No. 5 Louisville beats BC, claims ACC regular-season title

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kylee Shook matched a season high with 18 points and added 10 rebounds as No. 5 Louisville beat Boston College 68-48 on Thursday night and clinched the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title.

The Cardinals (26-3, 15-2) claimed the program’s first outright regular-season title since winning Conference USA in 2001. And they did that while short-handed, as starters Dana Evans and Elizabeth Balogun missed their second straight games due to ankle injuries.

Louisville made seven of their first nine shots and jumped out to an 18-6 lead. Boston College closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run, cutting its deficit to 20-17. The Cardinals then used an 18-3 run in the second quarter to put the game away.

Jazmine Jones added 17, and Yacine Diop scored 13 in the win.

The Eagles (17-11, 10-7), who had their five-game winning streak get snapped, were led by Tyler Soule’s 11 points.

NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 100, FLORIDA 67

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Mikiah Herbert Harrigan scored 18 points, Tyasha Harris added 16 and South Carolina routed Florida for its 22nd consecutive victory.

The Gamecocks (28-1, 15-0 Southeastern Conference) matched the program record for consecutive victories. The 2015-16 team also won 22 in a row.

This one was decided by halftime. South Carolina made 18 of its first 26 shots (69.2%) to open up a double-digit lead and then used a 16-2 run to go up by 26 in the second quarter.

Zada Williams led the Gators (15-13, 6-9) with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Lavender Briggs added 15.

NO. 8 N.C. STATE 69, SYRACUSE 60

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Aislinn Konig scored 13 points and Erika Cassell added a season-high 12 points to help N.C. State beat Syracuse and clinch the second seed in the ACC Tournament.

N.C. State (24-4, 13-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), which had lost three if its previous four games, needed — and received — contributions from unusual places as leading scorer Elissa Cunane was held to eight points in 11 minutes because of foul trouble.

Cassell exceeded her season-high by five points, and fellow senior Grace Hunter contributed 10 points in a season-high 31 minutes for the Wolfpack.

Kayla Jones had 12 points and 14 rebounds and N.C. State had four scorers in double figures.

NO. 10 MISSISSIPPI STATE 92, ARKANSAS 83

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Jessika Carter had 21 points and 11 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season and five Mississippi State players scored in double figures.

The Bulldogs (24-5, 12-3 Southeastern Conference) shot 58% and dominated in the paint, outscoring the Razorbacks 56-34 inside and had a 38-25 edge in rebounding.

The Razorbacks (21-7, 9-6) built a 26-24 lead in the first quarter behind 16 points from Alexis Tolefree. She finished with 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting and had eight rebounds.

ALABAMA 76, NO. 12 TEXAS A&M 63

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Jasmine Walker hit a career-high six 3-pointers and scored 24 points as Alabama beat Texas A&M.

Ariyah Copeland had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Crimson Tide (16-11, 6-8 Southeastern Conference). Cierra Johnson contributed 14 points.

Coming off a victory over No. 9 Mississippi State. Thursday's win marked the first time Alabama beat Top 15 teams in consecutive games.

Chennedy Carter scored 16 points for Texas A&M (22-6, 10-5) Ciera Johnson scored 15 points with nine rebounds, Aaliyah Wilson had 10 points and N'dea Jones grabbed 12 rebounds to go with eight points.

NO. 15 KENTUCKY 88, GEORGIA 77

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Rhyne Howard made 4 of 12 from 3-point range and scored 25 points, leading Kentucky past Georgia.

Kentucky moved into a tie for third place in the SEC with one game remaining. The top four teams get a double-bye in the conference tournament.

Sabrina Haines had 15 points, Roper scored 14 and Ogechi Anyagaligbo added 10 for Kentucky (21-6, 10-5).

Jenna Staiti led Georgia (15-13, 6-9) with 22 points. Maya Caldwell scored 18, Gabby Connally added 14 and Shaniya Jones had 10.

NO. 18 IOWA 90, MINNESOTA 82

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Makenzie Meyer and Monica Czinano scored 24 points apiece and Iowa ran its home-court winning streak to 36 games.

Kathleen Doyle added 16 points, surpassing 1,500 for her career, and Alexis Sevillian 11 for the Hawkeyes (23-5, 14-3 Big Ten Conference).

Gadiva Hubbard scored 20 points for the Golden Gophers (15-13, 5-12), who have lost five straight. Taiye Bello added 16 points with seven rebounds, Jasmine Powell had 14 with nine assists, Jasmine Brunson scored 14 and Sara Scalia 12.

NO. 19 FLORIDA STATE 81, CLEMSON 54

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Kiah Gillespie scored 10 of her 16 points in the first half and grabbed 11 rebounds for her 14th double-double to lead Florida State past Clemson.

Nausia Woolfolk scored 14 of her 17 points in the first half and finished with seven assists for Florida State (22-6, 11-6 Atlantic Coast Conference). Valencia Myers added 14 points, Morgan Jones had 12 and Nicki Ekhomu 11.

Kobi Thornton scored 13 points to lead Clemson (7-21, 3-14), which has lost 10 straight.

ILLINOIS STATE 78, NO. 21 MISSOURI STATE 66

NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — Tete Maggett scored 24 points, Lexi Wallen added 18 and Illinois State made five of its seven 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to beat Missouri State.

The Redbirds (16-10, 8-7 Missouri Valley Conference), who finished 7 of 12 behind the arc, were 5 for 5 in the fourth quarter with Maggett knocking down three and Mary Crompton two.

Brice Calip scored 19 points for the Bears (23-4, 13-2), who won the teams' first game 87-74 and had a nine-game winning streak. Sydney Wilson and Jasmine Franklin added 13 points apiece.

NO. 22 INDIANA 81, NEBRASKA 53

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Ali Patberg had 26 points, five rebounds and four assists as Indiana beat Nebraska.

Grace Berger added 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Indiana (22-7, 12-5). Aleksa Gulbe and Mackenzie Holmes scored 11 points apiece.

Leigha Brown led Nebraska (17-12, 7-11) with 22 points.