Women’s College Basketball | No. 1 Vols get past Oklahoma
TAMPA, Fla. - Candace Parker had 28 points, Shannon Bobbitt scored 22 of her career-high 27 points in the second half and No. 1 Tennessee beat No. 9 Oklahoma 70-67 on Thursday night.
Bobbitt secured the win with two free throws to put Tennessee up 70-67 with 3.2 seconds to play after the Vols forced a jump ball on Oklahoma’s previous possession.
After Oklahoma went ahead 67-66 on Courtney Paris’ basket with a half-minute left, Tennessee (2-0) took the lead for good on two free throws by Alexis Hornbuckle with 26.7 seconds to go.
Paris had 19 points and Danielle Robinson added 14 for Oklahoma (0-2), which was coming off a season-opening 76-66 loss to then-No. 4 Maryland on Sunday.
Tennessee outscored Oklahoma 8-3 to take a 63-55 advantage with five minutes remaining. Bobbitt completed the stretch with a three-pointer.
Robinson keyed a 5-0 run that pulled Oklahoma to 55-54 at the 8-minute mark.
Amanda Thompson had a three-point play during a 13-8 stretch, helping Oklahoma overcame a three-point halftime deficit and take a 42-40 lead with 16 minutes left.
Other games
At No. 4 Louisiana State 64, No. 17 Michigan State 41
Sylvia Fowles had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead LSU to a victory in the preseason NIT semifinals.
The victory puts the Tigers (3-0) in the WNIT finals against the winner of tonight’s semifinal between No. 3 Maryland and No. 23 Notre Dame.
Courtney Davidson led MSU (2-1) with 12 points.
No. 10 Duke 89,
at South Florida 52
Chante Black scored 16 points and Joy Cheek added 15 for the Blue Devils (2-0).
Duke took control after South Florida (1-1) got within 12-8 on a basket by Jazmine Sepulveda with 13 ½ minutes left in the first half. Black scored five points during a 15-3 run that gave Duke a 27-11 advantage with six minutes remaining.
Cheek had a three-point play and Brittany Mitch hit a three-pointer during the first half’s final four minutes as Duke extended its lead to 23 points at intermission.
Nevada 74,
at Eastern Washington 68
Kyla Evans scored 20 points for Eastern Washington, but the Eagles fell to 1-1 on the season.