Pittsburgh is helpless to fight off Irish
Courtney LaVere came off the bench to lead No. 6 Notre Dame's 14-0 run late in the first half after Pittsburgh's leading scorer got into foul trouble, and the visiting Fighting Irish cruised to a 75-47 victory yesterday.
LaVere scored 11 of her 17 points in the first half to help Notre Dame (20-3, 8-2 Big East) break open what was a tight game for 14 minutes. The Irish turned a 24-18 lead into a 38-18 advantage over a five-minute stretch that saw Pitt's only effective inside player, the 6-foot-3-inch Marcedes Walker, draw her third foul. Freshman Charel Allen scored 16 points and Jacqueline Batteast added 12 points as the Irish won their seventh in a row.
Stanford 67, Arizona St. 53 -- Candice Wiggins overcame a slow start to score 20 points, and the fourth-ranked Cardinal won their 12th straight game and 19th in a row at home.Brooke Smith added 15 points and five rebounds and Kelley Suminski 12 points for Stanford (21-2, 12-1 Pac-10). Kylan Loney scored 13 points for Arizona State (15-7, 7-5).
Baylor 52, Texas Tech 49 -- Sophia Young scored in double figures for the 30th straight game, totaling 24 points and 10 rebounds as the No. 8 Lady Bears topped the 12th-ranked Red Raiders for their first win in Lubbock, Texas, since 1982. Baylor (17-3, 7-2 Big 12) led most of the way and never trailed after the 11:27 mark of the second half. Erin Grant (11 points) missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Texas Tech (16-4, 7-2).
UConn 71, Providence 24 -- Willnett Crockett scored 16 points, Ann Strother added 13, and the No. 11 Huskies amassed a 40-6 halftime lead over the host Friars, who missed 23 of their first 25 field goal attempts.
Iowa St. 73, Texas 69 -- At Ames, Iowa, Megan Ronhovde hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 28 seconds left and Anne O'Neil followed with four straight free throws, lifting the 19th-ranked Cyclones (18-2, 7-1 Big 12) over the No. 13 Longhorns (13-7, 6-3).
Kansas St. 66, Oklahoma St. 55 -- Laurie Koehn scored 13 points as the 15th-ranked Wildcats (17-4, 8-2 Big 12) prevailed over the Cowgirls (6-13, 1-8) in Manhattan, Kan.
DePaul 70, Louisville 60 -- Khara Smith had 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead the 17th-ranked Blue Demons (18-3, 7-1 Conference USA) on the road.
