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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Women’s Top 25 capsules: No. 2 Mississippi State wraps up SEC regular-season title

Mississippi State guard Victoria Vivians fights through the defense of Texas A&M defenders in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Starkville, Miss., Sunday Feb. 18, 2018. (Rogelio V. Solis / Associated Press)
Associated Press

Victoria Vivians had 26 points and 10 rebounds and No. 2 Mississippi State wrapped up its first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship, beating No. 17 Texas A&M 76-55 on Sunday in Starkville, Mississippi.

An 11-0 gave the Bulldogs (28-0, 14-0) a double digit lead that they would hold for the majority of the game. Roshunda Johnson and Vivians each hit two 3-pointers during the stretch.

Aggies freshman Chennedy Carter scored 16 of their first 21 points and finished with 31 on 12-of-29 shooting. She was just 1 of 8 from 3-point range.

The Bulldogs had clinched at least a share of the conference title as well as the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament on Thursday night with a 95-50 win at Vanderbilt.

(1) UConn 106, Temple 45: Katie Lou Samuelson scored 27 points and the Huskies (26-0, 13-0) beat the Owls (10-16, 2-11) in Hartford, Connecticut, and continued to roll through their American Athletic Conference schedule.

Kia Nurse added 16 points for the Huskies.

UConn has never lost an AAC regular-season or tournament game (95-0) and holds a two-game lead over South Florida (11-2) with three games to play this season.

Emani Mayo had 17 points for Temple.

(4) Louisville 67, North Carolina 57: Asia Durr scored 19 points to help the Cardinals (27-2, 13-1 ACC) rally past the Tar Heels (14-13, 4-10) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Arica Carter added 14 points to help the Cardinals finish 8-0 on the road in conference play for the second time in four years.

Janelle Bailey had 20 points for North Carolina. The Tar Heels have lost seven in a row.

(5) Notre Dame 89, Boston College 55: Jessica Shepard and Jackie Young each had 18 points and the Fighting Irish (25-2, 13-1 ACC) cruised to their 10th consecutive victory with a win over the Eagles (7-20, 2-12) in Boston.

Kristina Nelson added 6 points, Arike Ogunbowale had 15 and Marina Mabrey 11 to help the Fighting Irish win for the 18th time in their past 19 games.

Taylor Ortlepp led the Eagles with a career-high 24 points.

(8) South Carolina 81, Kentucky 63: A’ja Wilson scored 29 points and the Gamecocks (22-5, 11-3 SEC) had assists on 21 of 26 baskets to beat the Wildcats (13-15, 5-9) in Columbia, South Carolina.

Wilson shot 9 of 16 from the field, made 11 of 12 free throws and had nine rebounds and five assists in just 26 minutes for the Gamecocks.

Maci Morris had a career-high 35 points for Kentucky.

Minnesota 93, (10) Maryland 74: Freshman Destiny Pitts scored 20 points, hitting 6 of 11 from 3-point territory, and sophomore Gadiva Hubbard had 22 points to help the Gophers (21-6, 10-4 Big Ten) beat the Terrapins (22-5, 11-3) in Minneapolis.

Kenisha Bell added 21 points, and the Gophers shot 14 of 24 on 3s en route to its seven victory in eight games.

Kaila Charles had 16 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for Maryland in its second straight loss. The Terrapins dropped into a tie for the Big Ten lead with No. 16 Ohio State.

(13) Missouri 77, (11) Tennessee 73: Sophie Cunningham scored 12 of her 32 points in the fourth quarter and the Tigers (22-5, 10-4 SEC) held on to beat the Lady Vols (21-6, 9-5) in Columbia, Missouri.

Jordan Frericks added 16 points for the Tigers. Jaime Nared led Tennessee with 25 points.

(15) Oregon State 69, Southern California 63: Marie Gulich had 25 points and nine rebounds, Kat Tudor scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half to lead the Beavers (21-6, 12-4 Pac-12) past the Trojans (17-10, 7-9) in Corvallis, Oregon.

Tudor made three free throws that capped an 8-2 spurt and gave the Beavers the lead for good with six minutes left in the third quarter.

Kristen Simon and Sadie Edwards each scored 16 points for USC.

(16) Ohio State 73, Purdue 60: Kelsey Mitchell scored 26 points and the Buckeyes (22-6, 11-3) beat the Boilermakers (17-11, 8-6) in Columbus, Ohio, for a share of the Big Ten lead with No. 10 Maryland.

Stephanie Mavunga added 17 points and 12 rebounds for Ohio State. Karissa McLaughlin had 17 points for Purdue.

(22) South Florida 77, Central Florida 68 (OT): Kitija Laksa scored 32 points to help the Bulls (22-5, 11-2 American) beat the Knights (17-9, 9-4) in Orlando, Florida.

Maria Jespersen added 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Bulls. Zakiya Saunders had a career-high 31 points for UCF.

(25) NC State 74, Wake Forest 61: Aislinn Konig made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points, Akela Maize added 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and the Wolfpack (21-6, 10-4 ACC) beat the Deman Deacons (12-15, 4-10) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Chelsea Nelson had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Wolfpack. Elisa Penna was 9 of 13 from 3-point range and had a career-high 34 points for Wake Forest.