Women’s Top 25 roundup: No. 3 Maryland spoils Spartan coach’s return, beats Michigan State 89-72

Brionna Jones had 28 points and 15 rebounds, and No. 3 Maryland beat Michigan State 89-72 on Sunday in East Lansing, Michigan, spoiling coach Suzy Merchant’s return to the sideline for the Spartans.

Jones, who came into the game with the top field goal percentage in the nation at 69.2 percent, upped that mark by going 9 for 12. She made her first seven shots from the floor and didn’t miss one until the final minute of the third quarter. The Terrapins (25-1, 13-0 Big Ten) improved to 53-2 against league opponents – including conference tournament games – since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15.

Merchant came back from a medical leave of absence to coach the Spartans (16-9, 6-6) for the first time since Jan. 14.

Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 24 points for Maryland, which shot 61 percent from the field in the first half and led 51-40 at halftime.

Tori Jankoska led Michigan State with 23 points.

(2) Baylor 91, TCU 73: Alexis Prince scored 19 points to go with 10 rebounds and six assists, and the the Lady Bears (24-2, 13-1 Big 12) bounced back from their first conference loss with a victory against the Horned Frogs (12-12, 4-9) in Fort Worth, Texas.

Playing six days after a loss to 11th-ranked Texas that ended a 54-game home winning streak, the Lady Bears kept a safe distance after a sluggish first quarter in front of a pro-Baylor crowd in Fort Worth, about 100 miles north of their campus.

Freshman Natalie Chou, in her first game near her high school in the Dallas suburb of Plano, had 14 points, including 3-pointers to start and finish a 22-5 run that covered the first and second quarters and turned a two-point deficit into a 30-15 lead.

AJ Alix scored 21 points for the Horned Frogs.

(4) Mississippi State 66, Mississippi 44: Teaira McCowan scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (25-1, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) past the Rebels (15-10, 4-8) in Oxford, Mississippi.

Dominique Dillingham scored 12 points and Victoria Vivians added 11 for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State has won five straight games since its only loss of the season against South Carolina.

McCowan, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, has scored in double figures in seven of the last 10 games. It was her second double-double of the season and first in SEC play.

Ole Miss made it clear early in the game that it would be aggressive, diving all over the court for loose balls and pushing the pace on offense at every opportunity. Rebels’ coach Matt Insell earned a technical in the first quarter for arguing about a foul call.

The in-your-face approach was effective for a while, but Mississippi State never looked rattled.

(7) Notre Dame 90, Georgia Tech 69: Marina Mabrey scored 25 points to lead the Fighting Irish (23-3, 11-1 Atlatic Coast Conference) to their seventh straight win, beating Georgia Tech (14-11, 3-9) in South Bend, Indiana.

After missing her first two shots, Mabrey knocked down 11 of her next 12 to finish two points away from her career high.

Brianna Turner added 21 points and nine rebounds and Arike Ogunbowale had 18 points and 10 boards for the Irishwho swept the season series with the Yellow Jackets.

Francesca Pan tied her career-high of four 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead Georgia Tech, which has lost seven of eight.

(8) Stanford 87, Utah 51: Alanna Smith scored 16 points and the Cardinal (22-4, 12-2 Pac-12) ran off 18 consecutive points in the first quarter on the way to a victory over the Utes (15-10, 4-10) in Stanford, California.

Five different players scored as the Cardinal transformed a 9-7 lead into a 20-point margin in a span of less than 5 minutes to stay in a tie for first place in the conference standings.

Karlie Samuelson and Brittany McPhee each had 13 and Briana Roberson scored 10 for Stanford.

Utah shot 0-for-8 and turned the ball over 5 times in a stretch of 11 scoreless possessions in the first quarter. The Utes ended the drought when Tilar Clark made a free throw with 2:02 left in the first quarter but they went 13 more than minutes without a field goal deep into the second quarter, missing 16 straight shots.

