Sunday, Feb. 16
Highlights
No. 5/6 UConn 67, USF 47
(AP) -- Megan Walker scored 21 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 20 Sunday to help No. 5 UConn shrug off a slow start to beat South Florida 67-47 and remain unbeaten in the American Athletic Conference.
The Huskies (21-3, 11-0) trailed by four at halftime, took the lead for good early in the third quarter and broke the game open by beginning the fourth quarter with a 15-2 run and holding USF (15-10, 7-4) to one field goal during a nine-minute stretch.
Aubrey Griffin came off the bench to score eight points, grab seven rebounds and key the Huskies defense with five steals.
In improving to 131-0 all-time against league opponents since formation of the AAC, UConn rebounded from an 18-point loss to top-ranked South Carolina on Monday. The Huskies have never lost to USF, going 30-0 in a series that dates to the 2002-03 season.
The Bulls made five of six 3-pointers in the opening and led 29-25 at halftime after UConn failed to hold the momentum after wiping out an eight-point deficit and wasting an opportunity to take the lead when Anna Makurat missed a layup on a fast break.
The Huskies shot just 36.1%, including 4 of 17 from 3-point range, during last Monday's 70-52 loss at South Carolina, UConn's third double-digit setback this season -- all coming against the teams currently ranked one, two, three in the AP Top 25.
Sunday was a struggle, too, with the Huskies warming to 48.3% despite missing 11 of 15 3-pointers.
Wichita State 69, Tulane 68
Maya Brewer scored 11 of her 15 points after halftime, none bigger than her go-ahead three-pointer with 22 seconds left to give Wichita State a 69-68 road win at Tulane Sunday afternoon.
Wichita State (14-11, 6-6) trailed by two with less than a minute to go until Brewer banked in a three from the right wing to put the Shockers in front to steal a win in the Big Easy.
Mariah McCully scored a team-high 19 points to run her streak of 10-plus to 16 in a row. Maya Brewer finished 6-of-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc to make up her 15 points. She also pulled down a career-best seven rebounds. Raven Prince added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Shockers forced 26 Tulane turnovers and scored 25 points off those miscues. Wichita State went 7-of-23 from downtown and converted 41 percent of its attempts for the game. The turnovers were huge down the stretch because Tulane shot 50 percent overall. Sixteen of Tulane's 26 turnovers came after halftime, including some big ones in the final minute.
Arsula Clark went off for a game-high 31 points on 10-of-13 shooting and a 9-for-11 mark at the free throw line.
A sloppy first quarter saw Tulane leading 15-11 after 10 minutes. Wichita State was just 3-of-11 from the field with eight turnovers, while Tulane converted on nearly 50 percent of its attempts.
Krystal Freeman (8) and Arsula Clark (7) were responsible for all 15 points in the period for the Green Wave. The three other Tulane players who attempted a shot were a combined 0-for-6.
With 2:39 left in the second quarter a player not named Freeman or Clark finally scored a point for Tulane to give the Wave a 27-22 lead. The duo of Clark and Freeman scored the first 25 points.
Tulane grabbed its largest lead, 30-24, but four straight from McCully brought the Shockers right back within a pair. A Raven Prince second chance bucket with one second left answered a Tulane three-pointer to make it 33-30 at the half.
McCully led Wichita State with nine points to help the Shockers raise their shooting percentage to 41 percent through two quarters, despite a 2-for-10 mark from long range. Tulane posted a 46 percent clip behind 18 first half points from Clark. The Tulane point guard carved the Shocker defense to the tune of 6-of-7 from the field and going 5-for-7 at the charity stripe.
Just as the Green Wave had upped its lead to eight, their largest of the game, a 7-0 run for the visitors made it a one-point game with 5:35 remaining in the third. Brewer hit a three-pointer and pull-up jumper on back-to-back possessions in the spurt.
The Shockers then grabbed their first lead since early in the first quarter on a Seraphine Bastin layup and then an Asia Henderson bucket made it a four-point game. Henderson scored again on consecutive drives before a Brewer trey capped the Shocker scoring in the third. Tulane knocked down a runner as time expired to close the gap to 55-53 with playing moving to the fourth.
McCully's third triple came from the corner on an inbounds play to push the margin back to four, only to see the Green Wave immediately respond with one of their own.
Wichita State then went a little over three minutes without a score, but Tulane couldn't capitalize, as the Shockers held a 60-59 lead. Finally, McCully snapped the drought with a tough finish inside, pushing the cushion to three.
As both teams did throughout the game, Tulane had an answer. A 7-0 run put the Wave back up by four with 2:13 to go.
Bastin cut it back to two on a 12-footer, setting up Brewer for the heroics with only 22 seconds remaining. A Tulane turnover on the inbounds gave the ball back to Wichita State where Bastin sealed it with a pair at the line.
The Green Wave had a chance to tie, but Clark's fadeaway corner three went long.