In Columbia, SC, Aliyah Boston had his second triple-double career with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks to lead South Carolina’s No. 4 to his 25th consecutive victory over the Southeast Conference competition, with a 62- 50 on Georgia No. 22 on Thursday night.
South Carolina’s top scorer Zia Cooke came out of a drop in scoring with 16 points when the Gamecocks (11-1, 6-0 SEC) won their 13th straight win over the Lady Bulldogs (12-2, 4-2 ).
Boston debuted last season with a triple-double and got his second with a block from Mikayla Coombs with 1:35 remaining in the third quarter.
South Carolina entered playing well, with more than 100 points in the last two opponents at Vanderbilt (who has since chosen to leave the season) and the Razorbacks ranked. But Georgia, which leads the SEC in the fewest points allowed, has kept Gamecocks out of the way since the beginning.
Boston and Cooke, part of South Carolina’s No. 1 recruiting class two years ago, returned just before halfway through. Boston got the first 3 points of the game and Cooke won the bell in a short run that sent the Gamecocks to the locker room by 30-18.
The 30 points were the lowest in a first half for Gamecocks, as they were losing to second place in the state of North Carolina by 21-20 on December 3. They would end up losing 54-46, their only loss in the past two seasons.
Jenna Staiti led Georgia with 15 points.
No. 3 Connecticut 67, No. 25 Tennessee 61: In Knoxville, Tennessee, Evina Westbrook, who moved from Tennessee to UConn two years ago, connected at three consecutive points in the fourth period to raise the number 3 Huskies over number 25 Lady Volunteers.
UConn freshman Paige Bueckers added nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Huskies (9-0). After rolling his right ankle with just over three minutes left, Bueckers left the court for a minute to bandage the ankle. She came back and hit a huge 3-point ball of the wing with 28 seconds remaining that gave the Huskies a 66-61 lead and sealed the victory.
It was a classic encounter in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Revival Series during We Back Pat Week, which honors the late Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, who passed away in 2016. Lady Vols (9-3) used it for the third time “ Summitt ”on the back of his shirts.
Westbrook’s throwing shots turned a tied game into a six-point lead for UConn at the start of the fourth period. She started a race that allowed the Huskies to lead by nine, 61-52. The outbreak coincided with a drought of more than two minutes for Lady Vols (9-3). Tennessee recovered to 63-61 before Bueckers fired a Westbrook pass.
A crowd of 3,553 watched the game at Thompson-Boling Arena, the largest crowd to watch a women’s basketball game anywhere in the country this season. The previous high was 3,500 in South Carolina (five times).
Davis, leader of the Vols, scored just two points in the first half. Four consecutive points in the third quarter gave Tennessee the leadership it maintained throughout the period. The Vols were in charge, 49-45, going into the fourth quarter.
No. 12 Kentucky 76, Auburn 71: In Auburn, Alabama, Blair Green scored 18 points in shot 7 of 9 and No. 12 Kentucky held Auburn.
Rhyne Howard added 14 points to the Wildcats (11-3, 4-2 SEC) after losing the last game, when Green had a high career 22 points, with an ankle injury. Dre’Una Edwards and Robyn Benton, who just returned from the coronavirus protocol, had 10 each.
Unique Thompson scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half, 13 in the fourth quarter, to keep Auburn (5-8, 0-5) in the game to go with had 10 rebounds, five below its national average. Jala Jordan added 11 points and Honesty Scott-Grayson 10.
The Wildcats play at No. 25 Tennessee on Sunday in a game rescheduled for January 3. Auburn is home against Alabama.
Indiana Men Stun No. 4 in Iowa at the Hawkeyes’
In Iowa City, Iowa, Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 23 points despite foul problems in the second half and the Indiana defense defeated No. 4 Iowa in an 81-69 victory on Thursday night.
It was a low point season for the Hawkeyes (12-3, 6-2 Big Ten), who came in second in the country with a score of 92.2 points per game. Iowa had its five-game winning streak broken out of the tie for first place in the conference.
Rob Phinisee added 18 points for the Hoosiers. Aljami Durham scored 14 and Armaan Franklin had 11.
Indiana (9-6, 4-4) lost by 53-44 with 12 minutes left, so it went to 23-3. The Hawkeyes did not have a field goal for 11 minutes until Joe Toussaint’s layup with 59.6 seconds remaining. They were 9 out of 34 on the field in the second half, including 1 out of 10 on 3 points.
Iowa, ranked second in the Big Ten in 3-point shots with 39.5%, was just 5 of 23 behind the game arc.
Luka Garza, the country’s top scorer with 26.9 points per game, led Iowa with 28 points and 12 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season. Joe Wieskamp had 16 points, all but one in the first half, and added 12 rebounds.
No. 24 UCLA 61, California 57: In Berkeley, California, Cody Riley scored 13 points, Jules Bernard made a 3 point clutch with two minutes remaining, and No. 24 UCLA shook off a night full of mistakes to beat California.
Bruins (12-2, 8-0 Pac-12) made 14 turnovers and was offensively sloppy, but ended the game with 7-2.
Riley converted a revolving layup that put UCLA ahead 54-52. After Grant Anticevich’s fifth 3-point basket gave Cal the lead, Riley made a 5-meter jump and Bernard continued with his fundamental kick beyond the hoop that gave UCLA a four-point lead.
Bernard finished with 11 points to help Bruins their eighth consecutive victory over the Golden Bears.
Anticevich scored 21 points and made five 3s for California (7-9, 2-7). Bears played without top scorer Matt Bradley.