Monday, January 31, 2005
No. 1 Duke 52, No. 25 N.C. State 49
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Monique Currie converted a go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds left and Duke hung on to beat North Carolina State in what likely was the Blue Devils' final game at No. 1. Marquetta Dickens' missed a 3-pointer just before the buzzer that would have tied it for the Wolfpack. Currie finished with 18 points for Duke (20-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which lost earlier in the week at 12th-ranked North Carolina, then rallied for a narrow victory over No. 20 Maryland. Mistie Williams added 11 points, including a free throw with 15.6 seconds left that gave the Blue Devils a three-point lead. N.C. State (15-5, 4-3) patiently worked the ball to Dickens, and her open look from a couple of feet beyond the arc bounced off the back of the rim. Dickens had 15 points and teammate Tiffany Stansbury scored 13.
No. 2 LSU 57, Auburn 52
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Freshman Sylvia Fowles had her eighth double-double, finishing with 13 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks in LSU's win. Fowles spent the game battling under the boards with Auburn center Marita Payne in a matchup of two of the top defensive teams in the Southeastern Conference. With the victory, LSU (19-1, 6-0), the only Division I team in the nation with just one loss, moved a half-game ahead of Tennessee (14-3, 5-0) in the SEC.
No. 6 Notre Dame 65, No. 9 UConn 59
STORRS, Conn. -- Notre Dame snapped Connecticut's Big East home winning streak at 112 games, with Courtney LaVere scoring 14 points and anchoring a dominating inside game. UConn hadn't lost a home conference game since a 64-62 defeat to Georgetown on Feb. 27, 1993. The Irish also ended the Huskies' 55-game streak at Gampel Pavilion. UConn's last defeat at Gampel was a 72-71 loss to Tennessee on Feb. 1, 2001. The sixth-ranked Fighting Irish (18-3, 6-2 Big East) lost 18 days ago to the No. 9 Huskies (13-5, 6-1) in South Bend.
No. 8 Rutgers 70, West Virginia 49
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Michelle Campbell had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Rutgers forced West Virginia to commit 12 straight turnovers in an early 21-0 run. The game was marred by a neck injury to Rutgers senior guard Chelsea Newton, who was hurt in a collision early in the second half and had to be taken off the court on a stretcher. Her neck was placed in a protective brace. Newton, who has started all 19 games, had feeling in her arms and legs and was taken to a hospital for evaluation, Scarlet Knights spokesman Heather Brocious said. Cappie Pondexter added 16 points and freshman Essence Carson had 13 for Rutgers (15-4, 6-1 Big East).
No. 22 Penn St. 81, No. 10 Minn. 68
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Tanisha Wright tied a career high with 32 points and Penn State upset another top-10 team. Wright was 12-of-23 from the field and scored five points during the Lady Lions' 13-2 second-half run that stretched a two-point lead to a 50-37 advantage with 11:42 left. Janel McCarville scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds -- her eighth double-double of the season -- to lead the Golden Gophers (16-4, 6-2), but was just 2-of-8 from the floor in the first half and missed seven straight shots at one point. Jess Strom finished with 19 points, including a 15-of-15 effort from the free throw line for the Lady Lions (13-7, 8-1 Big Ten). Penn State has also defeated North Carolina, Ohio State and Michigan State -- all in the top 10 at the time.
No. 11 Michigan St. 52, Indiana 40
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Kelli Roehrig scored all 13 of her points in the second half and sparked a decisive 10-0 run to lead Michigan State. After sitting for the final 13 minutes of the first half because of foul trouble, Roehrig dominated inside in the second half and the Spartans (18-3, 7-2 Big Ten) cruised to their sixth victory in seven games despite their lowest point total of the season. It was the fifth straight loss for Indiana (8-11, 1-8).
No. 12 N. Carolina 55, Georgia Tech 41
ATLANTA -- Nikita Bell scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half to power North Carolina. Bell scored six points in a 15-0 run in the opening six minutes to give North Carolina (17-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) an early 17-2 lead. She added four more in a 10-0 streak that gave the Tar Heels their biggest lead of the opening half at 31-12 with 5 minutes left.
No. 13 Texas Tech 67, Texas A & amp;M 54
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Cisti Greenwalt matched a career high with 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for Texas Tech. Chelsey Dabbs scored 17 points and point guard Erin Grant added 15 assists for the Red Raiders (16-3, 7-1 Big 12), who have won 10 of their last 11 games and moved into a tie with Kansas State for the league lead. Morenike Atunrase led A & amp;M (11-7, 2-6) with 13 points and Charlette Castile added 10. Tamea Scales, the Aggies' leading scorer, had nine points on 2-of-13 shooting and pulled down 16 rebounds.
No. 17 DePaul 74, South Florida 66
CHICAGO -- Khara Smith scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to lead DePaul. Jenni Dant added 23 points for DePaul (17-3, 6-1 Conference USA), which led 36-27 at halftime. South Florida shot just 31 percent from the field in the first half. The Bulls tried to close the gap after the break but could not overcome their first half deficit. DePaul also dominated the boards, outrebounding South Florida 48-26.
No. 23 Vanderbilt 84, Florida 73
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Abi Ramsey hit a school-record eight 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 30 points for Vanderbilt. The Commodores (15-5, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) led 20-12 six minutes into the game on a short jumper by Ashley Earley, but Florida rallied and led 42-40 before Ramsey's buzzer-beating 3 gave her team a one-point lead at halftime. In the second period, Florida (12-8, 3-4) broke away from a 51-51 tie with eight straight points -- four by backup guard Sarah Lowe.
No. 24 Temple 64, Xavier 62
PHILADELPHIA -- Kamesha Hairston capped a career night with the game-winning layup as time expired to lead Temple past Xavier. Hairston scored 31 points on 15-of-19 shooting -- including Temple's last six points -- and added eight rebounds for the Owls, winners of 14 straight. With the score tied 62-all and 4 seconds remaining, Temple needed to go the length of the court. Temple's Ari Moore threw the inbounds past halfcourt to Candice Dupree, who then found Hairston wide open under the basket. Dupree contributed 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots for Temple (17-3, 9-0 Atlantic 10). Tara Boothe led Xavier (13-6, 7-1) with 18 points.
Associated Press