College Basketball Capsules - Women: Hayes, UConn push home winning streak to 96 games
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Tiffany Hayes scored 17 points and No. 3 Connecticut beat Cincinnati 80-37 Thursday, extending the Huskies' NCAA-record home winning streak to 96 consecutive games.
Hayes, who scored in double figures for the seventh consecutive game, eclipsed the 1,500-point plateau for her career. She also had seven rebounds and four steals.
Stefanie Dolson added 14 points and eight rebounds for UConn (16-2, 5-1 Big East), and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Dayeesha Hollins had 15 of her 18 points in the first half for Cincinnati (9-9, 0-5), which fell to .500 after its fourth consecutive loss, including three to Top 10 teams.
Connecticut hasn't lost at home since the finals of the 2007 Big East tournament, and has won 58 consecutive regular-season Big East games at home.
NO. 4 STANFORD 75, WASHINGTON STATE 41
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Chiney Ogwumike added 19 points and 12 rebounds and Stanford won its school-record 72nd straight at home.
Joslyn Tinkle had nine points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Cardinal.
Stanford (16-1, 7-0 Pac-12) looked ragged in the early going before Nneka Ogwumike provided a spark, scoring 10 points in the first nine minutes of the second half. She then sat out the rest of the game, finishing 9 for 19 from the floor and moving into sixth place on the Cardinal's career scoring list.
Washington State (9-9, 3-3) didn't have a player in double figures and remained winless in 53 meetings between the two schools.
NO. 6 KENTUCKY 69, NO. 15 GEORGIA 64
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Kentucky took the lead with a 9-0 run in the second half and wore down short-handed Georgia.
Bria Goss, who had a career-high 22 points, hit two 3-pointers in the big run, including one that gave the Wildcats a 54-52 lead. Samarie Walker added 18 points for Kentucky (17-2, 6-0 Southeastern Conference).
Kentucky used 12 players while Georgia (15-4, 4-2), limited by injuries, used only seven.
Bulldogs starting guard Jasmine James, the team's primary ball-handler, was held out with a sprained right knee. Freshman Erika Ford, starting for James, led Georgia with 17 points. Jasmine Hassell had 13 points and Khaalidah Miller had 12.
NO. 8 MARYLAND 86, WAKE FOREST 58
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Tianna Hawkins scored 18 points and set a school record with 24 rebounds, leading a second-half surge that carried Maryland past Wake Forest.
The game was tied at halftime, but the Terrapins dominated the final 20 minutes in rolling to their 11th straight win over the Demon Deacons. Alyssa Thomas had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Maryland (18-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Hawkins broke the previous school record of 23 rebounds by grabbing a misfire on the Maryland end with 32 seconds left. She eclipsed the mark set by Angie Scott against Towson State in February 1977 and tied by Debbie Jones against Howard in December of that year.
Chelsea Douglas led Wake Forest (11-7, 1-4) with 15 points, and Lakevia Boykin and Sandra Garcia each had 13.
NO. 9 TENNESSEE 65, LSU 56
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Meighan Simmons scored 19 points and Cierra Burdick's tiebreaking jumper late in the second half put Tennessee up for good.
The score was tied 11 times and the teams traded the lead six times. After Burdick's jumper with 6:22 left, the Lady Volunteers (14-4, 5-1 SEC) padded their lead with free throws from there, despite an uncharacteristic 18-of-31 performance from the line.
LSU hit just one more shot from the floor the rest of the way.
Courtney Jones had 16 points to lead the Lady Tigers (13-5, 4-2). LSU was without two point guards in the second half after Jeanne Kenney suffered a concussion early in the game and Destini Hughes seriously injured her right leg just before halftime.
Burdick scored 15, and Vicki Baugh grabbed 14 rebounds for Tennessee.
NO. 10 OHIO ST. 82, NO. 20 NEBRASKA 68
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tayler Hill had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Samantha Prahalis added 19 points and nine assists and Ohio State beat Nebraska.
