Women’s Top 25 roundup: No. 6 Mississippi State women rally to beat No. 18 Marquette

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Anriel Howard scored 29 points, Teaira McCowan added 24 points and 18 rebounds, and No. 6 Mississippi State rallied to beat No. 18 Marquette 87-82 on Thursday night.

Mississippi State (9-0) extended its regular-season nonconference winning streak to 45 games, but this was easily one of the toughest games during that stretch. The game was tight throughout the second half and the Bulldogs needed a late defensive stand to earn the win.

Howard shot 13 of 18 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds, while McCowan shot 9 of 12. Jazzmun Holmes added 13 assists. Danielle King had 27 points for Marquette (6-2).

The Golden Eagles had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but Chloe Bibby blocked a 3-point attempt by Natisha Hiedeman to seal the win. Hiedeman had 18 points.

No. 19 Kentucky 75, Rhode Island 52

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Maci Morris scored 29 points and made five 3-pointers for Kentucky.

The Wildcats (9-0) pulled away with a 29-point third quarter that included a 19-2 run. Rhyne Howard added 19 points, seven rebounds and seven steals for Kentucky.

Elemy Colome had 16 points for Rhode Island (5-3).

No. 23 Missouri 66, UMKC 59

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Sophie Cunningham scored 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting and Missouri outscored YMKX 21-0 in the third quarter to win its fourth straight.

Amber Smith added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers (7-2). Ericka Mattingly had 20 points for the Kangaroos (2-6).

AP-WF-12-07-18 0340GMT