Hof helps No. 25 Miami upset fourth-ranked Notre Dame 72-65
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Emese Hof and Beatrice Mompremier had double-doubles for the No. 25-ranked Miami Hurricanes, who applied smothering defense to beat No. 4 Notre Dame 72-65 on Thursday night.
The Fighting Irish were held to a season-low point total and shot 37 percent, also a season low. Miami won despite shooting just 39 percent, including 3 for 16 from 3-point range.
Hof had 21 points and 13 rebounds. Mompremier added 18 points and 12 rebounds for her 18th double-double, the most in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Students swarmed the court after the win — this matched the highest-ranked team that Hurricanes (20-5, 8-2 ACC) have beaten, having also topped No. 4 Notre Dame in 2015.
The Fighting Irish (21-3, 8-2) fell out of a tie for the league lead.
Jessica Shepard led Notre Dame with 17 points and 17 rebounds.
No. 2 LOUISVILLE 76, No. 15 SYRACUSE 51
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Asia Durr scored 15 points to help Louisville beat Syracuse.
Wearing white-and-black uniforms honoring native son Muhammad Ali, the Cardinals (22-1, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) paid a fitting tribute by landing an early knockout punch. Durr scored the team's first 10 points as Louisville jumped out to an 18-4 lead less than six minutes into the game.
After Durr's quick start, it was a balanced effort for the rest of the first half as six other players scored at least six points in the half. The Cardinals, who led by as many as 24 points late in the second quarter, also got assists on 12 of their first 15 baskets. They also shot 53 percent in the half and still managed to grab nine offensive rebounds.
Kiara Lewis scored 13 points to lead the Orange (17-5, 6-3), who lost for the third time in five games.
No. 24 FLORIDA STATE 75, No. 9 N.C. STATE 70
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Nausia Woolfolk scored 22 points, including a career-high tying five 3-pointers, and Florida State scored 10 straight points late in the fourth quarter to knock off North Carolina State.
Nicki Ekhomu added 20 points as the Seminoles (20-3, 8-2 ACC) shot 55.2 percent from the floor in the second half.
Ekhomu iced the win by making a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left. The Wolfpack turned it over on their last possession.
NC State (21-2, 8-2) was the last unbeaten Division I team until a loss on Sunday to North Carolina.
No. 10 MARYLAND 72, NORTHWESTERN 57
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Stephanie Jones had 16 points and nine rebounds, reserve Sara Vujacic made all four of her shots during the decisive first half and Maryland rolled past Northwestern for its sixth straight victory.
The Terrapins gained sole possession of first place in the Big Ten, a half-game ahead of Rutgers. Maryland (21-2, 10-2) faces the Scarlet Knights on the road Sunday, looking to avenge a 73-65 defeat on Dec. 31.
As a prelude to that rematch, the Terrapins dominated Northwestern from start to finish. Vujacic scored 10 points to help Maryland take a 41-20 halftime lead, and the Jones opened the second half with two straight baskets to erase any chance of a comeback.
The fourth-place Wildcats (14-9, 7-5) came in riding a 5-1 streak and had won three straight on the road. But they missed their first 12 shots, fell behind by 19 early in the second quarter and never rallied in their most lopsided Big Ten loss of the season.
No. 12 SOUTH CAROLINA 75, MISSISSIPPI 42
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nelly Perry led a balanced attack with 13 points and South Carolina warmed up for a showdown with UConn with an easy win over Mississippi.
Alexis Jennings, Destainni Henderson and Victaria Saxton added 12 points apiece for the Gamecocks (17-5, 9-1 Southeastern Conference), who will carry a five-game winning streak when they play at the No. 5 Huskies on Monday night.
South Carolina got off to a bit of a slow start and didn't get the lead into double figures until an 8-0 run later in the second quarter. Still, the Rebels (8-16, 2-8), who have lost five straight, only trailed 36-27.
The Gamecocks outscored Ole Miss 21-5 in the third quarter to break the game open.
Crystal Allen had 13 points for the Rebels.
No. 16 IOWA 86, No. 23 MICHIGAN STATE 71
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Megan Gustafson poured in 41 points and grabbed 14 rebounds Thursday night to lead No. 16 Iowa to an 86-71 win over No. 23 Michigan State.
Kathleen Doyle added 18 points with four 3-pointers, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Hawkeyes (18-5, 9-3 Big Ten Conference). Gustafson was 17 of 24 from the field and made all seven of her free throws as Iowa avenged an 84-70 loss at Michigan State on Dec. 30 when she became the Hawkeyes' all-time leading scorer. The nation's leading scorer (26.7 ppg) pushed her career total to 2,429 points.
Freshman Nia Clouden, who scored a career-high 27 in the first meeting, led the Spartans (16-6, 6-5), who had won three straight, with 20 points, 10 in the fourth quarter.
MISSOURI 70, No. 18 TEXAS A&M 65, OT
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Sophie Cunningham scored six of her 22 points in the final minute of overtime and Missouri ended Texas A&M's seven-game winning streak.
Cunningham had a steal on the opening possession of overtime and then grabbed an offensive rebound that led to Lauren Aldridge's 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 64-61 lead. Missouri went on to miss its next five shots before Cunningham hit a 15-footer from the right wing with 32 seconds left.
Texas A&M, which missed its first eight shots in overtime, finally got a basket from Ciera Johnson on the third attempt in the following possession to pull within 66-63 with 17.9 seconds left. Cunningham made two free throws seconds later and after another A&M basket she clinched it with two more at 5.4 seconds.
Amber Smith had 18 points for Missouri (17-7, 6-4 Southeastern Conference). Cunningham had 12 rebounds.
Chennedy Carter had 29 points for Texas A&M (18-5, 7-3) but she was 10 of 23 from the field, missing her last nine shots.
No. 19 KENTUCKY 78, AUBURN 68
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Rhyne Howard scored 19 points, Taylor Murry added 17 and Kentucky used a hot first half to defeat Auburn.
Blair Green had 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting, including two 3-pointers, for the Wildcats (19-5, 6-4 Southeastern Conference), who hit 11 of 20 3-pointers.
Unique Thompson had 20 points for Auburn (17-6, 5-5), which went 2 of 11 from distance but was 22 of 29 from the foul line.
No. 20 ARIZONA 61, WASHINGTON STATE 46
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Kianna Ibis scored 22 points and Arizona took over in the second half to defeat Washington State.
Robbi Ryan added 13 points for the Sun Devils (16-6, 7-4 Pac-12 Conference), who trailed 28-27 at halftime before rolling to their third-straight win.
Borislava Hristova scored 11 points for the Cougars (7-16, 2-10), who have lost seven straight.