TAMPA, Fla. -- South Florida's Jose Fernandez is puzzled by the chatter about the struggles of the UConn women's basketball team this season.
"They've lost three games," Fernandez said Sunday after falling to the fifth-ranked Huskies 67-47 before a crowd of 6,044. "How many teams around the country would like to have that record right now?"
Megan Walker scored 21 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 20, helping the 11-time national champions, who had lost two of their previous three games, shrug off a slow start to improve to 30-0 all-time against Fernandez's team.
Still, the USF coach is "very sad" that the Huskies are leaving the American Athletic Conference for the Big East after this season.
Despite UConn's dominance of the seven-year-old league, Fernandez enjoys competing against the Huskies and has developed a close friendship with Huskies Coach Geno Auriemma.
"They brought great credibility to our conference," Fernandez said.
UConn (21-3, 11-0) trailed by four at halftime, took the lead for good early in the third quarter and broke the game open by beginning the fourth quarter with a 15-2 run and holding USF (15-10, 7-4) to one field goal during a nine-minute stretch.
Christyn Williams (Central Arkansas Christian) scored 9 points, and made 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Aubrey Griffin came off the bench to score 8 points, grab 7 rebounds and key the Huskies defense with 5 steals.
"Aubrey really came in and changed the game," Auriemma said of the freshman forward from Ossining, N.Y.
Fernandez called the game "a tale of two halves."
Auriemma lamented his team's season-long offensive woes.
"Our defense keeps us in most games," the UConn coach said. "So if we can figure the offensive part out, we'll be OK."
In improving to 131-0 all-time against league opponents since the formation of the AAC, UConn rebounded from an 18-point loss to top-ranked South Carolina on Monday.
NO. 8 STANFORD 69,
COLORADO 66
BOULDER, Colo. -- Junior Kiana Williams hit a game-tying three-pointer with 12 seconds left, then stole the ball from Mya Hollingshed and sank a 40-footer at the buzzer to send eighth-ranked Stanford past Colorado.
Williams, whose 29 points and seven three-pointers were both career highs, looked as stunned as the Buffaloes and their fans as her teammates swarmed her and celebrated in a pile in front of their bench while the officials went to the monitors to confirm the basket was good.
The Buffaloes (15-10, 4-10 Pac-12) were held without a basket over the final 3:06 after taking a 64-59 lead and they missed four of six free throws in the final 26 seconds with a chance to ice it.
The Cardinal (23-3, 12-2) won their fifth consecutive game.
GEORGIA TECH 65,
No. 4 N.C. STATE 61
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Francesca Pan scored 13 of her 30 points in the first six minutes of the third quarter and Georgia Tech stunned N.C. State.
The Yellow Jackets (17-9, 8-7 ACC) trailed 30-25 at halftime after missing their last six field-goal attempts of the second quarter and being held scoreless for 3:38. But Pan got going in the third quarter, making 6 of 7 field-goal attempts to help Georgia Tech build a 49-38 lead.
N.C. State (22-3, 11-3) lost at home for the second time in four days following a defeat to No. 9 Louisville on Thursday.
No. 3 OREGON 93,
SOUTHERN CAL 67
LOS ANGELES -- Erin Boley scored 25 points, Ruthy Hebard added 22 and Satou Sabally had 18 to help Oregon (24-2, 13-1 Pac-12) rout Southern California (13-12, 5-9). Boley's points and her seven three-pointers were both season highs.
No. 9 LOUISVILLE 82,
NOTRE DAME 49
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Dana Evans scored 18 points to lead Louisville (23-3, 12-2 ACC) to a victory over Notre Dame (10-16, 5-9). The Cardinals made 7-of-9 shots during one stretch of the second quarter to build a 36-21 lead midway through the quarter.
No. 10 MARYLAND 106,
PENN STATE 69
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Stephanie Jones scored 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds as Maryland clamped down defensively in the second half to roll to a win over Penn State.
Diamond Miller and Shakira Austin, who had eight rebounds, added 16 points apiece for Maryland (22-4, 13-2 Big Ten). Kamaria McDaniel led Penn State (7-19, 1-14) with 22 points.
