top 25 roundup \ Friday’s games

December 20, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

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No. 10 Wake Forest 86, Richmond 79

RICHMOND, Va. — Chas McFarland had 20 points and 14 rebounds Friday night, and Wake Forest overcame a lackluster performance. The Demon Deacons (10-0) also got 21 points from Jeff Teague, including eight in a 17-6 run that allowed them to open a more comfortable 69-55 lead with 5:55 remaining. Richmond (5-5) closed to within four twice in the final two minutes, the last at 78-74 with 1:35 left, but Teague scored on a drive and Al-Farouq Aminu followed with a dunk after a turnover to give the Demon Deacons an 82-74 lead and send fans streaming for the exits. Kevin Anderson led Richmond with 21 points, David Gonzalvez had 18 and Jarhon Giddings 12. The Demon Deacons dominated the backboards in the first half, outrebounding Richmond 24-14, but Wake Forest led just 37-35 at the break after the Spiders scored the last six points. Wake Forest had 11 turnovers in the half, and the Spiders had just three.

No. 24 Marquette 94, Western Carolina 77

MILWAUKEE — Lazar Hayward scored a career-high 27 points, providing the fireworks in a decisive run midway through the first half that put the game out of reach. Jerel McNeal scored 19 and Wesley Matthews added 18 for Marquette (9-2), which made a strong recovery from its loss at Tennessee on Tuesday night. Brandon Giles scored 17 to lead Western Carolina (5-4), which has lost two straight.

WOMEN

No. 1 Connecticut 85, Northern Colorado 40

CANCUN, Mexico — Maya Moore scored 19 points to lead Connecticut in the Caribbean Classic. Renee Montgomery added 15 points for the Huskies (9-0), who wiped out a first-half deficit with a 14-2 run that put the game in their control. Each of UConn’s 10 players scored, and junior center Kaili McLaren had eight points and a season-high 10 rebounds. Jamie Schroder led the Bears (4-6) with 17 points. Whitley Cox added 10. Moore made her first five shots, including three three-pointers, and scored 13 of UConn’s first 25 points. She added five rebounds, three assists and three steals. The Huskies have a day before wrapping up the tournament Sunday against Florida State.

No. 3 Stanford 78, South Carolina 47

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Kayla Pedersen had 15 points and 16 rebounds, Jayne Appel had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and the Cardinal rebounded from their loss earlier in the week to Duke. Stanford (8-2) will finish up this three-game East Coast swing on Sunday against No. 11 Tennessee, a rematch of last season’s national championship game. For South Carolina (5-4), it was the 20th straight loss to a ranked opponent. The Gamecocks are 1-38 in such games since the end of the 2002-03 season

No. 10 Auburn 65, George Washington 51

WASHINGTON — DeWanna Bonner had season-highs of 30 points and 16 rebounds for her third double-double of the season, helping the Tigers hold on in their first game in 12 days. Whitney Boddie addded 14 points for Auburn (11-0), which opened an 18-3 lead about 6 minutes into the game and led by as many as 19 in the first half. George Washington (5-4) rallied within 54-51 with 4:46 to go, but Auburn held on by converting nine of 10 free throws in the final 4 1/2 minutes. Antelia Parrish had 13 points to lead the Colonials. Jessica Adair added 11.

No. 14 Rutgers 61, Lafayette 29

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Epiphanny Prince scored 23 points and Kia Vaughn added a season-high 13 to help the Scarlet Knights win their fifth straight game. Rutgers (7-2), which has won 19 straight home games, last held an opponent under 30 points in November 2000, against Vermont. It was the fewest points that Lafayette had scored since 1996 against Saint Joseph’s. Jessica Spicer and Elizabeth Virgin each scored six points for the Leopards (4-7), who closed to 26-17 at halftime but couldn’t keep up after the break.

No. 16 Pittsburgh 89, Florida A&M 59

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Xenia Stewart scored 27 points and the Panthers locked down on defense for their ninth straight win. Pittsburgh (9-1) held Florida A&M (4-5) to one basket from the floor for the game’s first 7 minutes, 58 seconds. Pittsburgh disrupted passing lanes and turned 17 turnovers into 26 points. Tameka McKelton led Florida A&M with three 3-pointers and 17 points. Shavonte Zellous added 21 points and seven rebounds for the Panthers, while Shayla Scott had nine points and nine rebounds.

No. 19 Vanderbilt 98, Tennessee State 82

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Hannah Tuomi scored a career-high 23 points, had 10 rebounds and led four Commodores in double-figures in an easy win. Christina Wirth added 22 points, Jessica Mooney had 15 and Merideth Marsh 10 for Vanderbilt (9-2), which used an 18-2 run over the final 4:27 of the first half to take a 51-24 lead.

No. 22 Oklahoma St. 75, Southern Mississippi 72

LAS VEGAS — Andrea Riley scored 35 points — 19 of them coming from the foul line — to give the Cowgirls a victory in the Desert Draw women’s tournament hosted by UNLV. Oklahoma State scored the game’s first nine points, but Southern Mississippi bounced back to take a 24-23 lead before the Cowgirls finished the first half on a 12-4 run for a 35-28 lead.

Associated Press