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.â€
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.