In other Top 25 women's games Sunday, Pac-12 scoring leader Aari McDonald scored 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting and No. 12 Arizona (21-4, 10-4) beat Washington State (11-15, 4-10) 72-57 in Tucson, Ariz. ... Lexi Held scored 26 points and No. 13 DePaul (24-3, 14-1 Big East) rolled past Xavier (2-23, 1-13) 97-65 in Chicago. ... Haley Gorecki scored 21 points, including two free throws with 3.5 seconds left, and Duke (15-10, 9-5 ACC) upset No. 14 Florida State (20-5, 9-5) 66-64 in Durham, N.C. ... Kathleen Doyle scored 22 points and No. 17 Iowa (21-5, 12-3 Big Ten) ran its winning streak at home to 34 with a victory over Wisconsin (11-15, 3-12) 97-71 in Iowa City, Iowa. ... Veronica Burton scored 21 points and No. 19 Northwestern (22-3, 12-2 Big Ten) scored the last nine points of the game to pull out a win over Nebraska (16-10, 6-9) 60-56 in Evanston, Ill. ... Madison Greene scored 14 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter and Ohio State (16-9, 9-5 Big Ten) rallied to beat No. 20 Indiana (20-7, 10-5) 80-76 in Bloomington, Ind. ... Reili Richardson scored 17 points and became the all-time assists leader with 539 for No. 22 Arizona State (18-8, 8-6 Pac-12) as the Sun Devils held off Washington (12-13, 3-11) 72-68 in Tempe, Ariz.
SEC WOMEN
NO. 18 KENTUCKY 73,
NO. 6 MISSISSIPPI STATE 62
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Rhyne Howard scored 26 points and led a third-quarter surge that sent Kentucky over Mississippi State.
Howard had 11 points to help the Wildcats (19-5, 8-4) outscore the Bulldogs 22-9 in the third period. Amanda Paschal and Howard hit consecutive three-pointers as Kentucky closed the quarter on an 8-0 run.
Kentucky led 61-41 early in the fourth before Rickea Jackson's 10 straight points helped MSU (22-4, 10-2) get within 10. Jaida Roper let the Wildcats maintain a safe cushion with six consecutive points down the stretch.
No. 16 TEXAS A&M 73,
No. 25 TENNESSEE 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Chennedy Carter scored a season-high 37 points in her first start since returning from an ankle injury as Texas A&M edged slumping Tennessee.
Carter, the SEC's preseason player of the year, had missed seven games after hurting her left ankle, with the Aggies going 4-3 in that span. The 5-foot-7 junior returned to action Thursday and scored 18 points in 22 minutes off the bench in a 74-53 victory over Vanderbilt.
Shambria Washington scored 10 points and N'dea Jones had eight points and 16 rebounds for Texas A&M (20-5, 8-4 SEC). Rae Burrell scored 19 and Rennia Davis had 18 for Tennessee (17-8, 7-5).
TOP 25 MEN
NO. 4 SAN DIEGO STATE 72,
BOISE STATE 55
BOISE, Idaho -- Malachi Flynn scored 22 points, Yanni Wetzell added 14 and No. 4 San Diego State beat Boise State to remain undefeated.
The Aztecs (26-0, 15-0 Mountain West) won in Boise for the first time since Jan. 16, 2016. They had little trouble handing the Broncos their first conference loss at home this season.
NO. 15 VILLANOVA 76, TEMPLE 56
PHILADELPHIA -- Collin Gillespie scored a season-high 29 points to lead Villanova over Temple.
Jermaine Samuels added 13 points and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 10 for Villanova (19-6), which won its seventh consecutive game over Temple while finishing 4-0 in the Big 5.
Quinton Rose scored 22 points and Nate Pierre-Louis had 16 for Temple (13-12).
NO. 21 IOWA 58, MINNESOTA 55
MINNEAPOLIS -- Luka Garza scored 24 points, Ryan Kreiner added 10 points and Iowa (18-8, 9-6 Big Ten) came back to beat Minnesota (12-12, 6-8).
Sports on 02/17/2020