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Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 1 UCLA puts away No. 24 Michigan

NCAA Womens Basketball: Nebraska at UCLADec 29, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Cori Close during the first quarter against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. The Bruins won 91-54 for Close’s 300 career win. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Kiki Rice and Lauren Betts led five scorers in double digits as No. 1 UCLA stayed unbeaten by keeping No. 24 Michigan at arm’s length 86-70 in a Big Ten matchup on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Rice posted 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and added 10 assists and three steals. Betts followed with 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and two steals as the Bruins (14-0, 3-0 Big Ten) used a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to push their lead to 16. Another 9-0 run a few minutes later sealed the win.

Londynn Jones tallied 13 points and Gabriel Jaquez and Angela Dugalic 12 apiece for UCLA, which shot 55.6 percent from the field.

Freshman Syla Swords scored a career-high 30 points on 11-of-25 shooting for Michigan (10-4, 1-2), which has lost three of its last four games. Olivia Olson contributed 17 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks, and Jordan Hobbs chipped in 10 points.

No. 4 Southern California 75, Nebraska 55

JuJu Watkins poured in 26 points, 11 in the third quarter, as the Trojans pulled away to defeat the Cornhuskers in the Big Ten contest in Los Angeles.

Watkins, who began the day third in Division I by averaging 25.2 points per game, went 7 of 15 from the field and 11 of 12 from the free-throw line. She made 9 of 10 from the line in the third quarter, as USC (13-1, 3-0 Big Ten) outscored Nebraska 20-11 to extend its lead to double digits.

Kiki Iriafen added 14 points, and Rayah Marshall chipped in eight points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals for USC, which extended its winning streak to nine games.

Logan Nissley led the Cornhuskers (10-4, 1-2) with 14 points, and teammate Britt Prince followed with 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

No. 7 UConn 77, Marquette 45

Sarah Strong led four scorers in double digits with 15 points, and the Huskies used a strong second quarter to defeat the host Golden Eagles in a Big East game in Milwaukee.

KK Arnold added 13 points and seven assists off the bench for UConn (12-2, 3-0 Big East). Paige Bueckers entered averaging 20.9 points per game but managed just 12 against Marquette on 4-of-12 shooting. Jana EL Alfy chipped in 10 points, and Strong added seven rebounds and four assists.

Skylar Forbes netted 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting for the Golden Eagles (9-4, 1-1). None of her teammates managed more than six points, and they combined to shoot 26.2 percent from the field. UConn’s Kaitlyn Chen tallied all seven of her points in the second quarter, as the Huskies outscored the Golden Eagles 21-8 to take control of the game.

No. 12 Kansas State 74, Houston 55

The Wildcats saw a double-digit lead slip away in the third quarter but roared back in the fourth to put away the host Cougars for their ninth consecutive victory in the Big 12 clash.

Ayoka Lee, Temira Poindexter and Jaelyn Glenn all scored 15 points for Kansas State (14-1, 2-0 Big 12), with Lee adding nine rebounds and four blocks. Teammate Serena Sundell chipped in with 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Trailing by one point with one minute gone in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats ran off 21 points to blow the game open. Poindexter had eight points in that spurt.

Eylia Love led Houston (4-9, 0-2) with 16 points and Laila Blair added 12 points and three steals.

No. 18 West Virginia 80, UCF 58

Ja’Naiya Quinerly scored 17 of her season-high 31 points in the first quarter as the Mountaineers built a big lead and coasted past the Big 12 opponent Knights in Morgantown, W.Va.

Syndey Shaw added 19 points and Jordan Harrison contributed 12 points, six rebounds and six assists for West Virginia (11-2, 1-1 Big 12). The Mountaineers led by six midway through the first quarter, but finished on a 17-1 burst, with Quinerly scoring eight and Harrison four.

Khyala Ngodu paced UCF with 14 points and seven rebounds. Kaitlin Peterson was right behind with 13 points, Nevaeh Brown added 12 and Emely Rodriguez 11. The Knights (7-5, 0-2) lost their third straight game.

