Jackson Covers Tennessee’s Needs

Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt entrusted two tough duties to Gwen Jackson against No. 14-ranked Mississippi State.

Jackson was asked to provide the inside scoring for the No. 4 Lady Vols and guard LaToya Thomas, the Bulldogs’ top scorer. Thomas managed to go over her average of 24.4 points with 28, but it wasn’t enough.

Jackson made the difference by scoring 18 of her 25 points in the second half and grabbing 12 rebounds as the Lady Vols won, 82-68, Sunday at Knoxville, Tenn., to win their 43rd consecutive conference home game. The Lady Vols (16-3, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) improved their record over the Bulldogs (14-4, 3-2) to 20-0.

No. 1 Duke 81, Florida State 63 -- Iciss Tillis scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Blue Devils (19-0, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) past the Seminoles (13-5, 5-2) at Durham, N.C.

No. 6 Louisiana State 70, No. 18 Vanderbilt 59 -- The Tigers (17-1, 5-1 SEC) struggled against the Commodores (12-6, 2-3) at Baton Rouge, La., until a 19-7 run over the final 12 minutes led LSU to its 14th consecutive home victory.

No. 7 Texas Tech 80, Colorado 58 -- The Red Raiders (16-2, 5-1 Big 12) led by 19 points at halftime (45-27) and easily beat the Buffaloes (14-3, 4-2) at Boulder, Colo.

Auburn 64, No. 8 Arkansas 36 -- The Tigers (14-4, 2-3 SEC) held the Razorbacks (16-4, 3-2) to 15 points in the second half at Auburn, Ala. The Razorbacks shot only 25%, including barely more than 15% in the second half.

Illinois 94, No. 10 Minnesota 80 -- Aminata Yanni scored 30 points to lead five Illini players in double figures as Illinois (12-5, 4-3 Big Ten) upset the Gophers (15-3, 4-3) at Champaign, Ill.

No. 12 Purdue 76, Northwestern 60 -- Erika Valek scored 13 of her 19 second-half points during a span of 5:01 at Evanston, Ill., to lead the Boilermakers (16-3, 4-3 Big Ten) past the Wildcats (6-13, 1-7).

No. 13 Penn State 72, Michigan 70 -- Tanisha Wright’s field goal with six seconds left gave the Nittany Lions (16-5, 6-1 Big Ten) the victory at Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wolverines (11-6, 2-4) had a 56-43 lead with 12:29 left but didn’t score for the next eight minutes.

No. 19 Arizona 62, Wisconsin 55 -- The Wildcats (13-5) ended the game with a 9-2 run to beat the Badgers (4-14) at Madison, Wis. The Badgers went without a basket for the final 3:29.

No. 22 Oklahoma 65, Baylor 64 -- Dionnah Jackson made a three-point shot with two seconds left at Waco, Texas, to give the Sooners (13-5, 4-1 Big 12) the victory over the Bears (13-4, 2-3).

No. 24 Georgia 71, Kentucky 59 -- Christi Thomas made six free throws in the final 40 seconds at Athens, Ga., to give the Bulldogs (14-4, 5-0 SEC) the win over the Wildcats (9-8, 2-3).

Memphis 64, No. 25 DePaul 58 -- The Tigers (9-9, 2-3 Conference USA) never trailed at Memphis, Tenn. It was the second consecutive loss for the Blue Demons (14-6, 3-2).