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College Top 25 Women's Basketball Capsules: Top-ranked UConn beats Richmond 86-37
Comments 0 | Recommend 0STORRS, Conn. — Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma says he doesn't believe in labeling his guards.
His two starters both play point at times, and shooting guard at others.
Caroline Doty scored 17 points Saturday and Tiffany Hayes had 15 points, seven assists and no turnovers and the top-ranked Huskies routed Richmond 86-37 Saturday night in the WBCA Classic.
"If you play for us and you're a guard, you should be able to catch and pass and dribble and shoot it," Auriemma said. "Both of them can do that."
UConn (5-0) hit 13 shots from 3-point range, including 10 in the first half to set a school record. Doty, who was one point off her career high, hit five of her seven shots from behind the arc, while Maya Moore had three 3s.
"Our post players gave us opportunities by screening and opening up," Doty said. "They went behind the screen on defense, which gave us the green light to go ahead and shoot the 3, and we took it."
Brittani Shells had 12 points to lead Richmond (4-2), which beat Clemson 86-67 on Friday in the first game of the tournament.
Spiders coach Michael Shafer said the plan was to force UConn outside and keep the Huskies from scoring layups.
"We did not intend to give them open shots," he said. "And I thought that's exactly what happened. We did not contest their shooters and they hit them."
Connecticut has won 44 consecutive games, each by at least 10 points, and has won four of its five games this season by more than 40.
Auriemma had criticized the Huskies on Friday for allowing Hofstra to stay within a point of his team through the first few minutes of their opening-round game.
UConn responded by jumping out to a 14-0 lead on Saturday. Abby Oliver scored the Spiders' first points almost 6 minutes into the game.
A 16-0 UConn run later in the half made it 41-6. Doty had 14 of her points at intermission, including four of the Huskies' 3-pointers, and UConn went into the break up 51-14.
UConn opened the second half on an 8-2 run and built the lead from there.
Tina Charles had 13 points, freshman Kelly Farris had 12 and Moore added 11 for UConn, which shot 60 percent from the floor and 62 percent from 3-point range.
UConn held the Spiders to 34 percent shooting, the 194th straight time the Huskies have held an opponent under 50 percent.
"I don't know that defensively, we could play any better than that," Auriemma said.
On Sunday, the Huskies will go for their 38th straight win and 13th straight title at an in-season tournament when they play Clemson. The Tigers are 1-1 in this tournament, losing 86-67 to Richmond on Friday and beating Hofstra 69-68 on Saturday.
UConn, which beat Hofstra 91-46 to give Auriemma his 700th win, is in the middle of a seven-game homestand, which concludes with a Dec. 23 showdown against No. 2 Stanford.
"I think it's the one after 700 that separates you from everyone else," Auriemma joked. "No question about that."
Prahalis leads No. 3 OSU to 88-33 rout of IUPUI
COLUMBUS, Ohio — After shrugging aside an overmatched opponent, No. 3 Ohio State pronounced itself ready for a showdown.
Samantha Prahalis had 12 points and 10 assists to key Ohio State's lethal transition game, leading the Buckeyes to an 88-33 victory Saturday over IUPUI in the semifinals of the Buckeye Classic.
Jantel Lavender added 12 points and Shavelle Little 10 as the Buckeyes substituted freely while earning a matchup with No. 22 California (3-1) in Sunday's championship game. The Bears beat Southern 78-47 in the first semifinal.
"I want to play ranked opponents," said Lavender, who had an off shooting day, hitting just 5 of 15 shots from the field. "It's a good game to see where you are as a team."
Prahalis, who had her second consecutive double-double, is glad to get a crack at the Bears.
"Playing against a ranked team, if we win it gives us some credit," Prahalis said. "It's just like a (regular) game, you've got to play every game like it's against a ranked opponent."
Clara Mitchell led IUPUI with eight points with Alyse Poindexter adding 11 rebounds. The Jaguars had never faced a team ranked so high.
