the second quarter, soon after Iowa State had missed shots on three consecutive possessions following Baylor turnovers with a chance to take the lead. Freshman forward Lauren Cox, who had two of those turnovers, had two baskets in the big spurt.
Cox finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Bridget Carleton had 17 points and Jadda Buckley 15 for Iowa State (10-8, 1-6), which shot only 23 percent (13 of 56).
No. 9 Louisville 91, Georgia Tech 51
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Asia Durr scored 20 points, Mariya Moore added 13 and No. 9 Louisville held Georgia Tech to a program-low two points in the second quarter to pace the rout.
Durr wasted no time getting the Cardinals (17-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) started toward their 100th victory at the KFC Yum! Center and finishing January 3-0 at home. The sophomore guard scored the game’s first basket from behind the arc and 4 of 8 overall from long range to surpass her eight-point outing vs. Miami on Sunday.
Moore chipped in three 3s and Kylee Shook one as Louisville made 7 of 10 in the quarter. Chelsea Guimaraes’ jumper with 7:40 remaining before halftime was the Yellow Jackets’ only basket as they went 1 of 15 in the quarter.
Kaylen Pugh and Francesca Pan had nine points each for Georgia Tech (13-5, 2-3).
No. 13 UCLA 74, USC 59
LOS ANGELES — Monique Billings had 28 points and 11 rebounds for UCLA, which won its third straight and sixth in eight games.
The Bruins (14-4, 5-2 Pac-12) outscored the Trojans 27-8 in the second quarter behind Billings, who had eight points inside, and led 40-22 at halftime.
Courtney Jaco had career highs of 27 points and seven 3-pointers for USC (10-8, 1-6), which has lost six in a row.
The teams meet again on Sunday at UCLA.
No. 22 Kansas State 74, TCU 63
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Breanna Lewis scored 21 points and had four blocks, Kindred Wesemann hit five 3-pointers to become ranked fifth in school history with 232 career 3s, and No. 22 Kansas State used a big third quarter on Wednesday night win its fourth straight, beating TCU.
Tied at 27 at halftime after making only 1 of 6 from behind the arc, Wesemann made three 3s, Kaylee Page added another, and Kansas State opened the third quarter with a 14-3 run. Wesemann hit her fourth 3 — surpassing the 230 career 3s by Kimberly Dietz (200408) — and the Wildcats led 52-40 at the end of the third.
TCU closed to 62-56 on Jada Butts’ two free throws, but Shaelyn Martin made a 3-point play and the Wildcats led by 10 with 1:23 to go.
Wesemann finished with 18 points and three steals and the Wildcats (15-4, 5-2 Big 12) outscored the Horned Frogs 38-26 in the paint.
Amy Okonkwo scored 13 points for TCU (9-9, 1-6), which had 13 steals.
No. 24 West Virginia 62, Kansas 51
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Tynice Martin scored 21 points and West Virginia beat Kansas.
Martin was only 5-of-20 shooting, though made 9 of 12 free throws. Lanay Montgomery added 15 points and 13 rebounds for her eighth double-double this season and Teana Muldrow had 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, her fourth double-double.
The Mountaineers (15-4, 3-4 Big 12) snapped a two-game losing streak despite scoring 16 points below their average and committing 25 turnovers.
Jessica Washington scored 24 points on 7-of-22 shooting for the Jayhawks (6-12, 0-7). McKenzie Calvert added 12 points.