Jessica Timmons scored a 24 points, Diana Collins added 16 and Alabama beat No. 6 Kentucky 64-51 on Thursday night.
The Crimson Tide (16-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) earned their highest-ranked regular-season win in coach Kristy Curry’s tenure (2013-Present) and the highest-ranked win overall since 1997.
The Wildcats (15-2, 2-1) opened the game on an 11-2 run, but were outscored 34-18 for the remainder of the first half. Kentucky entered Thursday night averaging nine turnovers per game but turned it over 10 times in the first half alone, and 20 for the game. Alabama capitalized, turning those into 21 points.
Tonie Morgan led Kentucky with 14 points and Asia Boone added 12.
Kentucky played without starting forward Teonni Key, who injured her arm in the team’s last game against Missouri. Without one of its leading rebounders and shot blockers, the Wildcats, who’s season rebound margin is plus-11.4, lost the rebounding battle 40-38 and were outscored in the paint by a 26-12 margin.
For Alabama, starting forward Essence Cody left the game with a few seconds remaining in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury and did not return.
NO. 3 SOUTH CAROLINA 93, ARKANSAS 58
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Joyce Edwards scored 22 points and led four South Carolina players in double figures as the Gamecocks beat Arkansas.
Edwards, who entered third in the Southeastern Conference in scoring, finished one point above her season average. She played just 25 minutes as South Carolina coach Dawn Staley began going to her bench midway through the third quarter.
The Gamecocks (16-1, 3-0 SEC) raced to a 17-point lead in the first quarter and maintained that advantage until the break.
Arkansas (11-7, 0-3) stuck around by making three 3-pointers and grabbing seven offensive rebounds against a Gamecocks team that averaged a plus-15 rebounding margin entering the game.
South Carolina went on a 15-2 run over five minutes near the end of the third period, extending its lead to 33 points. Arkansas committed as many turnovers – five – as it made field goals in the quarter, as the Gamecocks ultimately scored 30 points off Arkansas’ 23 giveaways.
Tessa Johnson scored 19 points for South Carolina, while Raven Johnson and Madina Okot added 14 apiece.
NO. 18 MISSISSIPPI 74, NO. 5 OKLAHOMA 69
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Cotie McMahon scored 22 points, and Mississippi defeated Oklahoma to snap the Sooners’ 13-game winning streak.
As the Ole Miss football team tried to win its national semifinal, the women’s basketball team claimed one of the biggest wins in school history. It was the program’s 13th win ever against a Top 5 opponent. It comes on the heels of a 3-point loss at No. 2 Texas this past Sunday.
Ole Miss (15-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) plays at a much slower pace than Oklahoma, and the Rebels’ pace won out. The Sooners ranked second nationally with 94.5 points per game before posting a season-low point total on Thursday.
Aaliyah Chavez scored 26 points for Oklahoma, but made just 7 of 22 field goals. Raegan Beers added 15 points and 20 rebounds for the Sooners (14-2, 2-1). It was a disappointing result for an Oklahoma program that reached its highest ranking since 2009 this week.
NO. 7 VANDERBILT 99, MISSOURI 68
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mikayla Blakes scored 20 points to lead five Vanderbilt players in double figures, and the Commodores stayed undefeated, beating Missouri.
Vanderbilt (16-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) is a win away from matching the 17-0 start by the 1992-93 squad, which reached the program’s lone women’s Final Four.
The SEC’s leading scorer who came in averaging 25.2 points per game, Blakes struggled with only eight points through three quarters before her shots started falling. Aubrey Galvan added 19 points. Sacha Washington had 15 points and 16 rebounds, and Justine Pissott and Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda also scored 15 apiece.
The Commodores have won three straight against Missouri, which lost for only the second time when visiting Memorial Gym, dropping to 6-2.
Missouri (12-6, 0-3) and first-year coach Kellie Harper wrapped up a tough opening stretch to league play. The Tigers lost to No. 2 Texas at home, then to then-No. 11 Kentucky before coming to Nashville.
Abbey Schreacke led Missouri with 19 points, and Grace Slaughter added 12.
NO. 8 MARYLAND 88, RUTGERS 41
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Yarden Garzon hit all six of her 3-point shots and scored 18 points as Maryland raced to an early lead and routed Rutgers.
