Flames end Wildcats’ streak
Kristal Tharp had 26 points and the Liberty Flames (3-2) took advantage of the No. 19 Kansas State Wildcats (4-2) without Kendra Wecker, winning the championship game of the Wildcat Classic 77-56 in Manhattan, Kan., on Saturday.
It marked Kansas State’s worst home loss since Feb. 18, 1998, and snapped the Wildcats’ 35-game regular-season home winning streak.
Wecker, a preseason All-American and the Wildcats leading scorer, injured her left ankle against New Hampshire Friday night. She had averaged a team-high 20.6 points and 7.6 rebounds.
Katie Feenstra, the tournament Most Valuable Player, had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Flames. Rima Margeviciute added 16 points.
Megan Mahoney led Kansas State with 18 points. Laurie Koehn added 17 for the Wildcats, who were 5 of 24 on 3-pointers and 3 of 10 from the free-throw line.
(7) Texas 73, New Mexico 56: At Albuquerque, senior guard Jamie Carey scored a career-high 28 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead the Longhorns (4-2) past the Lobos (4-1). Lindsey Arndt had 15 points for the Lobos. … (9) Baylor 73, Jackson State 56: At Greenville, N.C., Steffanie Blackmon scored 17 points and had nine rebounds to lead the Bears (5-1) over the Tigers (1-2) in the opener of the Lady Pirate Invitational. Shante Stanford led the Tigers with 21 points. … (10) Duke 86, Pacific 30: At Durham, N.C., freshman Laura Kurz scored a season-high 20 points to lead the Blue Devils (7-1) over the Tigers (2-2) for their fifth straight win. … (11) Ohio St. 75, Dayton 42: At Dayton, Ohio, Caity Matter scored 19 points and Jessica Davenport added 16 in the Buckeye’s (7-1) win over the Flyers (3-3). Davenport also had 13 rebounds and eight blocks in the Buckeyes’ fourth straight win. … (13) Vanderbilt 93, Miami (Ohio) 50: At Oxford, Ohio, Ashley Earley and Carla Thomas combined for 46 points to lead the Commodores (6-0) over the RedHawks (4-2). Earley grabbed 15 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. She hit 5 of 5 from the line. … (15) Michigan St. 77, Cincinnati 61: At Cincinnati, Lindsay Bowen made 10 of 20 shots and scored 28 points for the Spartans (6-1), who beat the Bearcats (3-3). Karen Twehues led Cincinnati with 16 points. … (20) Boston College 90, Northeastern 63: At Boston, Jessalyn Deveny scored six of her season-high 22 points in a key 12-1 run to lead the Eagles (5-1) over the Huskies (2-4). Clare Droesch had 13 points and Aja Parham added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Eagles. … Illinois 71, (21) Louisiana Tech 65 (OT): At Ruston, La., Angelina Williams scored 24 points, including a 3-pointer that forced overtime, as the Illini (4-1) upset the Techsters (3-2). The Illini snapped Tech’s 30-game home winning streak. … (22) Maryland 74, Xavier 72: At Cincinnati, Kalika France scored 13 of her 21 points in the second half to help the Terrapins (5-1) edge the Musketeers (1-3). Crystal Langhorne added 18 points and 11 rebounds for Maryland. Xavier’s Tara Boothe hit 9 of 10 from the line and scored 23 points.