Purdue guard Abbey Ellis, left, and teammate guard Jayla Smith celebrate following their 73-65 NCAA basketball game win over Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday.
AP photo
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Ohio State guard Taylor Thierry, center, shoots between Purdue guard Cassidy Hardin, left, and guard Madison Layden during the second half of an NCAA basketball game in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday.
AP photo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Abbey Ellis made a season-high five 3 pointers and Purdue earned its first top-five road victory in program history, beating No. 2 Ohio State 73-65 on Sunday.
The Buckeyes (19-3, 8-3 Big Ten) lost their third-consecutive contest after winning the first 19 games of the season.
Leading by as many as 17 points early in the third quarter, the Boilermakers saw their lead dwindle as Ohio State and Taylor Mikesell rallied in the second half.
Ohio State used a 9-0 run to bring the score to 55-53 with 6:58 left in the fourth quarter, and Taylor Thierry tied it up at 58 after laying in a score with 4:28 remaining. Thierry fouled out 19 seconds later.
Purdue (15-6, 6-5) created separation over the next two minutes as Madison Layden scored five-straight points and Ellis made a jumper to go up 65-58 and led the rest of the way.
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 65, ALABAMA 52
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Aliyah Boston had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Bree Hall scored a career-high 18 to lead South Carolina to a victory over Alabama.
The Gamecocks (21-0, 9-0 Southeastern Conference) got their 27th consecutive win in a game that remained close into the third quarter.
Alabama (16-6, 5-4) pulled to within four points in the third quarter but Hall, Boston and South Carolina’s defense took over. The duo paired up for 11 straight points to give the Gamecocks a 48-35 edge, their biggest of the game at that point.
Sarah Ashlee Barker scored a season-high 15 points for Alabama.
NO. 3 STANFORD 62, OREGON 54
STANFORD, Calif. — Cameron Brink had a remarkable first career triple-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocked shots to lead Stanford over Oregon for its 21st straight Pac-12 home win.
The 6-foot-4 junior notched the first triple-double in Stanford’s storied program history featuring blocked shots.
Brink swatted seven of those shots in the first half and got her last one when she altered a jumper by Chance Gray with 3:16 to go. It’s the first triple-double in major NCAA Division-I women’s basketball featuring double-digit blocks since Tamari Key did it for Tennessee in an overtime win against Texas on Nov. 21, 2021.
Stanford (21-2, 9-1 Pac-12) led 46-37 heading into the final 10 minutes then pulled away with a quick 7-2 spurt.
Phillipina Kyei led the way for Oregon (14-7, 5-5) with 12 points and 17 rebounds
NO. 6 INDIANA 91, RUTGERS 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Grace Berger and Mackenzie Holmes each scored 21 points and Indiana shot 61% from 3-point range to beat Rutgers.
Four Hoosiers scored in double digits, including Sydney Parrish with 17 and Yarden Garzon with 14, including four 3-pointers. Berger also added seven assists for Indiana (20-1, 10-1 Big Ten), and Parrish and Holmes had six rebounds each.
Kaylene Smikle led Rutgers (9-14, 3-8) with 25 points and Kai Carter scored 13 off the bench.
NO. 5 UCONN 63, NO. 21 VILLANOVA 58
HARTFORD, Conn. — Aubrey Griffin scored 19 points, and UConn topped Villanova.
Dorka Juhasz added 16 points and Aaliyah Edwards had 13, including some key free throws for the Huskies (20-2, 12-0 Big East) in the team’s 13th straight win.
Maddy Siegrist scored 25 points for Villanova, which won here a year ago to hand the Huskies their last conference loss. Lucy Olsen had 19.
The Wildcats (18-4, 9-2) had won nine in a row.
NO. 20 N.C. STATE 69, NO. 7 NOTRE DAME 65
RALEIGH, N.C. — Diamond Johnson scored 20 points and North Carolina State held on despite blowing most of a 16-point lead to beat Notre Dame.
Mimi Collins added 13 points for the Wolfpack (16-5, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who earned a tough win against one of the league leaders in front of a loud, sellout crowd. N.C. State’s defense frustrated Notre Dame for a long stretch during the second and third quarters to build the big lead, then Johnson and the Wolfpack kept coming up with needed plays as the Fighting Irish (17-3, 8-2) made a fourth-quarter push.
NO. 9 UTAH 71, NO. 8 UCLA 69
SALT LAKE CITY — Alissa Pili drove to the rim for a go-ahead layup with 0.8 seconds left to give Utah a win over UCLA.
