NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — NCAA scoring leader Mikayla Blakes scored 34 points, Aubrey Galvan added 18 points and eight rebounds, and No. 5 Vanderbilt beat No. 4 Texas 86-70 on Thursday night.
Blakes increased her scoring average to 26.2 points per game. She scored 30 or more points for the fourth straight game and ninth time this season.
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The Commodores (24-2, 10-2 Southeastern Conference) earned their third straight win over a top-25 team and a fourth-place finish. They fell behind early but took control midway through the first quarter.
Madison Booker led Texas (23-3, 9-3) with 20 points and eight rebounds. Breya Cunningham scored 14 points but fouled out late in the third quarter.
Vanderbilt has won 14 straight games at home this season, further extending the school’s single-season record.
After trailing 7-4 early in the first quarter, Vanderbilt went on a 14-0 run, making 9 of 12 shots (including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc) to lead 27-15 at the start. The Commodores led 47-30 at halftime, led by Blakes’ 15 points and Galvin’s 13 points.
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The Commodores led by 26 points midway through the third quarter, and Texas closed the gap to 11 points with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter.
No. 7 Michigan 80, Northwest 58
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Olivia Olson had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Michigan beat Northwestern.
Michigan State (21-4, 12-2 Big Ten) shook off a slow start and bounced back from a 69-66 home loss to No. 2 UCLA on Sunday. Next up is a big game against rival Michigan State on Sunday.
Sierra Soze scored 16 points for the Wolverines, and Kendall Dudley scored 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting.
Northwestern (8-16, 2-11) lost its sixth straight game. Caroline Liu scored 16 points and had 6 assists for the Wildcats. Grace Sullivan also scored 16 points and Tayla Thomas scored 13 points.
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Michigan went on a 21-3 run in the third quarter to erase a 7-point deficit. The Wolverines continued to lead on Swords’ layup with 5:42 left in the game, and Dudley’s basket made it 56-45 with 1:19 left.
Thomas missed two Northwestern free throws in the decisive game and Sullivan had a costly turnover.
The Wolverines led by 23 points on Olson’s jumper with 3:30 left in the game. The sophomore guard scored 14 points in the second half.
No. 9 Louisville 86, Wake Forest 67
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Laura Ziegler scored 13 points and Tajianna Roberts added 12 for Louisville, which was held to just nine points in the first two quarters.
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The Cardinals (23-4, 13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won their past two games by 19 points each since their first league loss to No. 11 Duke, snapping a 14-game winning streak. They and the Demon Deacons both shot 52% overall and 44% from long range, but Louisville shot above 50% for three straight quarters with all 12 players making at least one field goal.
The Cardinals led by 32 points late in the fourth quarter before calling on the reserves. Wake Forest outscored them 15-2 in the final 4 minutes and 20 seconds.
Louisville’s Elif Istanbulluoglu hit two 3-pointers and finished with 10 points on 11-of-25 3-point shooting.
Grace Oliver scored 20 points and Milan Brown and Aurora Sowerby had 12 points each for the Demon Deacons (13-13, 11-3), who shot 10-of-11 from the field. Wake Forest overcame a 38-percent first half shooting, shooting 19 of 31 (61 percent) after halftime and 65 percent (11 of 17) in the fourth quarter.
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No. 10 Oklahoma State 81, Florida State 74
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Zya Vann scored 18 points, Peyton Verhulst had 16 points and nine rebounds and Oklahoma State rallied to beat Florida State.
Aaliyah Chavez had 16 points and seven assists and made all 10 free throws for Oklahoma (18-6, 6-5 Southeastern Conference), which overcame a poor shooting first half.
Liv McGill had 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Florida (15-12, 3-9), which held the Sooners scoreless for four minutes in the second quarter and led 37-26 at halftime. The Gators’ Me’Arah O’Neal scored 14 points and Jade Weathersby scored 11 points.
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Oklahoma State had a memorable first half. The Sooners shot 10-for-36 (28%) and just nine attempts from beyond the arc, while the Sooners’ two best players, Chavez and Regan Beals, struggled.
No. 14 Mississippi 80, Arkansas 57
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Cody McMahon scored 21 points and dished out five assists and Mississippi State easily beat Arkansas to reach 20 wins for its fifth straight season.
McMahon scored 20 or more points for the fourth straight game and has scored in double figures in all but one game this season.
The Rebels (20-5, 7-3 Southeastern Conference) bounced back from a 63-64 loss to then-No. 21 Alabama eased back into the winning column last Thursday in its first home game in more than a month.
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Latasha Lattimore scored 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season, and Denim DeShields added 12 points for Mississippi State.
Latimore took the lead just 2 minutes and 25 seconds into the first quarter on a layup and established a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter. They held the lead the rest of the game, leading 40-27 at halftime and then went on a 7-0 run in the second half to extend their lead to 20 points.
