BATON ROUGE -- Aliyah Boston had 19 points and 18 rebounds, and top-ranked South Carolina beat No. 13 LSU 66-60 on Thursday night, ending the Tigers' 13-game winning streak.
Zia Cooke scored 17 points and Destanni Henderson had 16 for the Gamecocks (14-1, 2-1 SEC), who have won two in a row since losing in overtime at Missouri in their SEC opener.
South Carolina trailed by six points at halftime but built a seven-point lead with 5:21 left. LSU (14-1, 2-1) twice got within three points but could not get closer.
Khayla Porter scored 22 points for the Tigers and Alexis Morris added 14.
Jailin Cherry's jumper with 13.2 seconds left got LSU within 64-60, but one last offensive rebound by Boston off a missed free throw helped South Carolina close out a game in which it dominated the boards 48-24.
LSU came out of the gate sizzling, hitting its first nine of 11 shots, and the Tigers led 29-18 midway through the second quarter. But the Gamecocks found some rhythm and got within 34-28 at halftime.
South Carolina pushed ahead 36-35 in the third quarter as LSU's offense went cold and led 47-44 heading into the fourth.
At that point, LSU's starting front line was in foul trouble. Aifuwa had four fouls, Autumn Newby had three, and reserve forward Awa Trasi also had three.
None of them could handle Boston.
NO. 7 TENNESSEE 73,
NO. 25 TEXAS A&M 45
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Jordan Horston had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Tennessee took charge in the second quarter to beat Texas A&M.
Tamari Key added nine points and 11 blocks for the Lady Vols (14-1, 3-0 SEC).
Destiny Pitts scored 12 points to lead Texas A&M (10-4, 0-2).
NO. 21 KENTUCKY 84,
NO. 15 GEORIGA 76
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Rhyne Howard scored 17 of her 30 points in the fourth quarter and Kentucky beat Georgia.
The Wildcats (8-3, 2-0 SEC), who hadn't played since Dec. 19 with their first two conference games postponed because of covid-19, were 10 of 17 in the fourth quarter with a pair of three-pointers. Howard scored Kentucky's last nine points.
Jenna Staiti, who missed the last two games because of covid-19, scored a season-high 26 points for Georgia (12-3, 1-2).
NO. 3 LOUISVILLE 81,
PITTSBURGH 39
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Emily Engstler had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Hailey Van Lith also had 12 points and No. 3 Louisville forced a season-high 35 turnovers in a rout of Pittsburgh.
The Cardinals have won 13 in a row, and quickly pounced on a Panthers squad playing their first game since Dec. 22, forcing 24 giveaways in the first half alone for 18 points en route to a 40-13 cushion. Louisville (13-1, 3-0 ACC) ended up just four turnovers shy of tying the program record set against Northeastern Illinois on Jan. 13, 1992.
Louisville also held Pitt to season lows in shooting (26%) and points.
Emy Hayford had eight points for the Panthers (9-5, 0-3), while Rita Igbokwe had six points with 14 rebounds.
NO. 5 N.C. STATE 72,
NO. 19 NORTH CAROLINA 45
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Elissa Cunane had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and North Carolina State rolled past North Carolina.
The Wolfpack (13-2, 4-0 ACC) dominated the first quarter to build a huge lead and never trailed. N.C. State shot 42%, hit 11 three-pointers and finished with a 53-40 rebounding advantage.
Deja Kelly scored 21 points for UNC (13-1, 3-1), but she was largely alone in carrying the scoring load.
NO. 10 MARYLAND 106,
PENN STATE 78
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Diamond Miller scored a season-high 24 points, Ashley Owusu added 20, and Maryland never trailed as it routed Penn State.
The Terrapins (11-4, 2-1) bounced back from Sunday's 70-63 overtime loss at Indiana and won their 31st consecutive home game.
Makenna Marisa, the Big Ten's No. 3 scorer entering the night at 21.1 points per game, scored 24 of her 29 points in the second half for Penn State (7-6, 1-2).
NORTHWESTERN 77,
IOWA 69
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Veronica Burton scored 25 points and led Northwestern during an 11-3 run in the final minutes as the Wildcats beat No. 22 Iowa.
It was the sixth-consecutive win for Northwestern (10-3, 2-0 Big Ten), which hadn't played in nearly three weeks since having its game against Oregon canceled and two Big Ten games postponed. It was its third win in a row against Iowa (7-4, 1-1).