No. 21 Michigan State 77, Purdue 59

Jocelyn Tate posted a season-high 19 points and added 11 rebounds and three steals, and she led a big second quarter as the Spartans turned back the Boilermakers in East Lansing, Mich.

Grace VanSlooten finished with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals for Michigan State (12-2, 2-1 Big 10), which ended a two-game losing streak. Ines Sotelo added 16 points and six boards, and Julia Ayrault supplied 11 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Tate netted 10 points in the second quarter as Michigan State (12-2, 2-1 Big 10) outscored Purdue 18-3.

Destini Lombard and Lana McCarthy scored 10 points apiece to pace Purdue (7-7, 0-3), which has lost two games in a row and four of six. Lombard also had four steals and two blocks.

No. 23 Iowa 80, Penn State 68

Taylor McCabe scored 17 points, Addison O’Grady netted 16 and Hannah Stuelke posted a double-double as the Hawkeyes used a late 9-0 run to defeat the Lady Lions in the Big Ten matchup in University Park, Pa.

Stuelke finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four assists as Iowa (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) won its third straight game. The Hawkeyes shot 52.5 percent from the floor and dominated in bench points (33-10) and paint points (46-26).

Gabby Elliott led Penn State with career highs of 32 points and seven 3-pointers, including two treys early in the fourth quarter as the Lady Lions (9-5, 0-3) were within 63-61 with 7:04 left. A layup by O’Grady and Teagan Mallegni’s three-point play began Iowa’s burst, which pushed the lead to 11 with 4:12 to play.

Lucy Olsen added 11 points for the Hawkeyes, and Gracie Merkle notched 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Lady Lions. Elliott was 12 of 22 from the field, including 7 of 11 from deep.

–Field Level Media

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Baylor edges UCF on last-second free throw

NCAA Basketball: Baylor at Central FloridaFeb 28, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; UCF Knights guard Riley Kugel (2) shoots against Baylor Bears guard Cameron Carr (43) during the first half at Addition Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Obi Agbim made a free throw with one second left Saturday night, lifting visiting Baylor to an 87-86 Big 12 Conference win over UCF in Orlando.

The Bears (15-14, 5-11 Big 12) led the entire second half until the Knights’ Jamichael Stillwell’s layup tied it at 84 with 1:08 left. After Agbim’s layup put Baylor up, UCF’s Devan Cambridge sank two foul shots with 25 seconds remaining to tie it again. UCF gave a foul with three seconds left, followed by each team using their final timeout to plot strategy.

Out of timeouts, Baylor fed Agbim for a 3-pointer and he was fouled by Riley Kugel. Agbim missed the first, made the second and missed the third but it was rebounded by teammate Cameron Carr, allowing the Bears to run out the clock.

Carr scored 26 points for Baylor, going 10 of 10 at the foul line. Dan Skillings Jr. came off the bench to add 15 points, while Isaac Williams chipped in 14 and Agbim finished with 12 to go along with seven assists.

Kugel scored 26 points to pace the Knights (20-8, 9-7), while Jordan Burks added 12 and Stillwell hit for 11. Themus Fulks managed only eight points, six under his average, but dished out a game-high 10 assists.

While UCF entered the game off a convincing win at No. 19 BYU on Tuesday night that likely sealed its at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, Baylor came in knowing it would need to win its last three regular-season games and then do damage in the Big 12 tourney to have a chance.

The Bears lit up the Knights for 56 first-half points, making 19 of 35 field goal attempts and going 8 of 15 from the 3-point line. Carr was instrumental in that effort, ringing up 20 points on just nine shot attempts. He was 4 of 6 on 3-pointers and made all six of his free throws.

UCF shot well for most of the half but went cold down the stretch. It was also outscored 10-2 in fastbreak points and went to the break trailing by 14.

–Field Level Media

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Luka Doncic has happy birthday as Lakers crush Warriors

NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State WarriorsFeb 28, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward/guard Luka Doncic (77) dribbles against Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (4) in the second period at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images

Luka Doncic celebrated his 27th birthday with 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 129-101 rout of the Golden State Warriors on Saturday in San Francisco.