Ashley Adams had 13 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Buckeyes (18-1, 5-1 Big Ten), with Amber Stokes chipping added 12 points.
Emily Cady scored a career-high 24 points, Jordan Hooper had 19 and Lindsey Moore 13 for the Cornhuskers (15-3, 4-2), who lost their second in a row. They were beaten at home by Penn State 93-73 on Sunday.
Ohio State shot 59 percent in the opening half in building a 41-36 lead and then broke the game open with a 10-2 second-half run.
NO. 11 MIAMI 56, VIRGINIA 53
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Shenise Johnson scored 20 points and hit a pair of free throws with 18.2 seconds left to lift Miami.
The Cavaliers (14-6, 2-4 ACC) had two chances to tie on their final possession, but guard Ariana Moorer missed a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left and a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer from Jazmin Pitts from the corner did not reach the basket.
Moorer led Virginia with 18 points.
Miami (15-3, 6-1) outrebounded Virginia 44-35. Johnson had 12 points in the second half.
Virginia led 33-29 at halftime, but the Cavaliers missed 13 of 24 free throw attempts overall.
NO. 12 WISCONSIN-GREEN BAY 75, YOUNGSTOWN STATE 50
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Lydia Bauer scored 19 points to lead Wisconsin-Green Bay to its school-record 36th straight regular season victory.
Adrian Ritchie scored 17 points and Julie Wojta added 12 points and 11 rebounds for Green Bay (16-0, 6-0 Horizon League), which never trailed and led by 16 at halftime. The Phoenix also remained one of two unbeaten teams in the nation, along with top-ranked Baylor.
Brandi Brown had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Youngstown State (8-9, 2-4). The Penguins briefly made it interesting with a 8-3 run to open the second half but Green Bay's win was never in doubt.
NO. 13 PURDUE 82, INDIANA 60
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Antionette Howard scored a season-high 20 points and Brittany Rayburn added 14 as Purdue won its ninth straight.
The Boilermakers (16-3, 6-0 Big Ten) have won six straight in the series and are the league's only unbeaten team in conference play.
Indiana (5-14, 0-6) has lost six straight and still has not beaten Purdue at home since Jan. 19, 2009. Aulani Sinclair led the Hoosiers with 20 points.
Though Purdue played uncharacteristic defense in the first half, allowing Indiana to shoot 54.2 percent from the field, the Boilermakers were never seriously threatened after taking an early 18-8 lead.
The Boilermakers opened the second half on a 15-6 run to make it 52-36 and led by double digits the rest of the way.
NO. 16 DELAWARE 65, TOWSON 46
TOWSON, Md. (AP) — Elena Delle Donne, the leading scorer in Division I, and Lauren Carra each scored 15 points and Delaware won its fifth straight.
Delle Donne, a 6-foot-5 junior, entered the game averaging 29.3 points, but had a season low as the Blue Hens (15-1, 6-0 Colonial Athletic Association) stayed on a roll.
She struggled from the field, making only four of 11 shots as Towson (11-6, 2-4) constantly double-teamed her.
Delle Donne didn't score a basket until 17:46 remained in the game. She scored seven points in the first half and eight in the second half — all of which came in a stretch of under six minutes and didn't score for the final 11 minutes, 29 seconds.
NO. 22 PENN STATE 71, ILLINOIS 65
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Maggie Lucas scored 19 points and Penn State won its third straight.
Illinois led for most of the first half, but Penn State (14-4, 4-2 Big Ten) used a series of runs to keep the Illini winless in conference play.
Illinois (6-13, 0-6) led 33-28 in the first half, but Penn State closed the period with a 12-1 run to take a 37-34 lead, and then came out of the break with an 8-2 run.
Alex Bentley scored 15 points and had four assists for Penn State, and Nikki Greene added 10 points.
The Illini answered with a 9-2 run to pull to 47-45 midway through the second half, but couldn't regain the lead. Amber Moore made five 3-pointers to lead Illinois with 17 points.
