GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Raven Johnson had a career-high 22 points, Joyce Edwards scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half and No. 3 South Carolina displayed its mettle by holding on to beat sixth-ranked LSU 83-77 on Saturday to advance to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game.
Ta’Niya Latson added 19 points for the Gamecocks, who are seeking their fourth straight SEC Tournament title and 10th in the past 12 seasons under coach Dawn Staley. South Carolina (31-2) will face No. 4 Texas on Sunday.
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South Carolina transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley had 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting and Jada Richard added 17 for LSU (27-5), which lost to the Gamecocks for the second time this season.
In what essentially amounted to another home game for the Gamecocks at the packed 15,000-seat Bon Secours Wellness Arena, it was LSU that looked at home early.
Fulwiley, who had just six points on 1-of-8 shooting against South Carolina in the first meeting, erupted for 15 in the first half to give LSU a 40-36 lead at the break.
But the poised Gamecocks opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run to regain the lead. It looked for a moment like things might get away, but LSU came storming back as Fulwiley drilled a pull-up 3 to tie the game with 7 minutes remaining.
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Edwards took over from there.
She hit a jumper in the lane with 6:41 left to give the Gamecocks the lead for good and scored six of South Carolina’s points during a pivotal 8-3 run.
NO. 1 UCONN 84, GEORGETOWN 39
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Serah Williams had 12 of her 14 points in the first half, Sarah Strong had 11 points and Azzi Fudd had 10 points as UConn rolled to a win over Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to extend its winning streak to 48 games.
KK Arnold added 11 points and Kayleigh Heckel had eight points for UConn (32-0), which won its 37th consecutive conference tournament game and 43rd in a row against the Hoyas. Strong joined Nykesha Sales, Jennifer Rizzotti, Rita Williams, Moriah Jefferson and Gabby Williams as the only UConn women’s players with 100 steals in a season.
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Indya Davis had 10 points and Laila Jewett added nine for Georgetown (14-17).
NO. 2 UCLA 72, NO. 11 OHIO STATE 62
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kiki Rice scored 17 points to lead five UCLA players in double figures and the Bruins won their school-record 24th consecutive game over Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
Conference Player of the Year Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalic each scored 14 points for the Bruins (30-1), who led the entire way. Gianna Kneepkens scored 13 points and Gabriela Jaquez added 10 points.
Chance Gray led the fifth-seeded Buckeyes (26-7) with 23 points, hitting 6 of 11 shots and seven free throws. Jaloni Cambridge added 12 points and Elsa Lemmila had 10 points for the Buckeyes.
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UCLA hit 44% from the field while Ohio State made 37%. Each team had 34 rebounds. Betts led UCLA with nine rebounds.
NO. 4 TEXAS 85, NO. 24 MISSISSIPPI 68
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Preseason All-American Madison Booker had 31 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and No. 6 Texas pulled away in the fourth quarter and beat 24th-ranked Mississippi 85-68 Saturday to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game for the second straight season.
Kyla Oldacre was strong in the paint with 19 points and eight rebounds for the Longhorns (30-3), who’ll face No. 3 South Carolina (31-2) in a rematch of last year’s title game which the Gamecocks won 64-45.
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Cotie McMahon and Denim DeShields each 20 points for Mississippi (23-11), which was outscored 28-13 in the fourth quarter.
NO. 9 IOWA 59, NO. 8 MICHIGAN 42
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ava Heiden scored 16 points, Hannah Stuelke and Chazadi Wright each had 13, and Iowa pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
The Hawkeyes outscored the Wolverines 24-6 in the fourth quarter. Stuelke, who also had 10 rebounds, scored seven points in the initial 2:23 of the final quarter to push Iowa ahead 42-38.
That was part of a pivotal 15-2 run. Wright and Taylor Stremlow hit 3s on back-to-back possessions, then Heiden converted a layup for a 50-38 lead. Stremlow had 11 points with three 3s.
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The Hawkeyes (26-5) advance to Sunday’s championship game against the second-ranked and defending champion UCLA Bruins (30-1), who beat No. 11 Ohio State 72-62 in Saturday’s first semifinal.
Iowa got off to a 9-0 start and limited Michigan to a season-low output for a first quarter in taking a 13-4 lead after one. But the Wolverines rallied. Mila Holloway, who missed her first seven shots, gave Michigan its first lead at 34-33 on a three-point play with 6:08 remaining in the third quarter.
Holloway sank a pullup jumper with 37 seconds left to give Michigan a 36-35 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Holloway and Olivia Olson each had 10 points, but combined to make 8 of 26 shots, including 1 of 9 on 3-pointers.
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NO. 10 TCU 74, KANSAS STATE 62
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Marta Suarez scored 14 of her 22 points in the third quarter and TCU used a 24-16 scoring edge in the period on the way to a win over Kansas State in a semifinal round game of the Big 12 Tournament.
