Women’s Top 25 roundup: Jaime Nunn’s big shot helps Lady Vols upset No. 6 Notre Dame 71-69

Jaime Nared hit a tiebreaking jumper with 10.3 seconds left as Tennessee erased a 15-point, second-half deficit to beat No. 6 Notre Dame 71-69 on Monday night in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The victory enabled Tennessee (11-6) to avoid its first three-game losing streak since February 1986.

After trailing by as many as 15 in the third quarter, Tennessee pulled ahead 69-67 on Meme Jackson’s baseline 3-pointer with 1:22 left. A driving basket from Notre Dame’s Lindsay Allen tied it at 69-all with 1:03 remaining.

Tennessee went back in front on Nared’s jumper from about 15 feet away.

Notre Dame’s final hope vanished when Allen’s 3-point attempt fell short of the front rim at the buzzer.

Diamond DeShields led Tennessee with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. Mercedes Russell had 13 points. Nared and Jordan Reynolds added 12 points each.

Marina Mabrey scored 17 points and Arike Ogunbowale had 14 for Notre Dame (16-3).

(4) Mississippi State 73, Mississippi 62: Victoria Vivians scored 23 points, Dominique Dillingham added 16 and the Bulldogs (19-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) set a school record with its 19th straight win to start the season in a victory over the Rebels (13-5, 2-3) in Starkville, Mississippi.

Vivians scored 18 of her 23 points in the second half. Dillingham’s 16 points were more than her previous five games combined since she returned to the lineup following knee surgery.

Mississippi State jumped out to a 22-8 lead by the end of the first quarter, though Ole Miss gained a little ground to pull it within 36-25 by halftime.

The Rebels kept hanging around throughout the third quarter, but five quick points from Vivians on a 3-pointer and then a layup extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 16 and ended any realistic hope of an Ole Miss upset.

Shandricka Sessom led Ole Miss with 16 points.

(17) Virginia Tech 72, Wake Forest 70: Chanette Hicks scored a career-high 29 points and the Hokies (16-1, 3-1 ACC) used big second and third quarters for a win over the Demon Deacons (10-7, 1-3) in Blacksburg, Virginia, to improve to 12-0 at home this season.

Virginia Tech only scored seven points in the first quarter but used a 24-8 second-quarter spurt to take a 33-30 lead at the break behind Hicks’ 14 points. Hicks highlighted the Hokies’ 24-15 third quarter with a coast-to-coast layup for a 46-36 advantage.

Hicks, who averages 68.9 percent from the free-throw line, went 1 for 2 with 22.6 seconds left for a 70-66 lead. Milan Quinn had a putback of Ariel Stephenson’s miss with 13.9 seconds left to get Wake Forest within 70-68. But Samantha Hill sank two free throws for a four-point lead and after Elisa Penna made a long jumper for the Demon Deacons, Virginia Tech ran out the clock.

Sidney Cook added 15 points and Regan Magarity had 14 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth straight double-double for Virginia Tech. Hicks’ previous best was 24 points.

Amber Campbell scored 22 points for Wake Forest. Penna and Quinn each added 15 points, and Quinn grabbed 14 rebounds.