Diggins lead No. 2 Irish to win over Providence WOMENâ??S ROUNDUP

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Skylar Diggins scored 21 points, all in the first half when she was 9-of-9 shooting, and No. 2 Notre Dame dominated Providence from the start, beating the Friars 89-44 on Saturday to win its 13th straight.

Diggins took a pass from Kayla McBride on the opening tip-off to score an easy layup 4 seconds in, becoming the fourth Irish player to ever score 2,000 career points. She then quickly got started on moving to her next milestone, hitting from inside, mid-range and behind the 3-point line as Providence (6-13, 1-5 Big East) could do nothing to slow her. The only mistake Diggins made in the first half was to miss a free throw as the Irish (18-1, 7-0) jumped to a 46-15 lead.

Tori Rule led the Friars with 12 points, all in the second half.

Even with Notre Dame reserves playing much of the second half the Irish continued to pull away. Natalie Achonwa had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Irish and Jewell Loyd added 10.

The Irish outshot the Friars 51 percent to 31 percent, scoring 56 points in the paint. Notre Dame also had a 51-26 rebounding advantage.

The Irish pulled away from the outset. After Diggins' opening layup, Providence couldn't get a shot off as the Friars were called for a shot-clock violation. Diggins had a 10-0 run on her own, starting with a free throw to give the Irish an 11-4 lead. She then scored on a pair of layups 12 seconds apart, then added another layup and a 3-pointer as Notre Dame opened a 20-4 lead.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Pierre Jackson scored 20 points, Isaiah Austin added 18 playing with a sprained ankle and Baylor handed TCU its seventh straight loss, 82-56 on Saturday.

Baylor (14-5, 5-1 Big 12) won its third in a row and is off to its best start in conference since 1997-98.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Hallie Christofferson scored 23 points and grabbed seven boards in No. 24 Iowa State's win over West Virginia.

Nikki Moody and Chelsea Poppens added 10 apiece for the Cyclones, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Iowa State (14-4, 5-3 Big 12), which trailed 37-25 35 seconds into the second half, shot just 39 percent (16 of 41) from the field, but nine of those shots came from 3-point range.

CINCINNATI — Stefanie Dolson scored 15 points in limited time, and No. 3 Connecticut's tough, physical defense allowed only nine points in the first half, setting up a victory over Cincinnati.

UConn (18-1, 5-1 Big East) has won six in a row since a 73-72 loss to Notre Dame on Jan. 5. The Huskies were coming off a 30-point win over No. 4 Duke on Monday night, outscoring the Blue Devils 47-19 in the second half.