Los Angeles came into the Bay Area on a three-game losing skid but rebounded emphatically. The Lakers surrendered the game’s first two points, then went on to score the next 10 en route to a lead they never relinquished.

Doncic set the pace for the Los Angeles offense, shooting 9 of 17 from the field, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range. He knocked down consecutive triples to open the second half, then connected on another pair minutes later as part of a 16-9 surge.

Doncic scored 16 points in a third quarter that effectively snuffed any hope of a Golden State rally.

The Warriors showed signs of life in the second quarter when they trimmed what had been a 23-point deficit to 12 points on the strength of a 15-2 spurt. Gary Payton II scored six of his 12 points off the bench during the run.

Twelve was as close as Golden State came the rest of the night. The Los Angeles lead steadily ballooned throughout the second half behind five Lakers scoring at least 15 points.

LeBron James shot 4 of 6 from 3-point distance and 7 of 13 from the floor overall en route to 22 points. James also flirted with a triple-double, adding a game-high nine assists and seven rebounds.

Austin Reaves scored 18 points for Los Angeles and Luke Kennard came off the bench to connect on 4-of-7 3-point attempts on his way to 16 points. Jake LaRavia dropped in 15 points in reserve duty.

Golden State, meanwhile, had just one scorer with more than 12 points: Gui Santos, who finished with 14.

Moses Moody scored all 12 of his points on 4-of-10 3-point shooting. De’Anthony Melton added 10 points and Al Horford scored eight points off the bench.

–Field Level Media

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Ole Miss snaps losing skid at Auburn's expense

Syndication: The Montgomery AdvertiserOle Miss Rebels guard Ilias Kamardine (6) shoots a floater as Auburn Tigers take on Ole Miss Rebels at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.

Ole Miss snapped its longest losing streak since 2002-03 to crush Auburn’s seemingly slim March Madness dreams with a gutsy 85-79 Southeastern Conference road win Saturday night.

The Rebels (12-17, 4-12 SEC) had dropped their last 10 games but came alive with their second-best shooting day of the season, making 31 of 58 shots from the field (53.4%).

AJ Storr and Patton Pinkins led all scorers with 26 points apiece. Storr came off the bench for the Rebels shooting 9 for 15 from the field to go along with four assists. Pinkins made 8 of his 10 shots, including 4 for 5 from 3-point range, and Malik Dia finished with 10.

Keyshawn Hall helped lead the charge for Auburn (15-14, 6-10) with 21 points, including making 9 of his 10 free throw attempts. Tahaad Pettiford chipped in 24 points, Elyjah Freeman had 15 and Kevin Overton dropped 10.

Auburn built an early second half lead, but Ole Miss responded with a 22-4 run to blow open the game and take a 67-55 lead with 7:32 left.

The Tigers brought it close, but the Rebels never let go of the lead after that.

Ole Miss iced the game with a huge alley-oop, second-chance dunk by James Scott, who had a season-high four blocks, to stretch the lead to 78-71 with 1:11 left.

With the Help of Storr, Ole Miss’ bench dominated Auburn’s, outscoring the Tigers 28-4.

Both teams came out the gates hot with the Rebels making 7 of their first 8 shots and the Tigers making 6 of their first 8. Auburn fell behind by six early but used a 14-2 run that was capped by an acrobatic layup from Filip Jovic to pull ahead 31-25 with 4:46 left in the half.

The Rebels scored the last eight points of the half, including a layup and jumper from Storr, to take a 38-37 lead into the half.

Ole Miss was lights out in the first half making 16 of 27 shots (59.3%) and 5 of 11 from 3-point range. Dia, Storr and Pinkins each got into double digits in the first half with the latter two logging 10 points and the former with 11.

Auburn made 14 of 26 shots (53.8%) in the first half with Hall leading the way with 10 points.

This was Ole Miss’ first win over Auburn, breaking a 10-game head-to-head skid, since the Rebels pulled out an 86-84 overtime win Feb. 6, 2021.

–Field Level Media

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