Burton was 6-of-13 shooting that included a pair of three-pointers and was 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. Melannie Daley added 22 points.
Iowa's leading scorer Caitlin Clark, averaging 24.1 points, had 30 against the Wildcats. Monika Czinano had 20 points and McKenna Warnock 14.
TOP 25 MEN
NO. 5 UCLA 96,
LONG BEACH STATE 78
LOS ANGELES -- Jules Bernard scored 22 points, Johnny Juzang added 18 and UCLA returned from a 25-day absence caused by covid-19 to rout Long Beach State.
The general public was barred from the hastily arranged game between two teams that already met this season. The Beach (4-8) were beaten 100-79 at Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 15.
Bernard's points were one off his career high and his four three-pointers tied his career best. But UCLA's return wasn't without cost. Second-leading scorer Jaime Jaquez Jr. sprained his right ankle with 1:56 remaining in the first half.
Jadon Jones scored a career-high 27 points for Long Beach.
INDIANA 67,
NO. 13 OHIO STATE 51
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Trayce Jackson-Davis had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Indiana used stifling defense down the stretch to pull away for a victory over No. 13 Ohio State.
Jackson-Davis made 11 of 17 from the floor for the Hoosiers (11-3, 2-2 Big Ten), who went on a 13-0 run while holding Ohio State without a field goal for more than five minutes.
Malaki Branham led the Buckeyes (9-3, 3-1) with 13 points, and E.J. Liddell scored 11.
Ohio State was held to 30.8% shooting and committed 15 turnovers, including five in the last 6:41. The Hoosiers held a 41-33 rebounding edge.
NO. 23 WISCONSIN 87,
IOWA 78
MADISON, Wis. -- Johnny Davis had 26 points and nine rebounds and No. 23 Wisconsin defeated Iowa in a game that featured two of the nation's top three scorers.
Wisconsin (12-2, 3-1 Big Ten) withstood a 27-point performance from Iowa's Keegan Murray to win its fourth consecutive and snap the Hawkeyes' four-game winning streak.
Murray entered the night with a Division I-leading 24.5 points per game while Davis was third with 22.3 points per game. Davis was coming off a 37-point, 14-rebound performance in a 74-69 victory Monday at No. 3 Purdue, and Murray had 35 points and eight rebounds the same night in Iowa's 80-75 win over Maryland.
Jordan Bohannon and Kris Murray scored 12 each for Iowa (11-4, 1-3),
SUN BELT MEN
LOUISIANA-MONROE 80,
UALR 72
The University of Arkansas-Little Rock suffered its first lost in conference play Thursday night at Louisiana-Monroe.
Nikola Maric (24 points) and Isaiah Palermo (19) were the highlights for UALR (6-8, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference), combining for more than half of the Trojans' scoring.
Louisiana-Monroe (9-6, 1-2) had three scorers in double figures, as Russell Harrison scored a game-high 28 points. Andre Jones and Koreem Ozier added 16 and 12 points respectively.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 83,
ARKANSAS STATE 77, OT
Arkansas State University suffered its first loss of Sun Belt Conference play in overtime Thursday in Lafayette, La.
ASU (10-4, 1-1 Sun Belt) was able to cut Louisiana-Lafayette's lead twice within the last five minutes of regulation, sending the game to OT with a deep three-pointer from Caleb Fields with 0.3 left in the second half.
Norchad Omier led the Red Wolves with 29 points and 17 rebounds. Markise Davis was ASU's only other scorer in double figures, with 11.
Four Ragin Cajuns (8-5, 3-0) finished with 10 or more points with Kobe Julien notching a team-high 20. Theo Akwuba (16 points, 15 rebounds) and Dou Gueye (13 points, 11 rebounds) both had double-doubles for the Ragin' Cajuns.
South Carolina guard Destanni Henderson (3) shoots as LSU guard Alexis Morris (45) and guard Khayla Pointer (3) defend during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Baton Rouge, La., Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Derick Hingle)
Seimone Augustus is honored by LSU in a ceremony prior to an NCAA college basketball game against South Carolina in Baton Rouge, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Derick Hingle)
LSU head coach Kim Mulkey reacts to a play in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against South Carolina in Baton Rouge, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Derick Hingle)
LSU guard Khayla Pointer (3) drives past South Carolina guard Saniya Rivers (44) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Baton Rouge, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Derick Hingle)