(9) Oregon State 68, (15) UCLA 61: Kobie Orum and Mikayla Pivec each scored 12 points and the Beavers (23-3, 12-2 Pac-12) rebounded from a loss with a victory over the Bruins (18-7, 9-5) in Corvallis, Oregon.

Sydney Wiese had 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for Oregon State. With her second assist of the game, Wiese set the school record for career helpers, moving past Leilani Estavan’s 577 for the Beavers.

Kennedy Burke had 18 points while Monique Billings added 17 for UCLA, which was hurt when it lost top scorer Jordin Canada to injury late in the first half.

After a close three quarters, Oregon State pushed its lead to 56-48 on Gabriella Hanson’s 3-pointer. Breanna Brown’s layup kept the Beavers out front 59-50 with 3:10 left.

Pivec’s 3-pointer made it 62-50 and UCLA couldn’t catch up.

(10) Washington 70, (23) Arizona State 57: National scoring leader Kelsey Plum had 29 points, Chantel Osahor added 18 points and 18 rebounds, and the Huskies (24-3, 12-2 Pac-12) beat the Sun Devils (16-9, 7-7) in Seattle.

Plum got Washington going with a big first quarter then let Osahor command the interior as the Huskies won their fourth straight since losing at home to Stanford.

For a change, Washington did most of its offensive scoring inside the 3-point line. The Huskies were just 3 of 14 on 3s, a surprising off night for the national leaders in made 3-pointers. Plum missed all seven of her attempts from behind the arc, the first time this season she failed to make a 3.

Sophie Brunner led Arizona State with 16 points as the Sun Devils fell to 3-7 this season against ranked opponents.

(12) Louisville 68, Boston College 43: Kylee Shook had 14 points and Myisha Hines-Allen had a double-double and the Cardinals (22-6, 9-4 ACC) rolled to a win over the Eagles (9-17, 2-11) in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Cardinals limited the Eagles to two baskets on 16 shots in the first quarter and used a 12-0 run to take a 14-4 lead. Louisville added 7-0 and 8-0 runs in the second quarter to lead 35-16 at the break.

Boston College missed all 10 of its 3-pointers and shot 24 percent in the first half. The second half wasn’t much better and the Eagles finished at 28 percent (16 of 57), 2 of 17 from distance.

(13) Ohio State 88, Iowa 81: Kelsey Mitchell and Shayla Cooper scored 20 points each and the Buckeyes (22-5, 12-1 Big Ten) beat the Hawkeyes (15-10, 6-6) to extend Ohio State’s winning streak to eight in Columbus, Ohio.

Cooper added five assists and a team-high eight rebounds in the absence of leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Stephanie Mavunga, who injured her right foot in practice on Thursday and is out indefinitely. Sierra Calhoun added five 3-pointers and 19 points and Kiara Lewis 11 points for Ohio State.

Ally Disterhoft scored 22 points, Megan Gustafson had 17 points and 10 rebounds for her 13th double-double this season, Makenzie Meyer scored 16 and Kathleen Doyle had 11 points and six assists for Iowa.

(14) Duke 62, Pittsburgh 48: Lexie Brown scored 18 points, Rebecca Greenwell added 11 and the Blue Devils (22-4, 10-3 ACC) beat the Panthers (12-13, 3-9) in Durham, North Carolina, for Duke’s fifth straight win.

Duke built a 29-19 lead at halftime after holding Pitt to 4-of-17 shooting. In the third quarter, Greenwell completed a 3-point play to cap her eight-straight points for Duke in building a 40-23 lead. The Blue Devils led by as many as 24 in the third and were outscored 17-11 in the final frame.

Leaonna Odom added seven points, a team-high nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks for Duke.

Brandi Harvey-Carr scored 12 points and Brenna Wise had 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season for Pittsburgh, which lost its sixth straight.

(16) Miami 81, Clemson 57: Jessica Thomas scored 18 points, Adrienne Motley added 15 and the Hurricanes (19-6, 8-5 ACC) throttled the Tigers (14-11, 3-9) in Miami.

