Sophomore paces Buckeyes

TOP 25 SEC WOMEN

NO. 11 OHIO STATE 95, NO. 10 TEXAS A&M 80

LAS VEGAS -- Kelsey Mitchell matched the Ohio State women's record with 42 points and the No. 11 Buckeyes beat No. 10 Texas A&M in the final game of the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout.

Mitchell tied the school record set by Samantha Prahalis against Michigan State on Feb. 23, 2011.

The sophomore guard has 1,021 points in 41 games for the Buckeyes (4-2) to break the Big Ten record for fewest games to top 1,000. She was 12 of 20 from the field and made 15 of 16 free throws.

"Kelsey was very efficient today," Coach Kevin McGuff said. "She's a special player and a great kid, and she has a tremendous impact on our team. She is one of the best players in the country. She just wants to do everything she can to help us win."

Ameryst Alston added 21 points to help give McGuff his 300th victory. He was 214-73 at Xavier, 41-26 at Washington and 45-31 with the Buckeyes.

"Ameryst is a great player, one of the best in the country," McGuff said. "She makes others better and was terrific on both ends of the floor today."

Courtney Williams had 21 points for Texas A&M (5-1), and Courtney Walker added 20.

"Texas A&M is a great basketball team that is well coached," McGuff said. "We switched from a man-to-man defense to zone, and that took them out of their rhythm and allowed us to get back in the game."

Mitchell scored 31 points in the second half to help the Buckeyes recover after they fell behind by 15 points at 19-4 in the first quarter.

"Being down, it sort of made us focus on what we needed to do as a team going into the second quarter," Mitchell said. "We needed to bounce back better in the second quarter."

Ohio State took the lead for good when Mitchell stole the ball and made a layup with 8:06 remaining in the third quarter. Alston added a three-pointer to give the Buckeyes a 43-40 lead. Mitchell's three-pointer made it 46-41.

The Buckeyes shot 54 percent (34 for 63) from the field, including 66 percent (19 for 29) in the second half.

The Buckeyes' Alexa Hart has blocked at least one shot in 26 consecutive games after registering one against the Aggies. She had a school-record 129 blocks last season.

NO. 2 SOUTH CAROLINA 90, CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD 71

HONOLULU -- A'ja Wilson matched her career high with 26 points to help No. 2 South Carolina beat Cal State Bakersfield 90-71 on Saturday in the Rainbow Wahine Classic.

Wilson was 10 of 14 from the field and made 6 of 9 free throws. She also had 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks.

Bianca Cuevas added a season-high 20 points and had six assists, and Tiffany Mitchell finished with 13 points for the Gamecocks (6-0) who shot 55 percent from the field.

Batabe Zempare led the Roadrunners (1-4) with 19 points and eight rebounds. Alyssa Shannon added 11 points and 5 assists, and Erika Williams had 10 points and 4 assists.

Cal State Bakersfield was 8 of 18 on three-pointers and 13 of 15 from the free throw line.

South Carolina led 45-37 at the half.

The Roadrunners trailed 27-14 after the first quarter, but twice got to within four points in the third quarter on a runner by Alyssa Shannon at the 8:12 mark and again on a floater by Williams with 6:35 left in the period.

Shay Colley scored on three consecutive South Carolina possessions near the end of the third quarter to stretch the lead back to 59-50.

Cal State Bakersfield cut it to 66-61 on Dajy Vine's basket off an assist from Shannon, but South Carolina scored on seven of its next nine possessions to make it 77-63.

The Gamecocks closed out the game on a 10-2 run.

The Roadrunners were whistled for 27 fouls to just 12 for South Carolina.

The Roadrunners shot 10 of 27 from the field (37 percent) in the first and fourth quarters, where they were outscored 43-28, but were 15 of 31 (48 percent) in the second and third quarters, where they outscored the Gamecocks 43-37.

The Gamecocks shot 55 percent (17 of 31) from the free-throw line for the game, but were 6 of 8 in the final quarter. They made their first six attempts.

Sports on 11/29/2015

Upcoming Events