Tennessee Rolls Past South Carolina Again

Coach Pat Summitt knew three teams ranked ahead of Tennessee had lost already this week. She made sure her fifth-ranked Lady Vols didn’t add to that group Thursday night at Columbia, S.C.

“I asked the team if they knew that last night Texas lost to Baylor, Texas Tech lost to Iowa State, and the night before that Connecticut lost at Notre Dame,” Summitt said. “I said, ‘We don’t want to be the fourth to join this company.’ ”

Thanks to some strong defense, the Lady Vols (13-1, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) didn’t, defeating South Carolina (8-6, 0-2) for the 28th consecutive time, 86-58.

No. 6 Minnesota 74, Illinois 59 -- The Golden Gophers (15-0, 4-0 Big Ten) remained the only unbeaten team in the country after defeating the Fighting Illini (7-9, 1-4) at Minneapolis.

No. 8 Penn State 68, Michigan 56 -- Kelly Mazzante closed in on the Big Ten career scoring record, getting 19 points to help the Nittany Lions (12-2, 5-0) defeat the Wolverines (9-8, 2-2) at Ann Arbor, Mich.

The senior guard needs nine points to pass Katie Smith, who had 2,578 points for Ohio State. Mazzante has 2,570 points.

No. 9 Purdue 71, Northwestern 41 -- At West Lafayette, Ind., the Boilermakers (13-2, 2-1) used the Wildcats (7-8, 0-4) as a tuneup for their Big Ten showdown with No. 6 Minnesota on Sunday.

No. 20 Auburn 72, No. 11 Georgia 54 -- At Auburn, Ala., the Tigers (13-3, 1-1 SEC) held the Bulldogs (13-3, 2-1) to a season-worst 29% shooting (18 for 63).

No. 12 Louisiana Tech 84, San Jose State 71 -- The Lady Techsters (11-2, 4-1) improved to 39-2 in the Western Athletic Conference since joining the league in 2002. Cricket Williams scored 20 of her 21 points in the second half to lead the Spartans (10-3, 2-2) at San Jose.

No. 14 Louisiana State 74, Florida 59 -- Seimone Augustus had a career-high 28 points and a season-high 13 rebounds to lead the Tigers (14-2, 2-0 SEC) past the Gators (11-5, 1-2) at Baton Rouge, La.

No. 25 Michigan State 55, Ohio State 47 -- The Spartans (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) did not make a basket after Kristin Haynie’s jump shot with 8:17 left gave them a 48-34 lead over the Buckeyes (10-5, 2-2) at Columbus, Ohio.