NO. 24 NORTH CAROLINA 56, VIRGINIA TECH 37
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Brittany Rountree scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half and North Carolina overcome a sloppy effort to end a three-game losing streak.
The Tar Heels (13-5, 3-2 ACC), coming off an 86-35 loss at Connecticut that was the worst defeat in program history, also got 14 points from Chay Shegog. North Carolina won despite 19 turnovers and 5-for-14 shooting from the foul line.
The Hokies (6-13, 2-4), playing with only six scholarship players available, trailed 25-21 at halftime. North Carolina used a 9-2 run to start the second half to take control. Virginia Tech never got closer than seven again. It was the Hokies' fourth consecutive loss under first-year coach Dennis Wolff.
Monet Tellier led the Hokies with 16 points and Porschia Hadley had eight.
ARKANSAS 69, NO. 25 VANDERBILT 47
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Sarah Watkins scored 21 points to lead Arkansas past Vanderbilt.
The win was the second straight for the Razorbacks (13-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference), who opened SEC play with four straight losses. It was their first win over Vandy since 2006. The Commodores won 13 of the previous 14 meetings.
Ashley Daniels added 17 points for Arkansas, which led by as many as 23 points in the second half. The Razorbacks forced 22 turnovers and held Vanderbilt (14-4, 2-3) to a season-low point total.
The loss is the second straight for the Commodores, who lost to Tennessee on Sunday. Christina Foggie had 14 points to lead Vanderbilt, which shot 32 percent in the loss.
News & Notes
At 17-2, St. Bonaventure women seeking respect
OLEAN, N.Y. (AP) — Coach Jim Crowley isn't going to hazard a guess when — or even if — his St. Bonaventure women's basketball team might start attracting a bit of national attention.
Nor is he going to spend time worrying about votes, polls or theories on how a small school in the Atlantic 10 Conference with an inconsistent track record and no NCAA tournament experience can emerge as a power.
If getting off to a school-best 17-2 start this year, and coming on the heels of three straight 20-win seasons isn't worthy of a second look, then staying under the radar is fine by him.
"Our kids deserve more," Crowley said of a team that earned two votes in The Associated Press poll and none in the ESPN/USA Today poll this week. "But you know what, all you can control is how you prepare and how you play. And if other people take notice of it, that's fantastic."
So forget asking whether the Bonnies might be underrated.
"Not by me," Crowley said. "But I'd rather be under than over."
The Bonnies' 17 wins are already the fifth-most in school history and rank tied for third in the nation with Ohio State (17-1). With a 7-0 record on the road, they join top-ranked Baylor and No. 12 Green Bay as the only teams in the nation without a road loss.
Opening the week 46th in the RPI rankings, St. Bonaventure's only two losses have come against No. 16 Delaware and Villanova.
It might be time to start paying Crowley and Company their due after the deep and senior-laden Bonnies improved their conference record to 4-0 with a 75-59 win over Richmond (14-4, 2-2) in what was supposed to be a showdown of A-10 elite on Wednesday night.
St. Bonaventure led 38-28 at the half despite having star forward Megan Van Tatenhove miss all but the first 70 seconds after picking up her second foul. The Bonnies didn't miss a beat, efficiently picking apart the Spiders with a balanced attack.
Jessica Jenkins hit two of her four 3-point baskets during a decisive 14-4 run. Backup forward Jennie Ashton had a career-best 10 rebounds. And the Bonnies' defense limited the Spiders to shoot 20 of 52 from the field.
"People know their role, and they're not afraid of it," Crowley said of a team that features four seniors and three juniors. "That's the thing I'm really pleased with, most pleased with, is that they knew they had a chance to do some good things and they committed to it."
The Bonnies make up for a lack of size — at 6-foot-2, Ashton's their tallest player — with a cohesive approach. They're patient on offense, and yet can open it up on the transition. And their tough on defense, allowing 52.6 points a game.