Erykah Davenport’s layup with 6:07 left in the first quarter gave Miami an 8-7 lead and they never trailed again. Her basket sparked a 10-2 run and the Hurricanes led 25-13 at the end of the first.

Motley made a layup, capping a 10-2 Miami run, to start the second quarter for a 35-15 lead, and the Hurrincanes led by 18 at halftime.

Clemson mustered just four points in the third quarter on 1-for-14 shooting (seven percent) and two free throws, and Miami broke it open 65-34 at the end of three.

(17) N.C. State 85, Virginia Tech 71: Miah Spencer scored 23 points, Dominique Wilson had 19 and the Wolfpack (19-6, 9-3 ACC) used a dominant second quarter to defeat the Hokies (16-9, 3-9) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Spencer was 11 of 16 from the field and had nine rebounds and six assists, and Wilson had seven assists, five rebounds and four steals as the Wolfpack won its third straight.

Vanessa Panousis had 20 points and Sidney Cook 18 for Virginia Tech, which has lost eight straight after starting the season 15-0.

(18) DePaul 92, Butler 62: Brooke Schulte scored 23 points with 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals and the Blue Demons (22-5, 14-1 Big East) cruised to its sixth-straight win, beating the Bulldogs (5-20, 2-12) in Indianapolis.

Amarah Coleman added 18 points and Chante Stonewall had a career-high 15 off the bench for the Blue Demons, who have won 16 of their last 17.

Sydney Shelton had seven 3-pointers and 23 points, both career highs, for Butler, which lost 100-69 in the first meeting and has lost nine straight.

(20) Syracuse 95, North Carolina 64: The nation’s top-scoring backcourt combined for 61 points – Brittney Sykes with a career-high 34 points and Alexis Peterson 27 – and the Orange (18-8, 9-4 ACC) rolled past the Tar Heels (13-12, 2-10) in Syracuse, New York.

Briana Day added 19 points and 16 rebounds for her 30th career double-double with Peterson collecting eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Sykes’ 34 points were the third-most by a Syracuse woman in the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse used a 20-4 run that spanned the first and second quarters to take a 27-12 lead, going up 43-26 at halftime and leading by 27, 76-49, after three quarters.

The Tar Heels were led by Paris Kea with 27 points and Jamie Cherry with 17. Stephanie Watts grabbed 10 rebounds.

(21) Michigan 75, Wisconsin 66: Katelynn Flaherty hit six 3-pointers and scored 35 points to help the Wolverines (21-5, 10-2 Big Ten) beat Wisconsin (6-19, 1-11) in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Flaherty was 12 of 17 from the floor, including 6 of 10 from distance, and 5 of 8 at the stripe. She had 21 points, on 7-of-10 shooting, in the first half for her third 20-point half of the season.

With her 12th point in the first half, Flaherty moved past 500 points for the season – the 11th player to do so in program history.

Avyanna Young led Wisconsin with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

(22) South Florida 66, Tulane 56: Kitija Laksa scored 21 points, Maria Jespersen had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and the Bulls (20-4, 9-2 American) beat the Green Wave (15-10, 6-6) in Tampa, Florida, for their 10th series win in the last 11 games.

South Florida reached 20 wins for the fifth consecutive season – and tied a program record for the fastest team to reach 20.

Kolby Morgan had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Tulane.

Texas A&M 61, (24) Tennessee 59: Khaalia Hillsman converted an offensive rebound for the go-ahead basket with four seconds left as the Aggies (19-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) erased an 11-point, fourth-quarter deficit in a victory over the Lady Vols (16-9, 7-5) in knoxville, Tennessee.

Tennessee’s Mercedes Russell attempted a potential game-tying baseline attempt that bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded. Tennessee missed its last 11 field-goal attempts as Texas A&M outscored the Lady Vols 14-1 over the final 8 1/2 minutes.

The result likely will knock Tennessee out of the Top 25. The Lady Vols had returned to the rankings Monday after an eight-week absence.