Zee Spearman and Jewel Spear scored 18 points apiece to lead six Tennessee scorers in double figures as the undefeated No. 18 Lady Volunteers held off host Memphis 90-75 on Wednesday night.
Talaysia Cooper was among three players to score 12 points for Tennessee (8-0). She had eight in the fourth quarter as the Lady Rebels turned back the Tigers’ attempt to rally from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter.
Memphis scored the first eight points of the fourth to pull within 69-62, but Tennessee’s Samara Spencer nailed a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 10. The Tigers were back within eight with more than seven minutes to go, but Spearman scored four of the Lady Volunteers’ five straight points, and the lead was back to 13.
Spearman added 12 rebounds, seven on the offensive end, and three blocked shots. Cooper collected 11 boards, six assists and four steals, and Spencer and Tess Darby scored 12 points apiece. Ruby Whitehorn chipped in 10.
Tilly Boler led Memphis (2-8) with 23 points, and DeeDee Hagemann made her debut with 19 points. The transfer from Michigan State missed the Tigers’ first nine games due to academic issues. Tanyuel Welsh supplied 16 points.
No. 9 Duke 93, Wofford 58
Toby Fournier scored 10 of her 23 points as the Blue Devils built a 16-3 lead and never looked back in the nonconference mismatch with the visiting Terriers in Durham, N.C.
Oluchi Okananwa amassed a season-best 20 points to go with six rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Delaney Thomas chipped in 15 points for Duke (10-2), which had not played since beating Virginia Tech on Dec. 8. The Blue Devils shot 50.7 percent from the floor and dominated on the boards (56-20) and in bench points (53-14). Fournier was coming off a 27-point showing against the Hokies.
Rachael Rose scored 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting for Wofford (6-3), but the rest of the team went just 13 of 50. Maddie Heiss added 13 points but was just 5 of 17 from the floor.
No. 13 Kansas State 83, New Mexico State 39
Ayoka Lee poured in a season-high 34 points — 19 in the first half — as the Wildcats clobbered the nonconference opponent Aggies in Manhattan, Kan., for their seventh straight win.
The 6-foot-6 Lee went 14 of 18 from the floor and added 11 rebounds and three blocks, and Serena Sundell added 18 points. The Wildcats (12-1) shot 59.3 percent from the floor, including 9 of 12 in the third quarter as they outscored the Aggies 28-7 to put the game away.
Molly Kaiser scored 15 points but was only 6 of 16 from the floor and had seven of New Mexico State’s 19 turnovers. The Aggies (6-5) shot just 30.8 percent from the floor.
The Wildcats began the day fifth in the nation in points allowed at 50.1 per game.
No. 17 Georgia Tech 88, Rice 57
Rusne Augustinaite exploded for 23 points on 7 of 11 shooting from long range as the unbeaten Yellow Jackets warmed up in the second quarter and put away the Owls in the nonconference matchup in Atlanta.
Augustinaite, a sophomore, came off the bench to nail four treys in the first four-plus minutes of the second quarter, and Georgia Tech (12-0) went on to outscore Rice 21-7 in the period and lead 37-18 at halftime. She began the day averaging just 5.6 points after posting 10.8 per game as a freshman.
Kara Dunn scored 17 points, Zoesha Smith notched 11 points and 11 rebounds and Tonie Morgan chipped in 10 points for the Yellow Jackets, who shot 49.3 percent for the game, including 44.8 percent (13 of 29) from long range.
Hailey Adams led Rice (7-5) with 12 points and Dominique Ennis added 10. Both players chipped in five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Georgia Tech outrebounded the Owls 48-31. Rice shot 36.9 percent from the field, including a disastrous 12.5 percent (2 of 16) in the second quarter.
No. 19 North Carolina 77, Florida 57
Maria Gakdeng scored 14 points and Lanie Grant added 13 and the Tar Heels used 3-pointers to build an early lead and cruise past the Gators in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C.
Alyssa Ustby added 11 points and Gakdeng chipped in eight rebounds as the North Carolina (11-2) bounced back from a six-point loss to then-No. 25 Georgia Tech on Sunday.
Alexia Mobley’s layup trimmed North Carolina’s lead to five with 3:18 left in the first quarter, but the Tar Heels responded with the final 11 points of the period: Gakdeng’s layup, two consecutive 3-pointers from Grant and another trey from Trayanna Crisp. The cushion grew to 21 at halftime and never dropped below 13 the rest of the way.
Liv McGill led Florida (7-4) with 15 points but went only 5 of 21 from the floor. Laila Reynolds added 10 points and Ra Shaya Kyle collected eight points and 11 rebounds. The Gators managed just 31.6 percent shooting from the floor, including 2 of 13 on 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media