At 6-1, Van Tatenhove is an all-around threat in having become just the ninth Bonnies player to score 1,000 points and have 500 rebounds. Guard Armelia Horton and forward Doris Ortega are both physical in driving the basket. And Jenkins gives the Bonnies an outside shooting presence. With 287 career 3-point baskets, she's five short of setting the A-10 record.
Count Spiders coach Michael Shafer as a believer.
After preparing his players to contain Van Tatenhove, that plan went out the window when the Spiders had difficulty defending the Bonnies' drive-to-the-basket approach.
"They are a very experienced group that's played together and has developed a chemistry and a toughness," Shafer said. "I think this league, this year is wide open. ... But that being said, I think they're a tough out when you get to the (A-10) tournament."
The Bonnies' schedule hasn't been easy, considering they opened with a 64-58 win at then No. 25 St. John's; have won at West Virginia; and last week won at Temple, where the Owls had only lost four times in their previous 23 games.
All that for a team that was picked to finish sixth in the preseason conference projections, despite returning the core of a team that's coming off three straight WNIT appearances.
"We've always had the underdog role, and that's something we've kind of embraced," Jenkins said. "It's not really that big of a deal to us right now until the end."
The Bonnies next big test comes Saturday at Charlotte (12-6, 4-0). In six weeks, it's the conference tournament, where St. Bonaventure has never won consecutive games.
Crowley is not looking too far ahead, though he's pleased with what his team's done so far.
"We're like the squirrels you see around campus, grabbing acorns and putting them in our tree," Crowley said. "And no matter what happens, I'm never going to look back and say, 'Oh, shoot,' because it's incredible what we've done."
-- John Wawrow
Kean dismisses women's basketball coach
UNION, N.J. (AP) — Kean University removed the coach of the school's powerhouse women's basketball team on Thursday amid an NCAA probe into possible wrongdoing in the program.
The university in Union, N.J. said in a statement Thursday that Michele Sharp was removed as coach as reassigned to another job by Athletic Director Chris Morgan "in the best interests of student athletes and the university."
University spokesman Matthew Caruso said university officials would not make any further comment.
A man who answered at Sharp's listing on Thursday said she was not available and he would not comment other than to deny any allegations against Sharp.
Reached earlier by The Star-Ledger newspaper, which first reported the dismissal, Sharp said, "You guys don't really want the truth, so I have nothing to say to you."
Sharp was in her 14th year as coach and her team was playing well with a 15-3 record after a loss Wednesday.
In her career at Kean, she led her team to the Division III NCAA tournament six times, including after each of the last six seasons.
In September, the NCAA informed the school of five possible rule violations, including four related to "extra benefits" for the women's basketball team.
The school banned its men's and women's soccer teams and women's volleyball teams from postseason plan last fall because the NCAA found athletes had received a disproportionate number of academic scholarships.
Colleges that compete in Division III are not allowed to give athletic scholarships.
The NCAA also found possible infractions specifically on the women's basketball team, including a course that offered academic credit and additional financial aid to basketball players for their 2010 trip to Europe. The report also alleged a grade-change for one player from an "F'' to an incomplete to keep her eligible to play.
The report also found Sharp "did not promote an atmosphere of compliance."
Sharp and other university officials were given a Jan. 9 deadline to submit responses to the NCAA's allegations.
LSU PG Hughes injures right leg
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — LSU senior guard Destini Hughes left the Lady Tigers' game at No. 9 Tennessee just before halftime after seriously injuring her right leg.
With the game tied at 26 points and 3 seconds left in the first half, Hughes caught a long in-bound pass and attempted to turn and shoot when her leg buckled beneath her. Hughes was tended to by trainers from both teams before her leg was immobilized and she was taken off the court in a wheelchair.
The Fort Worth native has started all 17 games at point guard and averages 7.4 points for LSU (13-4, 4-1 Southeastern Conference). She had scored five points against the Lady Volunteers and stolen the ball four times before her injury.