"That's one of coach (Jim) Foster's best teams by far," IUPUI coach Shann Hart said. "They do a really good job in transition. They forced us into 29 turnovers. When they really get their defense down, they've got a good chance of being a Final Four contender."
The statistical line for points off turnovers said it all: 36-3 in favor of Ohio State.
All 13 players scored for the Buckeyes. The outcome was never in doubt after they erased a 6-6 tie by scoring 22 of the next 24 points.
Schulze got it started with two free throws, Johnson hit a 3 and then Schulze added a 3 of her own to touch off a 10-0 run. After Julia Whitted broke the string with a basket inside, Ohio State ran off the next 12 points with six players accounting for the scoring.
Prahalis hit an off-balance 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, capping a big first half. She hit all three of her shots from the field, including both shots behind the arc, for eight points with seven assists and three rebounds in 15 minutes.
Asked what his team got out of the lopsided win, Foster enumerated the benefits.
"We played hard and that's something that we've been talking about, (going) 40 minutes," he said. "We were in a defensive stance for 40 minutes. We know we can play well when Jantel isn't playing as well as she's capable. That's a good thing. And we know when she's not making shots, she's still going to rotate over defensively and make blocks. And Sammy (Prahalis), in the open floor when you run hard, you're going to be rewarded."
Foster said Cal will offer an entirely different set of challenges. He said he was able to watch the Bears in action for a half and was impressed with their size, athleticism and their ability to drive into the lane.
By the same token, he was pleased with how things turned out for his team against the Jaguars.
"Jantel had tough luck with some shots, we didn't shoot well from the free-throw line and we scored 88 points," Foster said. "I'm not going to complain."
-- Rusty Miller
No. 6 Tennessee holds off UCLA 61-47
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Five former Tennessee players in the coaching ranks have tried to beat coach Pat Summitt. UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell came close to being the first to succeed.
After a slow start by the Lady Volunteers, Taber Spani scored 16 and helped sixth-ranked Tennessee (5-0) hang on to beat the Bruins 61-47 on Saturday.
"It certainly wasn't pretty. I'm not happy. I'm glad we won," said Summitt, who wore her trademark stare for much of the game and told her players they'd be practicing Sunday instead of taking the day off as planned.
Caldwell, a native of nearby Oak Ridge, Tenn., played for Summitt from 1990-94 and worked as her assistant coach from 2002-08 before taking over the Bruins.
"At shootaround I just went and sat at the visitors' bench, and I thought, 'Wow, this is a little different,'" Caldwell said. "I never feel like a visitor coming back home though."
Her team's style of physical defensive play bore a close resemblance to Tennessee, and UCLA (4-2) smothered the Lady Vols in the first half, forcing 12 turnovers.
The Lady Vols shot only 29 percent from the field in the first half, and the Bruins grabbed a 25-14 lead off a jumper by Rebekah Gardner with 4:56 left in the first half.
UCLA cooled off as Spani began finding some rhythm. The freshman hit two 3-point baskets and a pair of free throws before halftime, and the Bruins' lead was cut to 27-25 by the break.
"The first half we didn't bring it consistently energy-wise. That cannot happen against any team, especially a team like UCLA," Spani said.
The Bruins trailed 43-40 with 9:10 left when the Lady Vols launched a 10-2 run. A 3-pointer by Angie Bjorklund gave Tennessee a 53-42 lead with 5:12 left, and the Lady Vols kept a double-digit lead for the rest of the game.
Bjorklund hit three 3s and finished with 12 points, tying Shannon Bobbitt for fourth in the Tennessee record books with 147 career 3-pointers. Glory Johnson added 11 points, and Kelley Cain grabbed 11 rebounds.
Markel Walker, who is almost averaging a double-double this season, led UCLA with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Tennessee grabbed 49 rebounds, compared to UCLA's 35, and scored 30 second-chance points.
Most of the attempts by Summitt's former players turned opponents have ended up as Tennessee blowouts. North Carolina State coach Kelly Harper was the last to try as coach of Western Carolina last season, but the Catamounts lost 83-56. Tanya Haave's San Francisco team lost 68-39 earlier in the 2008-09 season.
