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Penn State’s Julia Trogele reaches for a loose ball against Michigan State during the first half of an NCAA basketball game in State College on Thursday.
AP PHOTO
STATE COLLEGE, — Lykendra Johnson had a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds and No. 11 Michigan State clamped down on No. 23 Penn State’s offense in a 60-49 win Thursday night to take over first place in the Big Ten.
Taylor Alton added 12 points on four 3-pointers, and the Spartans (21-3, 9-2) frustrated the upstart Lady Lions with tough defense that forced the conference’s top shooting team to rush or take bad shots.
Penn State finally settled down midway through the second half to narrow an 18-point lead to 51-45 with 4:23 left on two foul shots by Alex Bentley.
But Michigan State pulled away from there after the Lions fell back into their early mistakes, maligned by turnovers and sloppy ball-handling.
Mia Nickson had 22 points for Penn State (20-6, 9-3), which was held to 31 points below its Big Ten-best season average.
Tennessee 61, Florida 39
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Shekinna Stricklen scored 17 points and Glory Johnson had 16 points to lead No. 4 Tennessee in a sloppy victory over Florida.
The Lady Vols (23-2, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) shot just 33.3 percent in the first half and had five quick turnovers in the first 5 minutes. The Gators (14-12, 4-8) couldn’t take advantage, going cold for nearly 6 minutes in the first half.
Miami 83, Maryland 75
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Shenise Johnson scored 30 points and No. 20 Miami beat No. 12 Maryland.
The Terrapins trailed by 14 at halftime but opened the second half with a 14-4 run. Kim Rogers’ 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining trimmed Miami’s lead to 77-75.
The Hurricanes (21-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) responded with a 6-0 spurt. Riquna Williams scored and Johnson made four free throws during the surge as Miami snapped Maryland’s seven-game winning streak.
Lynetta Kizer had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Terrapins. It was Kizer’s seventh double-double of the season.
North Carolina 60, Clemson 47
CLEMSON, S.C. — Italee Lucas scored 15 points as No. 13 North Carolina overcame a sloppy effort to win its 16th straight against Clemson.
The Tar Heels (22-3, 8-2 ACC) came into this one off their biggest win of the season, a 62-60 victory over No. 5 Duke last Monday night. And North Carolina played most of this one like it was still celebrating.
S. Carolina 66, Kentucky 61
COLUMBIA, S.C. — La’Keisha Sutton and Ieasia Walker each scored 17 points and South Carolina shocked No. 15 Kentucky with a win.
The Wildcats (18-6, 7-4 SEC), had won seven straight before a loss to No. 4 Tennessee on Monday.
South Carolina (14-10, 6-5) has won four of five, including two in a row over top 20 teams.
Kentuckys Victoria Dunlap, the SECs leading scorer with 17.5 points per game, only had 13. Adia Mathies led the Wildcats with 16.
Wisconsin-Green Bay 81, Illinois-Chicago 50
CHICAGO (AP) — Celeste Hoewisch scored 20 points and Wisconsin-Green Bay beat Illinois-Chicago.
Hoewisch made a career-high six 3-pointers to help the Phoenix (23-1, 12-0 Horizon League) extend their winning streak to 14 games.
Vanderbilt 69, Georgia 59
ATHENS, Ga. — Jasmine Lister scored 22 points and Vanderbilt withstood No. 24 Georgia’s late 17-2 run to beat the Lady Bulldogs.
Hannah Tuomi had 19 points for Vanderbilt before fouling out with 3:16 remaining.
Vanderbilt (17-7 overall, 8-3 Southeastern Conference) has four straight wins.