Addi Mack added 15 points for the Terrapins (16-1, 4-1 Big Ten), who scored the first nine points of the game, hitting three 3-pointers. Maryland led 22-11 after the opening quarter as it made its first five 3-point attempts. The team hit a season high 16 3-pointers in the game.
Maryland continued its hot-shooting in the second, once again scoring the first 11 points to open up a 22-point lead. Rutgers got its first points of the second quarter on two free throws with 5:35 left in the period from Nene Ndiaye. She led the team with 11 points.
The Scarlet Knights (8-8, 0-5) got their only basket in the second on a putback by Janae Walker with about 45 seconds later. They finished the quarter 1 of 12 from the field with seven turnovers and trailed 44-16 at the half.
NO. 9 MICHIGAN 105, PENN STATE 65
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Mila Holloway scored 18 points, Te’Yala Delfosse added 17 points, and Michigan pulled away from Penn State for a win.
McKenzie Mathurin had 15, Olivia Olson had 13 and Brooke Quarles Daniels had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Wolverines (13-2, 4-1 Big Ten) who never trailed in their ninth straight win and 10th in a row against.
Penn State (7-9, 0-5) was led by Gracie Merkle with 18 points and Kiyomi McMiller with 15.
NO. 10 LOUISVILLE 77, MIAMI 68
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Elif Istanbulluoglu scored 12 of her career-high 23 points in the third quarter, and Louisville pushed its winning streak to eight games with a win over Miami.
Istanbulluoglu’s college-best entering Thursday was 16 points.
Imari Berry scored 16 and Skylar Jones added 12 for Louisville (15-3, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Cardinals opened the third quarter with a 15-3 run to build a 10-point lead and didn’t trail again.
Amarachi Kimpson scored 18 for Miami (10-6, 2-3), which has now lost 13 straight against AP-ranked opponents. The Hurricanes were without guard Gal Raviv, who is day-to-day with a broken nose suffered in practice.
Vittoria Blasigh and Ra Shaya Kyle each scored 10 for Miami. The Cardinals outscored the Hurricanes 38-12 off the bench.
NO. 12 LSU 80, GEORGIA 59
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Flau’jae Johnson scored 15 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter, MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 18 points, and LSU beat Georgia.
Dani Carnegie, a Georgia Tech transfer, led the Lady Bulldogs with 24 points, Trinity Turner scored 11 and Rylie Theuerkauf finished with seven points. The trio combined to make 14 of 51 (27%) from the field.
Johnson scored six consecutive points in a 10-1 run to open the fourth quarter that gave the Tigers a 17-point lead with 7:20 to play.
Johnson made a layup about midway through the third quarter that made the senior the ninth player in history to score at least 1,800 points for LSU. Johnson has 1,816 career points.
The Lady Bulldogs shot 35% from the field and made just 1 of 14 from behind the arc in the first half, and trailed 38-28 at the intermission.
Amiyah Joyner had 12 points and 11 rebounds — her fifth double-double this season — and ZaKiyah Johnson also scored 12 points for LSU.
NO. 20 TENNESSEE 90, MISSISSIPPI STATE 80
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Freshman Mia Pauldo scored a season-high 26 points, Janiah Barker added 18, and Tennessee beat Mississippi State.
Tennessee (11-3, 3-0 SEC) has won four straight and six of seven. The Lady Vols are 42-8 in the series with Mississippi State that began in 1986.
Pauldo made 8 of 12 from the field and 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. Talaysia Cooper had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists for Tennessee and Zee Spearman also scored 14 points.
Mississippi State (14-3, 1-2) had its 10-game win streak snapped last time out by a 95-47 loss to then No. 8 Oklahoma.
Pauldo hit a 3-pointer that gave Tennessee the lead for good with 2:29 left in the first quarter. Barker followed with another 3 before Pauldo converted a three-point play that made it 25-17 less than a minute later.
Spearman hit a 3-pointer that gave the Lady Vols an 18-point lead with 3:46 left in the third quarter. Mississippi State scored 17 of the next 21 to trim its deficit to 70-65 with 8:21 to play, but got no closer.
Madison Francis had 22 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs and Kharyssa Richardson also scored 22 points, a career best, and grabbed nine rebounds. Destiney McPhaul had 14 points, five assists and three steals.