Maine coach Patricia Roberts came the closest to beating her mentor with a 77-64 loss on Dec. 13, 1990.
"I never doubted that (Caldwell) would be successful," Summitt said. "They'll win some games in the Pac-10."
Still accustomed to tutoring the players in orange, Caldwell told Spani, Bjorklund and Johnson as they listened to her post game press conference that she was in agreement with Summitt's decision to make the Lady Vols practice on Sunday.
Caldwell also said she brought a bag of UCLA clothing for her family members to wear to the game.
"They are loyal (Tennessee) fans," she said. "I threatened my mom today. I told her, 'Three hundred and sixty-four days out of the year you can be all about Tennessee, but this one day that we play you have to wear the blue and gold.'"
-- Beth Rucker
Phillips scores career-best 19 as Xavier wins
FREEPORT, Bahamas — After a disappointing first half, April Phillips took over.
She scored a career-high 19 points and sparked a second-half run to lift No. 9 Xavier to a 71-56 win over Minnesota in the Junkanoo Jam on Saturday.
"I didn't really do anything differently," said Phillips, who was the tournament MVP. "I struggled during the first half but I saw the team come out in the second half with a lot of intensity so I wanted to step it up and have everybody come with me. We really wanted to get that win so we could enjoy the Bahamas."
The Musketeers led by 12 at the half, but Minnesota rallied to 48-40 with 8:30 to go before Phillips got going. She scored eight points during a 13-2 run over the next 3 minutes that allowed Xavier to put the game away.
"We really dug down and got some big stops there in the second half," Xavier coach Kevin McGuff said. "That led to some transition points that kind of broke the game open. Once again that is a reflection on our effort, our intensity and ability and willingness to share the ball"
Trailing 9-4 early, Xavier went on a 19-2 run to take a 23-11 advantage. The Musketeers held the Gophers scoreless for 7:40 during the spurt.
Amber Harris added 12 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and three blocks for Xavier (5-0). Tyeasha Moss hit four 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.
Ashley Ellis-Milan scored 14 points for Minnesota (5-2). Jackie Voigt added 13.
"Minnesota is an outstanding team. They play incredibly hard and are going to have a great season," McGuff said. "That's a really good win for us because Minnesota is going to be a tough team to beat this year."
James leads No. 14 Georgia to 84-55 victory
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Jasmine James scored 24 points to lead No. 14 Georgia to an 84-55 win over Southern Miss on Saturday in the finals of the Lady Eagle Classic.
Ashley Houts added 17 points for the Lady Bulldogs (5-0). Anne Marie Armstrong finished with 14 points and Porsha Williams had 10.
Houts was the tournament MVP after scoring 34 points in two games.
Georgia opened the game on a 13-2 run that included a pair of 3-pointers by Houts, and never relinquished the lead. Southern Miss out-rebounded Georgia 38-37, but the Lady Bulldogs shot a season-high 48.4 percent from the floor.
Pauline Love scored 18 points to lead Southern Miss (3-3).
Bennett leads No. 17 Arizona State past Hawaii
HONOLULU — Kali Bennett scored 15 points and had 15 rebounds to lead No. 17 Arizona State to a 65-53 victory over Hawaii on Friday night.
Danielle Orsillo added 15 points for Arizona State (3-1) in the opening game of the Rainbow Wahine Classic.
The Sun Devils controlled the boards, outrebounding Hawaii 46-33, and built a 32-22 halftime lead over the Rainbow Wahine (1-3) in their home opener.
Keisha Kanekoa scored 15 points to lead Hawaii, which lost its third straight after winning coach Dana Takahara-Dias' debut. Shawna Kuehu scored 13.
The win helped the Sun Devils recover from a loss to Xavier last week that dropped them three spots in the rankings.
Arizona State kept getting second chances with 24 offensive rebounds while Hawaii dug itself into a hole early and committed 27 turnovers.
