Tennessee Rolls to 93-56 Victory

Kara Lawson scored 15 of her 20 points in the first half, and No. 2-ranked Tennessee put together a 22-4 surge that led to a 93-56 victory Sunday over No. 8 North Carolina State in the opening game of the Elite 4 Holiday Classic doubleheader at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Gwen Jackson added 14 points and 12 rebounds for Tennessee (5-0). The Wolfpack (6-1) was led by Carisse Moody’s 18 points and nine rebounds. Tennessee’s defense limited N.C. State to 32% shooting and forced 28 turnovers, 17 in the second half.

No. 14 Duke 76, No. 6 Louisiana Tech 64--Alana Beard had 15 points, 11 assists, six steals and six rebounds as the Blue Devils (5-2) built an early lead then held off the Lady Techsters (2-2) in second game of the Elite 4 Holiday Classic at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Louisiana Tech (2-2) was led by Amber Obaze’s 17 points.

No. 4 Vanderbilt 90, James Madison 44--Ashley McElhiney scored a game-high 20 points as Vanderbilt (9-1) defeated James Madison (4-2) at Nashville.

No. 7 Stanford 94, Santa Clara 62--Nicole Powell had 29 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists as host Stanford (8-0) remained undefeated.

Powell went 10 for 14 from the field and made three three-point shots while playing just 27 minutes.

Caroline Gruening had 16 points for Santa Clara (4-2).

No. 9 Texas Tech 63, North Texas 53--Jia Perkins had 26 points and 12 rebounds as Texas Tech defeated North Texas at Lubbock, Texas, despite not having Plenette Pierson, who was suspended by Coach Marsha Sharp for undisclosed reasons after the Lady Raiders’ loss Friday night.

Texas Tech (3-2) struggled to get going in the first six minutes Sunday, making only two of 10 shots and turning the ball over twice. But the Lady Raiders found the range midway through the first half and took the lead for good. Shannan Stephenson scored 11 points for North Texas (4-3).

No. 10 Purdue 70, No. 18 Louisiana State 54--Shereka Wright had 26 points, nine rebounds and four blocks to lead Purdue (5-1) past LSU (3-2) at Baton Rouge, La. Kelly Komara scored 15 points for Purdue (5-1). Doneeka Hodges led LSU (3-2) with 20 points.

No. 11 Colorado 92, Iowa 83--Reserve Britt Hartshorn had 17 points and Sabrina Scott scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half to lead host Colorado (6-2) over Iowa (4-2) at Boulder.

No. 13 Georgia 54, California 48--Tawana McDonald scored 19 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked six shots as Georgia won the Oakland Tribune Classic championship at Berkeley, Calif. The Bulldogs (5-0) used a 17-2 run to take a 38-28 lead. Ami Forney led the Bears (4-1) with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 16 Michigan 78, No. 23 Notre Dame 63--Alayne Ingram scored 22 points and LeeAnn Bies added 18 as Michigan (5-1) beat Notre Dame (2-3) at Grand Rapids, Mich.

No. 24 North Carolina 95, No. 17 Old Dominion 85--Nikki Teasley finished with 27 points and Coretta Brown added 24 and eight rebounds for North Carolina (7-1) at Norfolk, Va. Okiesha Howard led the Lady Monarchs (2-3) with 18 points.

In other games involving ranked teams:

Shaun Gortman, feeling better after missing a game, scored 20 points to lead No. 25 South Carolina (6-1) to a 76-58 victory over Syracuse (3-3) at Columbia, S.C. ... At Waco, Texas, No. 12 Baylor (7-0) defeated Boston University (5-2), 81-56. ... At New Orleans, Tulane (6-1) upset No. 19 Florida (4-3), 57-51. ... At Tucson, No. 20 Wisconsin (5-1) defeated Holy Cross (5-2), 80-71, in the championship of the Arizona Classic.