Taleyah Jones scored 16 points and Bonnie Deas had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Razorbacks (11-15, 0-11).
No. 17 TCU 83, NO. 12 Baylor 67
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WACO, Texas (AP) — Olivia Miles scored a career-high 40 points and 10 3-pointers to lead TCU past Baylor.
Myers scored 10 points in the first half and scored 23 points in the third quarter on 7-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc, accounting for all but two of the Horned Frogs’ 25 points.
By the end of the third quarter, she turned a four-point halftime lead into a 13-point advantage, becoming the most points scored in a quarter by any Division I player since Caitlin Clark on February 15, 2024.
With 5 minutes and 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter, she hit her 10th three-pointer. This was her second consecutive game scoring more than 31 points, and she has never scored less than 12 points in a game this season.
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Marta Suarez also added 27 points and six rebounds for the Horned Frogs (22-4, 10-3 Big 12).
Talia Scott scored 22 points on 5-for-10 shooting (21-5, 10-3), passing the 1,000-point mark for her career. Jana Van Gittenbeek had 14 points and six assists. Dariana Littlepage-Buggs scored 14 points, along with five rebounds and two blocks.
No. 18 Kentucky 75, Texas A&M 55
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Asha Boone and Toni Morgan each scored 19 points, Clara Strike had a double-double and Kentucky easily beat Texas A&M.
Boone made 5 of 11 shots and hit 4 three-pointers. Morgan contributed 8 assists. Strike had 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks for the Wildcats (19-7, 6-6 Southeastern Conference).
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Stark continued to average a double-double before the game, averaging 16 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. She has 13 double-doubles this year, tied for 14th in the country in double-doubles.
After the opening, the Wildcats went on a 16-0 run, leading 27-5 at the end of the first quarter. Boone scored eight points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers in the first round.
At halftime, the score was 38-18, and the Aggies never got closer than 17 points from then on.
The Aggies (10-10, 2-9) have lost four straight road games.
No. 20 Maryland 81, Penn State 62
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Yarden Garzon led the way with 19 points and four other Terrapins scored in double figures as Maryland defeated Penn State.
Oluchi Okananwa (15 points), Addi Mack (13 points), Saylor Poffenbarger (10 points) and Mir McLean (10 points) all contributed to three straight wins for the Terrapins (20-6, 8-6 Big Ten).
Poffenbarger had 11 rebounds and five assists for her third double-double of the season, while Okananwa dished out six assists and tied a career high with six steals.
Maryland led 38-34 at halftime, shooting 46 percent from the field but just 17 percent from beyond the arc. At the beginning of the third quarter, the Terrapins went on an 11-0 run to bring the score to double digits, and at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Terrapins went on a 13-3 run to put the game out of reach.
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Kiyomi McMiller scored 30 points on 12-of-26 shooting (8-17, 1-13) for the Lady Lions, marking her third straight game with 30-plus points.
No. 21 North Carolina 94, SMU 42
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Rani Grant scored 15 points, India Nivar added 14 and North Carolina beat SMU for its eighth straight victory.
Courtney Banghart earned her 400th career win, becoming one of 48 active coaches in Division I women’s basketball to reach that mark.
UNC made 6 of 8 3-pointers to lead 28-9 at the end of the first quarter, while SMU shot 3 of 14 from the field. In the first quarter, five Tar Heels players made three-pointers, including Leila Hull, who made 2 of 2 shots.
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The Tar Heels then went on a 14-0 run, led by 3-pointers from Nyla Brooks and Talia Henderson, to lead by 31 points early in the second quarter. Hull’s ninth 3-pointer of the first half came after North Carolina hit just 12 3-pointers to lead 49-18 at halftime.
North Carolina’s lead never fell below 31 points in the second half.
Henderson scored 13 points and Hull scored 11 for North Carolina (21-5, 10-3 ACC).
No. 22 Tennessee 98, Missouri 53
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Janiah Barker scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Talaysia Cooper had 17 points and four steals and Tennessee beat Missouri.
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Buck shot 9 of 16 from the field and 2 of 5 from beyond the arc for the Lady Vols (16-6, 8-2 Southeastern Conference), who have lost three of their past four games.
Alyssa Latham scored 15 points (7-of-10 shooting), Nya Robertson added 14 points and Deniya Prawl notched her first career double-double for Tennessee with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
The Lady Vols took a double-digit lead less than eight minutes into the game and went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter to extend their advantage to 30 points. At halftime, they led 53-22. Buck scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first half, and Latham contributed 10 points. Tennessee shot 55 percent in the first half, while Missouri shot 27 percent.
Grace Slaughter scored 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting for the Tigers (16-11, 4-8). Shannon Dowell had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Missouri lost for the second straight time after winning three straight.