Hawaii trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half before getting back in the game with accurate shooting.
Hawaii sunk 55 percent of its shots in the second half, better than Arizona State's 37 percent.
But the Rainbow Wahine got only 20 attempts on goal in the second half compared to the Sun Devils' 36.
Arizona State's Kayli Murphy scored nine points and two steals.
Hawaii's Breanna Arbuckle scored nine. The Rainbow Wahine missed all three of their 3-point attempts, while the Sun Devils hit 3 of 10.
It was the third all-time meeting between Arizona State and Hawaii, with the Sun Devils winning all three games.
Both Arizona State and Hawaii play East Tennessee State this weekend to complete the three-team Rainbow Wahine Classic.
Orsillo leads Sun Devils past E. Tennessee State
HONOLULU — Danielle Orsillo scored 18 points, Kali Bennett had 15 points and 10 rebounds and No. 17 Arizona State held off an inspired East Tennessee State 80-67 on Saturday to win the Rainbow Wahine Classic.
The Sun Devils never trailed in the first half, building a 13-point lead with 3 minutes remaining before East Tennessee went on an 11-2 run.
The Lady Bucs finally took a 42-41 lead 48 seconds into the second half and remained in charge until Arizona State's Kimberly Brandon hit a pair of free throws for a 53-52 lead with 12:23 left.
The Sun Devils (4-1) opened up the game with back-to-back 3-pointers by Orsillo and Bennett to take a 70-62 lead.
Siarre Evans had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead Tennessee State (1-3).
Southern Cal upsets second straight ranked team
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands — Aarika Hughes scored 14 points and Southern Cal beat No. 19 Mississippi State 64-00 on Saturday night, the Trojans' second straight win over a ranked team.
USC (3-3) had a six-point halftime lead at the Paradise Jam before Mississippi State used a 17-8 spurt to take a 44-41 advantage 5 minutes into the second half. The Trojans trailed 49-48 before going on a 11-2 run to take a 60-51 lead with 5:59 left.
Mississippi State (4-3) scored the next seven points and was within 60-58 after Armelie Lumanu hit two free throws with 28 seconds left. The Lady Bulldogs had a chance to tie it on their next possession but missed a shot.
The Trojans, who beat No. 13 Texas on Friday, made all four of their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Lumanu scored 19 points and Tysheka Grimes added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Marsh leads No. 21 Vandy to victory over N.C. State
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Meredith Marsh hit her first five 3-pointers and finished with 25 points. leading No. 21 Vanderbilt to a 77-71 win over North Carolina State on Saturday in the championship of the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament.
Marsh hit a trio of 3-pointers to get the Commodores (6-0) off to a quick start, and Vanderbilt held the Wolfpack (5-2) scoreless for nearly 8 minutes while building a 13-0 lead.
Nikkitta Gartrell scored 15 points for N.C. State, while Lucy Ellison had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Bonae Holston 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Brittany Strachan scored 11 points, including a tip-in at the buzzer.
N.C. State trimmed a 20-point second-half lead to 73-65 on Gartrell's jumper, but Vanderbilt kept the Wolfpack at bay with free-throw shooting, making 28 of 35 for the game — including two by Marsh on a technical called against Gartrell.
Marsh, the tournament MVP, had 16 first-half points without missing a shot, going 4 for 4 behind the 3-point arc with four foul shots.
Jence Rhoads added 12 points for the Commodores.
No. 22 California rolls past Southern U., 78-47
COLUMBUS, Ohio — No. 22 California has an odd mix on its roster: almost all seniors and freshmen, almost no one in the middle.
While the younger Bears are gaining experience, they're also figuring out how to win.
DeNesha Stallworth scored 13 points and three teammates also hit double figures to lead the Bears past Southern 78-47 in Saturday's opening game of the Buckeye Classic.
"I'm pleased with the second half, obviously not with how we came out at the start of the game," coach Joanne Boyle said. "We were shooting around 50 percent from the free-throw line and had 15 turnovers at halftime. At halftime we got more focused and realized we couldn't just give it to them."
