COLLEGE ROUNDUP | Women's Top 25

No. 8 Purdue 74, Ohio St. 68
COLUMBUS -- Purdue's first half was good enough to hold off Ohio State's second half. "We talk a lot about basketball being a game of runs," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said. "Our run happened to be a little bit longer, thank goodness." Shereka Wright scored 23 points and Erika Valek added 18 including two big baskets down the stretch for Purdue (15-2, 5-1 Big Ten), which has won six in a row and 15 of the last 16. Purdue shot 61 percent in the first half to Ohio State's 35 percent, then in the second half the Buckeyes shot 61 percent and the Boilermakers 36 percent. Ohio State (10-6, 2-3) started forcing the ball into Jessica Davenport, who had 27 points and 15 rebounds, and power forward LaToya Turner in the second half. After Ohio State pulled within six points with 6 1/2 minutes remaining, Beth Jones hit two free throws and then Valek came to the rescue. She drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4:34 to go and, after Ohio State countered with three points, drove the lane and banked in a layup and made the accompanying free throw for a 68-57 lead with 3:21 remaining. Emily Heikes added 10 points for Purdue. Turner and Caity Matter each scored 11 for Ohio State. Ohio State coach Jim Foster blamed his young lineup -- which includes a freshman and two sophomore starters -- for the 40-23 halftime deficit. "[It was] young players not being ready for the task at hand of a 40-minute basketball game," Foster said. "We turn it on and off. We didn't understand the concept that every possession matters."
No. 7 Penn St. 75, No. 9 Minnesota 56
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Kelly Mazzante hit six 3-pointers and scored 29 to enable Penn State to remain unbeaten in the Big Ten. One of those 3-pointers came as the Nittany Lions (14-3, 7-0) opened the second half with a 15-3 run, going up 49-37 on Jess Strom's layup. Minnesota (15-2, 4-2) got 15 points from Lindsay Whalen and 11 points and nine rebounds from Janel McCarville.
No. 1 Duke 78, Maryland 48
DURHAM, N.C. -- Iciss Tillis broke out of a scoring slump with 21 points, and Duke won its 49th straight game in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Tillis had gone six games without reaching double figures for the Blue Devils (15-1, 6-0). Alana Beard, leading the ACC in scoring with 19.7 points a game, had nine in just 21 minutes for Duke. She strained a groin muscle in practice Tuesday. Monique Currie added 12 points and Lindsey Harding 10 for the Blue Devils. Freshman Shay Doron scored 17 points to lead Maryland (12-6, 4-3).
No. 2 Tennessee 79, Vanderbilt 54
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Shyra Ely scored 22 points for Tennessee, which plays at Duke Saturday. Brittany Jackson added 15 points to help the Lady Vols (15-1, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) win their 50th straight home game in league play. The Commodores (14-3, 2-2) lost their fifth straight game against Tennessee and dropped to 0-19 in Knoxville. Abi Ramsey led Vanderbilt with 13 points.
No. 12 LSU 73, Arkansas 65
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Seimone Augustus scored six of her 22 points in a 13-0 run over the final 3:53, and Louisiana State rallied to win. Augustus got help from Temeka Johnson, who had six of her 12 points during the run for the Tigers (16-2, 4-0 Southeastern Conference). Arkansas (13-4, 2-2) was led by Shameka Christon with 27 points. Kristin Moore added 19 points and nine rebounds.
No. 13 North Carolina 63, Georgia Tech 56
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina freshman Ivory Latta scored 18 points, including two free throws to put to the game out of reach. The Tar Heels (15-2, 5-1 ACC) were in front 57-56 with 2:17 remaining after Megan Isom hit a 3-pointer for Georgia Tech (10-8, 1-5). Isom led the Yellow Jackets with 16 points. Freshman Camille Little had a follow shot with 42 seconds left to give the Tar Heels a three-point lead before Latta hit two free throws with 22.6 seconds to go.
Mississippi 90, No. 17 Georgia 79, 2 OT
OXFORD, Miss. -- Amber Watts had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Mississippi held Georgia to just two points in the second overtime. The Rebels (12-7, 3-2 SEC) improved to 6-0 at home under first-year coach Carol Ross. Jessica Pierce had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Janese Hardrick 18 points for Georgia (13-5, 2-3).
No. 20 Michigan St. 67, Northwestern 57, OT
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Lindsay Bowden had 18 points, and Michigan State outscored Northwestern 14-4 in overtime. Michigan State (14-3, 4-2 Big Ten) was 11-of-24 from the floor and 8-of-11 at the line in the second half. Northwestern made 3-of-8 free throws. Northwestern (7-10, 0-6) was led by Sarah Kwasinski with 13 points and Alex Mueller with 12.
No. 22 Auburn 70, Alabama 61
AUBURN, Ala. -- Le'Coe Willingham had 17 points and 17 rebounds for Auburn, giving coach Joe Ciampi his 599th career win. Ciampi, who improved to 599-208 overall in his 27th year, will try to become the 10th women's coach to reach 600 wins when the Tigers (14-4, 2-2 SEC) play Sunday at Arkansas. Monique Bivins led Alabama (10-7, 2-2) with 20 points.
Source: Associated Press