Associated Press
Associated Press
DALLAS — Brittney Griner had 19 points, 13 rebounds and a career best nine assists, and No. 1 Baylor built a quick 25-point lead in an 80-47 victory against Kansas State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 women’s tournament Saturday.
Griner’s effort came five days after she scored a Big 12-record 50 points in a win over the Wildcats in her final regular-season home game.
Kansas State (15-17) was within three well into the second half of last weekend’s loss in Waco, Texas, but this time the Wildcats were down 21-3 just 7 minutes in when coach Deb Patterson called her third timeout.
Destiny Williams had 20 points to lead the Lady Bears (30-1), who clinched their third straight season with at least 30 wins.
Brittany Chambers led Kansas State with 21 points.
Patterson ended up using all four 30-second timeouts in the first 11 minutes.
ACC TOURNAMENT
NO. 6 DUKE 72
NO. 23 FLORIDA ST. 66
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Haley Peters had 17 points and 13 rebounds — including the go-ahead basket with 4:06 left — to help Duke beat Florida in the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals.
Tricia Liston also scored 17 for the top-seeded Blue Devils (29-2), who never trailed yet had a tough fight all day with the fourth-seeded Seminoles (22-9). The teams were tied with about 5 minutes left before Peters’ stickback started Duke’s go-ahead push.
Chelsea Davis scored 17 points to lead Florida State.
Duke advanced to Sunday’s championship game for the 11th time in 14 seasons. The Blue Devils will face No. 15 North Carolina, which beat No. 10 Maryland.
NO. 15 NORTH CAROLINA 72
NO. 10 MARYLAND 65
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Latifah Coleman scored 15 of her career-high 17 points in the final 6-plus minutes and North Carolina beat Maryland to reach the ACC tournament finals.
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt added 20 points for the third-seeded Tar Heels (28-5), who rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit — the second-biggest comeback in the history of the tournament — by shooting 50 percent in the second half. They will face No. 6 Duke in the title game Sunday.
Alyssa Thomas had 26 points, 12 rebounds and finished three assists shy of a second straight triple-double for the second-seeded Terrapins (24-7). Katie Rutan’s 3-pointer with 2:45 left tied it at 60, but Coleman responded by hitting jumpers on the next two possessions.
SEC TOURNAMENT
NO. 19 TEXAS A&M 66
NO. 9 TENNESSEE 62
DULUTH, Ga. — Courtney Williams’ jumper with 33 seconds remaining gave Texas A&M the lead and the Aggies held on to snap Tennessee’s bid for a fourth straight SEC tournament title.
Courtney Walker had 18 points to lead four scorers in double figures for Texas A&M (23-9), which will face either Kentucky or Georgia on Sunday for the championship.
Taber Spani had a career-high 33 points for top-seeded Tennessee (24-7), the SEC’s regular-season champion. The Aggies, the No. 4 seed, are playing in their first SEC tournament.
Spani’s last basket tied the game at 62 before Williams gave the Aggies the lead following a Tennessee timeout with only her second field goal of the game.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
PURDUE 77
NO. 21 NEBRASKA 64
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sam Ostarello scored 18 points, Courtney Moses had 16 and Purdue beat Nebraska to advance to the Big Ten tournament championship.
KK Houser added 13 points, eight rebounds, six steals and five assists for the Boilermakers (23-8), who also beat Nebraska 69-66 in overtime on Jan. 5. Taylor Manuel had 11 points.
Purdue will face the winner between Michigan State and No. 8 Penn State in Sunday’s title game.
Lindsey Moore scored 22 points for the second-seeded Cornhuskers (23-8), who had won 11 of 12.
Nebraska pulled within 10 on Moore’s two free throws with 8:54 remaining, but Purdue responded with a 10-2 burst. April Wilson’s 3-pointer extended the lead to 73-55 with 3:37 to go.
ATLANTIC 10 TOURNAMENT
NO. 11 DAYTON 74
GEORGE WASHINGTON 49
PHILADELPHIA — Andrea Hoover had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Dayton breezed past George Washington in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.
Dayton will face Saint Joseph’s in the semifinals on Sunday.
The top-seeded Flyers (27-1), who were unbeaten in conference play this season, shot 60 percent (18 of 30) in the first half for a 43-21 lead over the Colonials (14-16).
Hoover scored 11 points in the first half and Samantha MacKay had 10 of her 12 points for the Flyers, who took control with a 12-0 run for a 23-11 lead 10:25 before halftime.
Tara Booker scored 12 points and Shi-Heria Shipp 11 for George Washington.
NO. 20 GREEN BAY 80
MILWAUKEE 56
MILWAUKEE — Lydia Bauer scored 22 points and Green Bay completed an undefeated run through the Horizon League with a win over Milwaukee in the regular-season finale.
Adrian Ritchie had 19 points and seven rebounds, Stephanie Sension scored 11 and Breannah Ranger finished with 10 points for the Phoenix (26-2, 16-0), who have won 21 in a row. They have now had six unbeaten regular seasons in the Horizon League.
Green Bay, which will host the league tournament beginning Wednesday, never trailed and used a 14-0 run to take a 28-11 lead. Milwaukee couldn’t close the gap to single digits after that point.
Ashley Greene scored 20 points for the Panthers (9-19, 5-11).