The Horned Frogs, who were the regular-season champions, will look to repeat as tournament champions Sunday against No. 15 West Virginia, a semifinal winner over Colorado. The teams split two regular-season games.
Kansas State, which played in its fourth game in four days, was the first No. 12 seed to reach the tournament semifinals.
TCU (29-4) received 18 points from Olivia Miles, while Taylor Bigby and Veronica Sheffey each scored 10.
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Kansas State (18-17) was led by Jordan Speiser’s 16 points, Nastja Clasussens added 14, Taryn Sides had 11 and Tess Heal 10.
NO. 12 LOUISVILLE 65, NO. 16 NORTH CAROLINA 57
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Imari Berry scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Louisville past North Carolina in the semifinal of the ACC Tournament.
The No. 2 seed Cardinals led by five points heading to the fourth quarter and quickly pushed their lead to 10. Third-seeded North Carolina cut it to 52-46 midway through the quarter before Berry scored Louisville’s next six points, leading to a 58-48 advantage with two minutes left.
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North Carolina cut it to five points with 21 seconds remaining, but Louisville closed it out at the free-throw line.
Berry, a backup guard, made 9 of 14 shots, including 4 of 8 3-pointers. Laura Ziegler scored 13 points and Elif Istanbulluoglu added 11 for the Cardinals (27-6).
NO. 13 DUKE 65, NOTRE DAME 63
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Notre Dame had three shots in the final 11 seconds with the game on the line, but top-seeded Duke hung onto its lead and came out on top in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball tournament.
The Irish overcame a flat start and first-half deficit, taking their first lead of the game with just over six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
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Notre Dame was up 49-46 at the start of the fourth quarter. A back-and-forth battle would ensue, and it ultimately leaned in the Blue Devils’ favor.
Hope looked lost for Notre Dame after a 3-pointer by Taina Mair gave the Blue Devils a 64-60 lead with just over a minute remaining. Hannah Hidalgo restored the team’s faith with a clutch steal turned into a 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to 64-63.
After Duke’s Riley Nelson went 1-of-2 on the free-throw line, Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey called a final timeout with 51.6 seconds remaining to draw up what she hoped would be the game-winner, but the Irish fell short in the final seconds of a hard-fought battle.
Hidalgo led the Irish with 24 points and eight rebounds.
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NO. 15 WEST VIRGINIA 48, COLORADO 47
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gia Cooke scored 14 points and her go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute helped West Virginia escape with a victory over Colorado in a Big 12 Tournament semifinal.
A 3-pointer by Desiree Wooten gave sixth-seeded Colorado a 45-43 lead with 1:08 remaining in the fourth quarter. On West Virginia’s next possession, Cooke’s offensive rebound led to her clutch 3-pointer that gave the second-seeded Mountaineers a 46-45 lead with 38 seconds remaining.
After a miss by Colorado, Jordan Harrison made two free throws for a three-point West Virginia lead at 16 seconds. Wooten was then fouled on a 3-point try with two seconds left but made only two free throws. Cooke was fouled immediately but missed both free throws, leaving Colorado one last chance. Instead, a steal by Harrison preserved the win for West Virginia.
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The sluggish performance was not indicative of two teams that came into the matchup on a roll. Colorado had won seven of nine games and the Mountaineers had won eight of nine.
Harrison led West Virginia (26-6) with 15 points and Kierra Wheeler contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Zyanna Walker scored 16 points and Wooten 12 off the bench for Colorado (22-11).
NO. 23 PRINCETON 78, YALE 55
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — Fadima Tall scored 22 points, Madison St. Rose added 17 and Princeton captured the Ivy League regular-season title with a victory over Yale.
Leading by 10 points heading to the fourth quarter, Princeton (24-3, 12-2 Ivy League) blew the game open in the final 10 minutes. St. Rose and Tall each scored seven of Princeton’s 26 points in the final period.
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Not long after Princeton’s win, Harvard closed out a 68-64 victory over Columbia, which dropped the Lions one game behind Princeton in the final standings.
Tall made 8 of 10 shots and 5 of 6 free throws. She had five rebounds and four steals. St. Rose made 7 of 11 shots and all three of her free throws as Princeton went 16-for-18 from the line. Skye Belker added 14 points.
Ciniya Moore led Yale (7-20, 3-11) with 19 points, and Marisa Chapman scored 16.
Yale raced out to a 22-15 lead through one quarter before Princeton rallied in the second. The Tigers tied it at 26 midway through the quarter. A 3-pointer by Toby Nweke and three points from Tall led a 6-0 run in the final two minutes, putting the Tigers up 40-32 at halftime.
