Zee Spearman scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds and No. 19 Tennessee held off No. 5 UConn for an 80-76 nonconference victory Thursday night in Knoxville, Tenn.
Samara Spencer had 14 points, Jewel Spear provided 12 points and Talaysia Cooper notched 11 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Volunteers (17-5), who had lost three times on their home court this season.
Sarah Strong’s 18 points and Paige Bueckers’ 14 points led the Huskies (21-3), who had an 11-game winning streak end. Bueckers shot 5-for-16 from the floor. Bueckers tied the game at 74-all with a 3-pointer with 2:08 left, but Spearman’s bucket on the next possession gave the Vols the lead back. Spearman also scored the game’s final points with 12 seconds to play.
Tennessee scored the last five points of the first half to close within 39-37, and it took the lead with a 22-15 scoring advantage in the third period.
No. 2 South Carolina 74, Georgia 42
MiLaysia Fulwiley’s 13 points and Tessa Johnson’s 12 points aided the visiting Gamecocks’ abundant bench scoring to beat the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga.
Chloe Kitts added 11 points for the Gamecocks (22-1, 10-0 Southeastern Conference), who led 33-15 at halftime. South Carolina shot 45.9 percent from the field and enjoyed a 47-28 rebounding advantage.
Asia Avinger and reserve Roxane Makolo each had nine points for Georgia (9-15, 1-9), which finished 1-for-12 on 3-pointers.
No. 10 Duke 74, Clemson 55
Toby Fournier scored 20 points off the bench and the Blue Devils’ defense did solid work in a bounce-back victory over the Tigers in Durham, N.C.
Ashlon Jackson’s 15 points, Oluchi Okananwa’s 14 and Reigan Richardson’s 12 helped Duke (18-5, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) recover from Monday night’s loss at No. 14 North Carolina State. Jackson had three of the Blue Devils’ seven 3-point baskets.
Maddi Cluse tallied 19 points for Clemson (11-12, 4-8), which shot 50 percent from the field but committed 27 turnovers. Anya Poole had 11 points.
No. 22 Florida State 101, Virginia 68
Ta’Niya Latson pumped in 27 points and dished 12 assists, Makayla Timpson added 18 points and eight rebounds and O’Mariah Gordon scored 15 points to lead the Seminoles to a road victory over the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va.
Florida State (19-4, 9-2 ACC) broke out to a 26-9 lead after the first quarter on the way to a 49-31 halftime lead. A 34-12 advantage in the third quarter turned it into a rout.
Kymora Johnson and Paris Clark both had 16 points and Breona Hurd posted 15 points for Virginia (12-12, 4-8), which collected 21 of its 49 boards on the offensive glass. The Cavaliers went 8-for-18 on free throws.
–Field Level Media
