Women’s Top 25 capsules: No. 2 Mississippi State still unbeaten with 67-53 win over South Carolina

Victoria Vivians scored 20 of her 24 points in the first half to help spark a struggling Mississippi State offense and the No. 2 Bulldogs rallied to beat No. 7 South Carolina 67-53 on Monday night in Starkville, Mississippi.

The Bulldogs (24-0, 10-0 SEC) ended an 11-game losing streak to the Gamecocks that included a defeat in the national championship game last season.

A 13-0 run to begin the fourth quarter was the difference in the game as the Bulldogs turned a five-point third quarter deficit into a lead they wouldn’t lose, much to the delight of the sellout crowd of 10,794 fans that was a Humphrey Coliseum record.

Blair Schaefer hit two big 3-pointers during that stretch to help flip the game in the Bulldogs’ favor.

South Carolina (18-5, 7-3) started the game up 20-10 after one quarter holding the Bulldogs to just 4-of-16 from the field. The second quarter belonged to the Bulldogs who inserted freshman forward Chloe Bibby to guard A’ja Wilson. South Carolina scored eight points in the quarter and the Bulldogs had a 13-2 run that helped them out to a 29-28 halftime advantage.

The Gamecocks had 25 points and 14 rebounds from Wilson but she managed just seven points in the second half.

(3) Baylor 74, Oklahoma 65: Lauren Cox scored a career-high 24 points and the Lady Bears (22-1, 12-0 Big 12) beat the Sooners (12-12, 7-6) in Waco, Texas, for their 19th straight victory.

While the Lady Bears never trailed, Oklahoma tied the game at 60 when Maddie Manning hit a running scoop shot with just under 5 1/2 minutes left. The Sooners were still within 64-63 on a three-point play by Manning just over 2 minutes later.

Dekeiya Cohen then made a layup for Baylor, which sealed the game by making 8-of-10 free throws in the final 1:36 after winning its first 11 Big 12 games by an average margin of 29.5 points.

Cohen finished with 15 points, and Kalani Brown had 10. Kristy Wallace was 2 for 12 shooting but had 12 assists and made five of those free throws in the closing streak.

Vionise Pierre-Louis led Oklahoma with 19 points before fouling out with 1:36 to go. Gabbi Ortiz made four 3-pointers and had 14 points, all in the second half. Shaina Pellington also had 14 points, and Manning had 13.

(6) Texas 73, West Virginia 55: Jatarie White had 18 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season to lead the Longhorns (19-4, 10-2 Big 12) over the Mountaineers (17-7, 5-7) in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The Longhorns opened up the game on a 7-0 run, but WVU clawed back into the game thanks to five first quarter 3-pointers.

Texas responded by outscoring the Mountaineers 19-7 in the second quarter to have a 37-26 lead at the half.

Both teams would trade scores throughout the first 15 minutes of the second half. West Virginia cut the lead to seven with 5:16 left in the third quarter, but couldn’t get closer.

The Longhorns would finish the game on an 11-1 run to complete the regular season sweep of WVU.

Naomi Davenport led the Mountaineers with 14 points.

(8) UCLA 84, USC 70: Monique Billings and Jordin Canada each scored 18 points to lead the Bruins (19-4, 10-2 Pac-12) to a win over the Trojans (15-8, 5-7) in Los Angeles.

Billings also had 11 rebounds for her 41st career double-double. It was the second time in four days UCLA beat USC.

UCLA moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Pac-12 with Oregon and Stanford. It was the Bruins’ eighth consecutive win and they moved up one spot in the national rankings earlier in the day.

Aliyah Mazyck had a team-best 21 points for the Trojans. Minyon Moore made one of two free throws to pull USC within 69-68 in the fourth quarter, but the Trojans wouldn’t get any closer as the Bruins closed the game on a 15-2 run.

(15) Missouri 66, Florida 64: Cierra Porter scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help No. 15 Missouri hold off Florida 66-64 in Columbia, Missouri.

Sophie Cunningham, averaging 18.4 points per game, scored her final points of the game, 10, on a baseline jumper to extend Missouri’s lead to 64-59.

Florida guard Funda Nakkasoglu sank a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:01 remaining to pull to 66-64. Missouri took some time off the clock after a defensive foul but Florida deflected the ball out of bounds off Cunningham’s knee at 12.1. The Gators’ offense stalled near the 3-point arc and Haley Lorenzen didn’t hit the rim on a long 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Jordan Frericks scored 12 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter for Missouri (18-5, 6-4 Southeastern Conference). Porter scored 21 of Missouri’s 32 first-half points as she was 8 of 12 from the field and the rest of the team was just 5-of-19 shooting.

Delicia Washington led Florida (10-13, 2-8) with 23 points.