Tar Heels Live Up to Top Spot

Ivory Latta had 11 of her 18 points in the second half, teammates Erlana Larkins and Camille Little each added 17 points and North Carolina won its first game ever at No. 1 by beating 24th-ranked North Carolina State, 75-58, on Thursday night.

Little’s total tied a season high for the Tar Heels, 21-0 overall and 8-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, who remained the only unbeaten women’s or men’s team in Division I and extended the longest home winning streak in the nation to 30 games.

No. 3 Louisiana State 93, Arkansas 59 -- Sylvia Fowles had 21 points and 11 rebounds on the road for the Lady Tigers (19-1, 7-0 Southeastern Conference), who won their 21st straight regular-season SEC game. LSU shot 58% from the field and broke the game open with a 15-0 run to end the first half.

No. 5 Tennessee 78, Mississippi 63 -- Sidney Spencer and Shanna Zolman each scored 18 points in Oxford, Miss., to help the Lady Vols (20-2, 6-1 SEC) clinch their 30th straight 20-win season under Coach Pat Summitt.

Jada Mincy’s free throw with 11:28 to play gave the Rebels (12-9, 2-6) a 46-41 lead. But the Lady Vols countered with a 20-5 run keyed by two three-pointers by Spencer during the next 4 1/2 minutes.

Iowa 77, No. 8 Purdue 71 -- Freshman Wendy Ausdemore scored a career-high 23 points and Iowa rallied at home to end a 13-game winning streak for the Boilermakers (17-3, 9-1 Big Ten).

Iowa (13-8, 6-4) trailed by 11 points midway through the second half, but chipped away at Purdue’s lead to send the game into overtime.

No. 12 Minnesota 64, Illinois 49 -- Jamie Broback scored 14 of her 18 points in the first half for the Golden Gophers (16-4, 8-1 Big Ten), who jumped out to a 10-2 lead they would never give up. The win was Minnesota’s sixth straight road victory in Big Ten play.

No. 14 Georgia 91, No. 21 Kentucky 57 -- Georgia’s victory, in Athens, Ga., was the 650th for Coach Andy Landers, and the third straight for the Lady Bulldogs (16-5, 6-2 SEC) since a one-point loss to LSU.

No. 15 Stanford 79, Oregon 58 -- Brooke Smith had 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals and Stanford (15-5, 10-2 Pac-10) won its 43rd straight conference home game. Oregon is 13-8, 4-7.

No. 19 Brigham Young 60, No. 16 New Mexico 55 -- Jennie Keele scored five of her 12 points in the final 1:18 at home and Brigham Young (18-1, 8-0 Mountain West Conference) won its 10th game in a row. New Mexico is 16-5, 6-2.

No. 17 Michigan State 79, Northwestern 59 -- Victoria Lucas-Perry scored 23 points on the road for the Spartans (16-7, 6-4 Big Ten), who went ahead by 25 points midway through the second half against the Wildcats (5-16, 1-9).

No. 22 Vanderbilt 65, Alabama 53 -- Liz Sherwood scored a game-high 23 points on the road for Vanderbilt (15-7, 4-4 SEC), which used a 16-0 run over the last 5:40 of the game to secure the win over Alabama (8-13, 2-6).

No. 23 Boston College 77, Wake Forest 63 -- Brooke Queenan had 22 points at home for Boston College (16-6, 3-4 ACC), which won its third straight conference game after opening its first season in the league with four losses. Wake Forest is 10-10, 2-6.