Reese Miller scored a season-high 23 points as William & Mary completed a notable two-game season sweep of UNC Wilmington, rallying past the Seahawks 85-78 Thursday night at Trask Coliseum.
W&M earned a 37-28 rebounding advantage on UNCW, which began the game leading the Coastal Athletic Association and in 19th nationally in rebounding margin. After trailing 27-15, the Tribe pulled to 35-31 and were down 45-41 at halftime. W&M then took the lead to stay with a 12-0 run.
Miller ensured the victory with 7-of-8 free-throw shooting in the final minute, backing up its 77-70 victory Jan. 22 at Kaplan Arena.
As usual, the Tribe got production from many sources.
Jo’el Emanuel had 15 points, four rebounds and four assists, Kyle Pulliam had 10 points, four assists and three steals, and Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi had 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.
The Tribe (15-8, 6-5) are in a five-way tie for third place in the tightly packed Coastal Athletic Association. There’s a four-way tie for eighth at 5-6.
The top four after 18 conference games will get byes to the March 8 tournament quarterfinals in Washington.
Defending CAA champion UNCW (19-4, 8-2) fell into second place, a half-game behind the College of Charleston (16-8, 9-2). Nolan Hodge led the Seahawks with 22 points, and Patrick Wessler had 16 points and eight rebounds. UNCW shot 52.7% (29 of 55).
W&M will play at Hampton on Saturday afternoon.
No. 2 Michigan 110, Penn State 69: Nimari Burnett scored a career-high 31 points for the host Wolverines, who have won seven straight to set a school record with a 21-1 overall record. They are 11-1 in the Big Ten, tied atop the conference with No. 5 Illinois.
The Nittany Lions (10-13, 1-11) have lost nine of their last 10 games, falling to 18th and last place in the Big Ten. Freddie Dilione V scored 19 points for Penn State.
Women
Virginia 67, Miami 56: Kymora Johnson set a UVA single-season record with her 71st 3-pointer while leading the Cavaliers (16-7, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) past the Hurricanes (12-11, 4-8) at John Paul Jones Arena.
Johnson (18 points, six rebounds, five assists) crossed multiple milestones. Her 199 career 3s moved her into second in program history. With five assists on the night, she increased her career total to 502 and became one of just six Cavaliers to record at least 500.
First-time starter Gabby White had 10 points and five rebounds, and Caitlin Weimar (10 points, seven rebounds) rounded out a trio of Cavaliers in double figures. Paris Clark added nine points and seven rebounds.
UVA trailed 26-25 but outscored Miami 22-12 in the third quarter. Ra Shaya Kyle paced Miami with 13 points.
Notre Dame 80, Virginia Tech 70: Despite Carys Baker’s game-high 21 points, the Hokies (18-6, 8-4 ACC) lost to the Irish (15-8, 7-5) in South Bend, Indiana.
Carleigh Wenzel’s 19 points and seven rebounds and Kilah Freelon’s 13 rebounds and nine points also helped Tech.
Notre Dame trailed most of the first half but led most of the second. After Samyha Suffren’s three-point play and Carleigh Wenzel’s two free throws gave Tech a 68-66 lead with 4:02 remaining, the Irish outscored the Hokies 14-2.
No. 3 South Carolina 88, Mississippi State 45: Joyce Edwards scored 21 points in a home win as South Carolina (23-2, 9-1 Southeastern Conference) beat MSU (16-8, 3-7) for the eighth straight time.
Edwards surpassed 1,000 points in her career, just the third sophomore to accomplish that in program history. The others, Shelia Foster and career-points leader A’ja Wilson, have their jerseys hanging in the rafters at Colonial Life Arena.
No. 4 Texas 77, No. 5 LSU 64: Madison Booker scored 18 points, Aaliyah Crump added 16 and Texas (22-2, 7-2 SEC) used a 10-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter to pull away from LSU (21-3, 7-3) in Austin. The Tigers didn’t approach their nation-leading 98.9 points per game.
Texas’ Kyla Oldacre scored four points in the run. Her layup with 5:01 left pushed Texas’ lead to 15 and put the Longhorns in complete control the rest of the way.
Texas ran its home winning streak to 39 — tied with TCU for the longest active streak of its kind in the nation. Longhorns guard Rori Harmon had five steals to set the program’s career record. She now has 350.
No. 17 Duke 59, No. 6 Louisville 58: Toby Fournier scored 15 points and came up with a huge block late for Duke (17-6, 12-0 ACC), which started hot and then rallied for a win at Louisville (21-4, 11-1) that snapped the Cardinals’ 14-game winning streak.
The lone regular-season matchup of the ACC contenders was a defensive battle. The Blue Devils shot just 42.6% (23 of 54) and committed 19 turnovers, while the Cardinals (21-4, 11-1) shot a season-worst 33.9% (21 of 62).
Louisville’s Imari Berry missed the second of two free throws with 1.1 seconds left. Duke’s Riley Nelson got the rebound.
No. 7 Vanderbilt 84, No. 16 Kentucky 83: Mikayla Blakes scored 37 points, 19 in the fourth quarter, to rally Vanderbilt.
Blakes scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to give the Commodores (22-2, 8-2 SEC) a 59-58 lead, and they stretched the lead to double figures with 6:15 left. Four free throws from Aubrey Galvin in the final 19 seconds helped seal the win.
Former Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks’ Kentucky team (18-6, 5-5) had a chance to tie, but Amelia Hassett’s potentially tying 3-point shot went off the side of the rim, and Teonni Key’s putback went in as the buzzer sounded to end the game. Key had 27 points and 12 rebounds
No. 9 Ohio State 70, No. 24 Washington 60: Jaloni Cambridge scored 26 points in Seattle as Ohio State (21-3, 10-2 Big Ten) earned its 10th win in the last 11 games.
Cambridge, who went in averaging 22.5 points per game (No. 7 nationally) this season, went 12 of 21 from the field and had her fourth straight game with at least 25. And when the Huskies (17-6, 7-5) went on a 13-2 run to cut what had been a 15-point Buckeyes lead to four, the sophomore quieted the crowd with a mid-range jumper with 1:38 remaining.
Sayvia Sellers scored 26 points — 11 in the fourth quarter — to lead Washington.
Minnesota 91, No. 10 Iowa 85: Grace Grocholski scored 21 points, Mara Braun added 16 in Iowa City and Minnesota posted its its fifth straight victory.
The Gophers (17-6, 8-4) have the program’s longest winning streak in Big Ten play since the 2018-19 season. The Hawkeyes (18-5, 9-3) lost their third consecutive game since they lost starting guard Taylor McCabe, their leading 3-point shooter, to a season-ending knee injury.
