Duke Avoids Another Upset
Monique Currie converted a go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds left, and No. 1-ranked Duke hung on to beat No. 25 North Carolina State, 52-49, Sunday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Raleigh, N.C.
Marquetta Dickens missed a three-point shot shortly before the buzzer that would have tied the score for the Wolfpack (15-5, 4-3). Currie finished with 18 points for Duke (20-2, 6-1), which lost earlier in the week at No. 12 North Carolina.
In other selected top 25 games:
No. 2 Louisiana State 57, Auburn 52 -- Seimone Augustus scored 24 points and Sylvia Fowles had 13 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Tigers (19-1, 6-0 Southeastern) at Baton Rouge, La. “We could not deal with Sylvia Fowles,” Auburn Coach Nell Fortner said. Natasha Brackett led Auburn (10-9, 1-5) with 23 points.
No. 3 Ohio State 69, Illinois 55 -- The Buckeyes (21-2, 8-1 Big Ten) never trailed as Jessica Davenport’s 32 points and 14 rebounds carried them over the Illini (12-7, 4-5) at Champaign, Ill.
No. 6 Notre Dame 65, No. 9 Connecticut 59 -- The Fighting Irish (18-3, 6-2) ended the Huskies’ Big East home winning streak at 112 games with the victory at Storrs, Conn. Connecticut (13-5, 6-1) had not lost a home conference game since a 64-62 defeat by Georgetown on Feb. 27, 1993.
The Irish also ended the Huskies’ 55-game win streak at Gampel Pavilion. Connecticut’s last defeat at Gampel was a 72-71 loss to Tennessee on Feb. 1, 2001. Notre Dame, had lost to Connecticut 18 days before at South Bend, Ind.
“Our guards are not good, and [Sunday] we were exposed. Notre Dame put a lot of pressure on them,” Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma said. “The first thing we would do when we got the ball was to look to pass to someone who wasn’t open.”
No. 8 Rutgers 70, West Virginia 49 -- The Scarlet Knights (15-4, 6-1 Big East) beat the Mountaineers (12-7, 3-5) at Piscataway, N.J., but received a scare when senior guard Chelsea Newton suffered a neck injury and had to be taken from the court on a stretcher. Newton was diagnosed with a mild concussion and strained muscles in her neck, and her status was listed as day to day.
No. 22 Penn State 81, No. 10 Minnesota 68 -- Tanisha Wright tied a career high with 32 points for the Nittany Lions (13-7, 8-1 Big Ten) at State College, Pa. Janel McCarville had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Golden Gophers (16-4, 6-2) but was only two for eight from the floor in the first half and missed seven consecutive shots at one point.
No. 11 Michigan State 52, Indiana 40 -- Kelli Roehrig scored all 13 of her points in the second half to lift the Spartans (18-3, 7-2 Big Ten) over the Hoosiers (8-11, 1-8) at Bloomington, Ind.
No. 12 North Carolina 55, Georgia Tech 41 -- Nikita Bell scored six of her 14 points during an early 15-0 run to lead the Tar Heels (17-3, 5-2 ACC) over the Yellow Jackets (12-6, 3-4) at Atlanta.
No. 13 Texas Tech 67, Texas A&M; 54 -- The Red Raiders (16-3, 7-1) moved into a tie with Kansas State for the Big 12 lead with the victory over the Aggies (11-7, 2-6) at College Station, Texas.
No. 24 Temple 64, Xavier 62 -- Kamesha Hairston scored 31 points, including the go-ahead layup as time expired, to lift the Owls (17-3, 9-0 Atlantic 10) over the Musketeers (13-6, 7-1) at Philadelphia.