Pili scored 23 points and had nine rebounds to lead Utah (18-2, 8-2 Pac-12), which rallied twice closed the game on a 7-0 run. Issy Palmer tallied 14 points and five assists for the Utes, and Dasia Young chipped in 11 points.
Emily Bessoir scored 17 points and had six rebounds to lead UCLA (17-5, 6-4). Kiki Rice added 11 points, and Londyn Jones and Gabriella Jaquez chipped in 10 points apiece.
Utah trailed most of the first half, struggling with turnovers, but climbed ahead of UCLA 48-43 early in the third quarter on a 12-4 run, capped by Pili’s back-to-back baskets.
NO. 24 FLORIDA STATE 70, NO. 16 DUKE 57
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Makayl Timpson scored 21 points with 10 rebounds and three steals and Florida State smothered Duke on a day the Seminoles honored long-time coach Sue Semrau.
Despite making 9 of 15 shots in the last six minutes, the Blue Devils finished 19 of 72 for a season-worst 26.4%. It was the fourth time they scored less than 60 points and they lost three of those games.
Ta’Niya Latson added 15 points for Florida State (19-5, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Sara Bejedi had 11. Timpson had her 11th double-double of the season.
Shayeann Day-Wilson was the only Blue Devil in double figures with 14. Kennedy Brown had 11 rebounds and three blocks.
NO. 13 MICHIGAN 77, MINNESOTA 41
MINNEAPOLIS — Laila Phelia scored 22 points, Leigha Brown added 20 and Michigan rolled to a win over Minnesota.
Brown had 11 points in the first half, surpassing 1,000 points as a Wolverine, and Michigan led 34-23. Phelia had 14 in the second half.
Emily Kiser was one of three players with eight points and had 12 rebounds for the Wolverines (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten Conference).
Alanna Micheaux scored 15 points for Minnesota (9-12, 2-8).
NO. 15 NORTH CAROLINA 69, CLEMSON 58
CLEMSON, S.C. — Freshman Paulina Paris hit six 3-pointers, scored 22 points and had five steals — all career highs — and Kennedy Todd-Williams added 15 points Sunday to help North Carolina hold off Clemso, the Tar Heels’ seventh in a row.
North Carolina (16-5, 7-3 ACC) hasn’t lost since a 62-58 defeat at Miami on Jan. 5 and the Tar Heels have won six straight — and 28 of the last 31 — against Clemson.
Todd-Williams scored 10 points in the first 3 1/2 minutes, including back-to-back 3-pointers that capped a 14-4 opening run and UNC never trailed.
Alyssa Ustby had seven points, 11 rebounds and three of North Carolina’s season-high tying 16 steals. Deja Kelly added nine points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Daisha Bradford led Clemson (13-10, 4-7) with 14 points and Amari Robinson scored 10.
WASHINGTON STATE 70, NO. 19 ARIZONA 59
TUCSON, Ariz. — Bella Murekatete scored 18 points, Ula Motuga added 16, and the two hit several key buckets down the stretch, lifting Washington State to a victory over Arizona.
Motuga and Murekatete hit two buckets each in a 1 1/2-minute stretch late in the fourth quarter, giving the Cougars a 66-57 lead with 1:07 to go. The Wildcats misfired on their next two possessions and a free throw by Murekatete gave Washington State a 10-point lead with 27 seconds left.
Washington State (15-6, 5-5 Pac-12) led 48-46 heading to the fourth quarter and built a 58-50 lead before Madison Conner hit a 3-pointer to get the Wildcats within five points. That was as close as Arizona would get before Murekatete and Motuga took over down the stretch.
Esmery Martinez led Arizona (16-5, 6-4) with 14 points.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 71, NO. 25 COLORADO 54
BOULDER, Colo. — Destiny Littleton scored 21 points, Rayah Marshall and Kadi Sissoko had double-doubles, and Southern California defeated Colorado.
Marshall had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Sissoko added 18 and 12, and Littleton made 6 of 13 3-pointers, four of them in a key third-quarter surge that put the Trojans (16-5, 6-4 Pac-12) in command.
In the third quarter, the Trojans matched their first-half output, scoring 26 points to take a 52-41 lead into the fourth quarter. Littleton scored 12 points in the quarter on 4-of-7 3-point shooting. USC added the first six points of the fourth quarter to go up 58-41 with 8:55 remaining and the Trojans led by at least 13 points the rest of the way.
Posts Quay Miller and Aaronette Vonleh paced the Buffaloes (16-5, 7-3). Miller had 13 points and 11 rebounds,