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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Top 25 women: Jessica Shepard leads Notre Dame past upset-minded Syracuse

Notre Dame’s Jessica Shepard (23) competes for the ball with Syracuse's Gabrielle Cooper (11) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017, in South Bend, Ind. (Robert Franklin / Associated Press)
Associated Press

Junior Jessica Shepard, playing despite a sprained ankle, had 24 points and 12 rebounds as No. 2 Notre Dame pulled away from upset-minded Syracuse for an 87-72 Atlantic Coast Conference victory on Thursday night in South Bend, Indiana.

Jackie Young tied her career-high with 23 points, Kathryn Westbeld had 16 with the help of three 3-pointers and Arike Ogunbowale had 12 points for the Irish (12-1).

Sophomore point guard Tiana Mangakahia had a game-high 26 points, eight assists and nine rebounds to lead Syracuse (12-2). Miranda Drummond added 15 points.

(3) Louisville 74, Georgia Tech 71: Louisville point guard Asia Durr returned to her hometown and scored 38 points, but it took teammate Myisha Hines-Allen’s driving layup with 1.9 seconds remaining for the third-ranked Cardinals to squeak out the win over the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta.

The Yellow Jackets (11-3) built a 22-13 lead on a jumper by freshman Kierra Fletcher with 9:55 left in the second quarter only to watch Louisville (15-0) close the period on a 33-12 blitz in which Durr scored 18 points.

Tech was led by reserve guard Kayla Pugh’s 17 points.

(5) Mississippi State 112, Mississippi Valley State 36: Teaira McCowan scored a career-high 41 points, and Mississippi State scored the second-most points in school history, defeating the Devilettes in Starkville, Mississippi.

McCowan put together the 12th 40-point game in Mississippi State history and the first since Morgan William scored 41 in last season’s NCAA Tournament. She added 13 rebounds for her sixth straight double-double and ninth this season.

The 112 points were just five shy of the school record set in 1986 against Judson.

The Bulldogs (14-0) put the game away in the second quarter with a 24-0 run.

Kristy Parker had 10 points to lead the Devilettes (0-11).

(6) Baylor 88, Kansas State 58: Kalani Brown scored 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead the Lady Bears over the Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas.

Baylor (10-1, 1-0 Big 12) led 8-0 2:05 into the game, a run that included a technical foul on Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie.

The Lady Bears hammered the Wildcats (8-3, 0-1) in the paint, scoring 48 points inside.

Kansas State’s Kayla Goth had 22 points on 8-of-20 shooting.

(8) Texas 88, Oklahoma 78: Lashann Higgs scored a career-high 25 points and the Longhorns won at Oklahoma for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

Ariel Atkins added 15 points and nine rebounds and Brooke McCarty had 12 points for Texas (10-1, 1-0 Big 12), which had lost its previous seven games at Oklahoma (5-7, 0-1). The Longhorns never trailed and led by as many as 20 points.

Oklahoma had won its last 12 Big 12 openers and is now 19-3 in such games under coach Sherri Coale. The Sooners’ last loss in their league opener was on Jan. 5, 2005, at Texas Tech.

Shaina Pellington scored 16 points and Ana Llanusa and Maddie Manning each added 14 to lead the Sooners.

(9) West Virginia 87, TCU 82: Katrina Pardee and Chania Ray combined on two quick baskets in the fourth quarter to finally put the visiting Mountainiers ahead to stay.

Naomi Davenport scored 19 of her career-high 32 points in the first half for the Mountaineers (13-0, 1-0 Big 12). Teana Muldrow had 20 points and 17 rebounds for her seventh double-double this season, while Pardee had 17 points and Ray 11.

Amber Ramirez had 21 points for TCU (9-3, 0-1).

(13) Florida State 82, Jacksonville 50: Imani Wright scored 24 points, leading four in double figures, the 12th time in 13 games Florida State has had four or more in double figures, as the Seminoles won at home.

Shakayla Thomas scored 18 points, Chatrice White and Nicki Ekhomu added 14 apiece and Florida State (12-1) shot 51 percent for the game while holding Jacksonville (9-5) to 35 percent shooting.

Jasmyn Brown led Jacksonville with 12 points.

(15) Maryland 100, Illinois 65: Kaila Charles scored 24 points, Blair Watson had 22 as the Terrapins routed the Illini in a Big Ten opener at College Park, Maryland.

Stephanie Jones had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Terrapins (12-2), who have won nine straight.

Brandi Beasley had 16 points and Alex Wittinger 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Illini (9-5).

Creighton 69, (18) Villanova 54: Audrey Faber and Jaylyn Agnew each scored 19 points and Creighton gave coach Jim Flanery his 300th program win, defeating the Wildcats at Omaha, Nebraska.

Sydney Lamberty’s three-point play off a layup put Creighton (7-4) ahead 39-36 with 5:51 left in the third quarter and the Bluejays never trailed thereafter.

Megan Quinn and Jannah Tucker led Villanova (10-1) with 11 points each.

(19) Green Bay 58, Wright State 51: Jessica Lindstrom had a double-double and Jen Wellnitz had 11 points, including the clinching three-point play with 17.3 seconds left for Green Bay and the Phoenix defeated the Raiders in Dayton, Ohio.

Lindstrom had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Phoenix (11-1), who have won six straight.

Green Bay has won 30-straight conference opening games but the Raiders (9-4) made this one tough on the league favorites.

Chelsea Welch scored 22 points for the Raiders.

(21) Michigan 89, Penn State 69: Katelynn Flaherty had a school-record 10 3-pointers and scored 33 points, Hallie Thome had a double-double and Michigan used a 20-0 run in the first quarter to roll to the win.

It was coach Kim Barnes Arico’s 123rd win in her six seasons with the Wolverines (12-2), who have won eight straight, tying her with current Central Michigan coach Sue Guevara for the most wins at the school.

Flaherty had the previous single-game record for 3-pointers with eight.

Teniya Page had 19 points for the Nittany Lions (9-5).

(22) Texas A&M 79, SMU 57: Chennedy Carter scored 28 points and Anriel Howard had 15 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Aggies over the Mustangs in College Station, Texas.

The Aggies (11-3) rebounded from an 84-62 loss to No. 10 Oregon on Dec. 21.

Kiara Perry scored 11 points to lead SMU (6-7).

(23) Iowa 56, Wisconsin 46: Megan Gustafson had 21 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes to their sixth straight win, defeating the Badgers at Madison, Wisconsin.

Gustafson was 5 of 12 from the field, made all 11 of her free throws, and collected her 13th double-double of the season and the 40th of her career. Chase Coley added 14 points and Alexis Sevillian had 11 for Iowa (13-1), which is off to its best start since the 2004-05 season.

Suzanne Gilreath scored 11 points to lead Wisconsin (7-7), which has lost three of its last four games.

(24) Oklahoma State 98, Texas Tech 57: Kaylee Jensen had 26 points and 12 rebounds and the Cowgirls defeated the Lady Raiders in Lubbock, Texas.

Jensen was 12 of 16 from the field. Loryn Goodwin added 20 points and Braxtin Miller 17 for Oklahoma State (10-2), which has won nine of its last 10 against the Lady Raiders.

Recee’ Caldwell scored 20 points to lead Texas Tech (6-6), which had its three-game win streak snapped.

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