Rachelle Federico and Layshia Clarendon each added 11 points and Gennifer Brandon had 10 for the Bears (3-1), who advance to Sunday's championship against No. 3 Ohio State or IUPUI.
Boyle said she discouraged her players from looking ahead to the possible matchup with the Buckeyes.
"We tried not to have them do that. We focused on Ohio State earlier in the week and then once we got here (on Thursday) we shut it down," she said. "But people have a tendency to do that. We're a young team and there's not a given with us. I can tell you right now, whether we play St. Mary's or Baylor, every game we don't have the opportunity to look ahead."
Stallworth, Clarendon and Brandon are freshmen, while Federico, a junior, is the only Bear who is not a senior or a first-year player.
Hannah Kador had 14 points, and Ashley Augerson added 11 for the Jaguars.
Southern (3-1) was doomed by cold shooting, missing 14 of its first 15 shots. The Jaguars made three of their last six shots of the first half to end up 6 for 33 (18 percent) and trail 24-16. They shot 48 percent in the second half, but Cal scored the first 13 points and never looked back.
At one point in the first half, Cal got a lift from mercurial freshman point guard Eliza Pierre, who came in and stole the ball on four consecutive Southern possessions.
"She's a ridiculous defender," Boyle said. "She's from L.A. That's her specialty — she can defend. She loves it 94 feet. That's her deal. She changed the game a little when she got in."
Pierre finished with seven points, six steals and three assists.
-- Rusty Miller
South Carolina upsets No. 23 San Diego St. 58-55
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands — Charenee Stephens sure didn't look like someone who should be coming off the bench for South Carolina.
Stephens scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Gamecocks upset No. 23 San Diego State 58-55 on Saturday in the Paradise Jam.
South Carolina (3-3) lost to No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 20 Oklahoma the previous two days, but made certain it wouldn't go winless at one of the marquee early season women's tournaments.
"Charenee Stephens was energy off the bench for us," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. "In her own right, she's a starter for us, but we need her energy off the bench."
It was San Diego State (3-3), which entered the rankings this week for the first time in 14 seasons, that went winless in the tournament. The Aztecs also lost to the Irish and Sooners.
"Playing three ranked teams in three days will tune us up for the Southeast Conference tournament," Staley said. "This was a good experience for us."
South Carolina led 26-24 at halftime and built a 34-27 lead with 16:55 remaining. The Gamecocks still led 52-46 with 2:33 left before San Diego State closed to 54-52.
Stephens scored a basket to give South Carolina a 56-52 lead, but Jerica Williams countered for the Aztecs when she hit a 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining. La'Keisha Sutton's breakaway lay-up restored the three-point lead, and Quenese Davis misfired on a potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Valerie Nainima scored 11 points for South Carolina, while Sutton had 10.
Allison Duffy led San Diego State with 13 points. Jene Morris, who surpassed the 1,000-point mark in her career during the game, finished with 11 points for the Aztecs.
Morris fouled out of the game at the 3:15 mark of the second half.
"Our kids are resilient," Staley said of the Gamecocks. "Our kids played a lot of minutes and we toughed it out. It wasn't pretty by either team, there were a lot of turnovers, but you see that playing three games in three days."
No. 24 Pitt cruises past Marshall, 80-58
PITTSBURGH — Taneisha Harrison scored 15 points, Jania Sims added 14 and No. 24 Pittsburgh enjoyed its first easy victory since becoming ranked, 80-58 over Marshall on Saturday.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Panthers (6-0), who struggled to beat St. Francis, Pa., 75-70 and Appalachian State 63-56 in their first two games in the Top 25.
Chelsea Cole had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Shyala Scott scored 11 and Pepper Wilson had 10 points for Pitt, which took the lead for good with a 9-0 run that made it 17-11.
Tynikki Crook scored 17 points and Chantelle Handy had 16 for Marshall (3-4).
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