No. 1 Duke Defeats Maryland

Duke forward Iciss Tillis had gone six games without reaching double figures, but she broke out of her scoring slump with 21 points to help the top-ranked Blue Devils rout Maryland, 78-48, Thursday night at Durham, N.C., for their 49th consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference victory.

Tillis’ average had dropped from 18 points a game to 11.4, and she had averaged only 5.7 points against six opponents before Thursday’s victory.

“I was telling everyone, if there’s anything else I can do, please tell me,” Tillis said. “I was just praying as hard as I could to get out of it.”

Alana Beard, leading the ACC in scoring with 19.7 points a game, had nine in 21 minutes for Duke, 15-1 overall and 6-0 in the ACC. She strained a groin muscle in practice Tuesday. Freshman Shay Doron scored 17 points to lead Maryland (12-6, 4-3).

No. 2 Tennessee 79, Vanderbilt 54 -- The Lady Vols (15-1, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) won their 50th consecutive home game against a conference opponent.

The Commodores (14-3, 2-2) lost their fifth game in a row to the Lady Vols. They are 0-19 in Knoxville.

No. 7 Penn State 75, No. 9 Minnesota 56 -- After trailing by nine points in the first half, the Nittany Lions (14-3, 7-0 Big Ten) opened the second half at State College, Pa., with a 15-3 run, and held on to beat the Golden Gophers (15-2, 4-2).

Kelly Mazzante scored five of her 29 points during the run.

No. 8 Purdue 74, Ohio State 68 -- Jessica Davenport scored 27 points for the Buckeyes (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) at Columbus, Ohio, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Boilermakers (15-2, 5-1), who have won six in a row and 15 of their last 16.

No. 12 Louisiana State 73, Arkansas 65 -- Seimone Augustus scored six points during a 13-0 run over the final 3:53 to help the Tigers (16-2, 4-0 SEC) get past the Razorbacks (13-4, 2-2) at Fayetteville, Ark.

During the run, Augustus made two free throws, a driving layup and a turnaround jumper. In that same span, Arkansas missed six free throws and turned the ball over twice.

No. 13 North Carolina 63, Georgia Tech 56 -- Freshman Ivory Latta made two free throws with 22.6 seconds left at Chapel Hill, N.C., to clinch the victory for the Tar Heels (15-2, 5-1 ACC), who won their fourth in a row over the Yellow Jackets (10-8, 1-5).

Mississippi 90, No. 17 Georgia 79 -- The Rebels (12-7, 3-2 SEC) upset the Bulldogs (13-5, 2-3) in double overtime at Oxford, Miss. The score was tied at 69-69 after regulation and 77-77 after the first overtime. But the Rebels outscored the Bulldogs, 13-2, in the final five minutes of the second overtime.

Georgia has lost three in a row for the first time since 1991-92. Mississippi ended a six-game losing streak to the Bulldogs and improved to 6-0 at home this season.

No. 20 Michigan State 67, Northwestern 57 -- The Spartans (14-3, 4-2 Big Ten) outscored the Wildcats (7-10, 0-6), in overtime, 14-4, at Evanston, Ill.

No. 22 Auburn 70, Alabama 61 -- Le’Coe Willingham had 17 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Tigers (14-4, 2-2 SEC) over the Crimson Tide (10-7, 2-2) at Auburn and give Coach Joe Ciampi his 599th victory.