No. 1 LSU 77, North Texas 51

No. 1 LSU 77, North Texas 51
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Seimone Augustus scored 22 points on 11-for-11 shooting from the field, leading No. 1 LSU over North Texas on Tuesday night. Freshman Sylvia Fowles had 13 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double in five games for the Tigers (8-0), who are ranked No. 1 for the first time since 1978 and off to their best start in two years. Talicia Sanders led North Texas (2-2) with 12 points, Erika Bobo had 11 points and Mian Williams added 10. The Tigers had an easy time with the overmatched Mean Green, leading by as much as 27 points before coach Pokey Chatman cleared the bench with almost five minutes remaining. Every LSU player got into the game. Augustus, averaging 20.7 points a game, and Scholanda Hoston combined to score 24 points in the first half, while North Texas managed just 25.
No. 3 Notre Dame 69, Valparaiso 59
VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Jacqueline Batteast had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 3 Notre Dame over Valparaiso. Batteast scored 11 of Notre Dame's first 13 points to key a fast start for the Irish (7-0), then had another spurt in the second half to keep Notre Dame from becoming the fourth top-five team to be upset in the last 10 days. Megan Duffy added 20 points for Notre Dame, which closed the game with a 10-2 run to ward off the pesky Crusaders (1-3). Betsy Rietema scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half for Valparaiso, which stayed competitive throughout in a series dominated by Notre Dame.
No. 6 Georgia 61, Georgia Southern 50
ATHENS, Ga. -- Cori Chambers scored all 14 of her points in the second half, helping No. 6 Georgia rally past Georgia Southern. Tasha Humphrey added 13 points for Georgia and Sherill Baker 12 for the Lady Bulldogs, who trailed 45-41 with 7:54 to play after Lee DuBose's 3-pointer for Georgia Southern. Chambers answered immediately with a pair of 3-pointers, sparking a 15-3 run for Georgia (5-1) that put the game away. Tiffany Brown scored 11 points and DuBose added 10 for Georgia Southern (2-3), which fell to 0-35 against Top 25 teams and has lost 15 straight in the series against Georgia.
No. 9 Baylor 77, Rice 65
WACO, Texas -- Steffanie Blackmon scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead No. 9 Baylor. Emily Niemann added 18 points, including 3-of-4 on 3-point attempts, and Sophia Young scored 15 for the Lady Bears (4-1). Maudess Fulton led Rice (3-4) with 19 points, while Lauren Neaves added 17. Rice led 55-49 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining when Baylor scored seven straight points to take its first second-half lead at 56-55.
Houston 63, No. 14 Purdue 60
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Daphne Andre scored 21 points, including two free throws that sealed the win following a key steal, leading Houston to an upset of No. 14 Purdue. Sancho Lyttle added 17 points and 17 rebounds, and Crystal Simpson scored 13 points as Houston (6-0) opened with a 5-0 run and led 36-30 at halftime. Tye Jackson scored 20 points for the Boilermakers (3-1). Katie Gearlds, who had 12 points, hit a jumper to bring Purdue within one to make it 57-56 with 2:44 left. Purdue lost a chance to close within one again at the 1-minute mark when Gearlds missed a 3-pointer, but Jackson hit one nine seconds later to make it 61-60. Purdue shot just 29.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 45.5 percent on free throws.
No. 20 DePaul 97, Ill.-Chicago 54
CHICAGO -- Khara Smith had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead DePaul. Smith was one of four players to score in double digits for the Blue Demons. The others were Charlene Smith with 17, Jenna Rubino with 14 and Caprice Smith with eleven. The Blue Demons took a 52-26 lead into the half after 60 percent shooting from the field. Jacquay Holmes was the high scorer for the Flames with 19 points, while Chrissy Dizon added 10.
Mississippi State 72, No. 21 Louisiana Tech 55
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Tan White scored 28 points to lead Mississippi State to an upset of No. 21 Louisiana Tech. White scored at least 20 points for the fourth time this season for the Bulldogs (3-2), who made 43 percent (26-of-60) of their shots and beat the Lady Techsters for the first time since 1999. Tiania Burns had 13 points and Blessing Chekwa added 10 for Mississippi State, which has won two straight. Shan Moore led Louisiana Tech (2-1) with 17 points, and Tasha Crain added 16. Leading scorer Lakiste Barkus, who entered averaging 17.5 points, was held to three points on 1-of-12 shooting.
No. 22 Maryland 77, Loyola-Md. 36
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Laura Harper scored 18 of her career-high 22 points in the first half, and No. 22 Maryland cruised past winless Loyola-Md. The Terrapins (4-1) outrebounded Loyola 29-11 in building a 46-24 halftime lead. Despite committing 15 turnovers, Maryland made 15 of 29 field-goal attempts and went 13-for-16 at the foul line in the first half.
Loyola (0-3) made only one basket in the opening 14 minutes of the second half and missed 45 of its 60 field-goal attempts overall.
Associated Press