Tessa Johnson scored a season-high 21 points as No. 3 South Carolina beat No. 6 LSU 79-72 on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.

Johnson shot 4-of-5 from 3-point land to power the Gamecocks (25-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) to their sixth straight win. Raven Johnson scored a career-best 19 points for South Carolina and also tallied seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. Madina Okot added a double-double of 12 points and 17 boards, while Joyce Edwards chipped in 10 points.

In defeat, the Tigers (22-4, 8-4) were paced by Flau’jae Johnson’s 21 points and eight rebounds, while Mikaylah Williams added 11 points.

Facing her former team, LSU guard MiLaysia Fulwiley — who won a national championship with South Carolina two years ago — finished with just six points on 1-of-8 shooting. She also had four steals, four rebounds and three assists.

It was South Carolina’s 18th consecutive victory over LSU, and the win also made Gamecocks’ coach Dawn Staley the fourth in SEC history to win 500 games along with Tennessee’s Pat Summitt, Georgia’s Andy Landers and Auburn’s Joe Ciampi.

LSU led by as many as six points in the first half, but Tessa Johnson scored 11 points in the second frame – sinking a trio of 3-pointers – to push the Gamecocks ahead by a single point at the break.

South Carolina then opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run, bookended by layups from Edwards. That gave the Gamecocks their largest lead of the game at eight points.

Flau’jae Johnson kept LSU in the game late, scoring seven points and grabbing four offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. With about 45 seconds to play, she drew the call that fouled out Edwards for South Carolina and – trailing by just one point – went to the charity stripe with the chance to take the lead for the Tigers. But both of Johnson’s free-throw attempts were off the mark.

On South Carolina’s next possession, Raven Johnson killed some clock before driving inside and dishing to Okot, who sank a close-range shot to push the Gamecocks’ advantage to three points with 25 seconds to go.

On the next possession, Flau’jae Johnson missed a would-be game-tying 3-pointer for LSU. Okot hit two free throws and Raven Johnson flushed two more in the game’s final moments to seal the victory for South Carolina.

Prior to the start of the game, the selection committee for the women’s NCAA Tournament unveiled its projection of the top 16 seeds. South Carolina was slotted in as the third No. 1 seed, while LSU was the fourth No. 2 seed. Currently, six SEC teams are projected to host games during the opening weekend of March Madness, tied with the Big Ten for the most in the country.

–Field Level Media

Tessa Johnson scored a season-high 21 points as No. 3 South Carolina beat No. 6 LSU 79-72 on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.

Johnson shot 4-of-5 from 3-point land to power the Gamecocks (25-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) to their sixth straight win overall and 18th in a row over the Tigers (22-4, 8-4).

Raven Johnson scored a career-best 19 points for South Carolina and also tallied seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. Madina Okot added a double-double of 12 points and 17 boards, while Joyce Edwards chipped in 10 points. With the win, head coach Dawn Staley became just the fourth coach in SEC history win 500 games.

LSU (22-4, 8-4) was paced by Flau’jae Johnson’s 21 points and eight rebounds, while Mikaylah Williams added 11 points. LSU guard MiLaysia Fulwiley — who won a national championship with South Carolina two years ago — finished with just six points on 1-of-8 shooting.

No. 1 UConn 71, Marquette 56

Azzi Fudd scored 25 points and Sarah Strong had 22 as the Huskies continued their undefeated season with a win over the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee.

Fudd knocked down five 3-pointers, while Strong had three steals and three blocks to lead the Huskies (27-0, 16-0 Big East). KK Arnold added 10 points, six rebounds and a career-best nine assists.

Lee Volker scored 15 points and Skylar Forbes chipped in 14 to pace the Golden Eagles (16-10, 10-7). Marquette jumped out to briefly lead by five, but the Huskies outscored the Golden Eagles 36-19 for the remainder of the first half and held their double-digit advantage through the final buzzer.

Oklahoma State 75, No. 16 Texas Tech 65

Jadyn Wooten scored 16 points off the bench to guide the Cowgirls to an upset victory over the Red Raiders at home in Stillwater, Okla.

Wooten also had seven assists and was one of five players to score in double figures for Oklahoma State (20-7, 9-5 Big 12). Amari Whiting collected 13 points and 11 rebounds, Achol Akot also scored 13 points and Stailee Heard and Haleigh Timmer each had 12 apiece.

Bailey Maupin scored 19 points for Texas Tech (23-4, 10-4) and Snudda Collins added 18.

After trailing by a point at the end of the first quarter, the Cowgirls outscored the Red Raiders 22-9 in the second frame and led for the rest of the game. Oklahoma State — which led by 17 at one point — won the rebounding battle by 10 and shot 8 of 16 from 3-point land.

No. 24 Princeton 59, Cornell 38

Madison St. Rose scored 15 points to help the visiting Tigers defeat the Big Red in Ithaca, N.Y.

Skye Belker scored 12 points and Fadima Tall added 11 for Princeton (20-3, 8-2 Ivy League). It was a bounce-back win for the Tigers, who lost on the road at Columbia on Friday night. Princeton has now won at least 20 games in 15 of its last 16 seasons.

Clarke Jackson and Paige Engels each scored eight points for Cornell (8-15, 3-7).

The Big Red led by as much as 10 points in the second half, but the Tigers blitzed Cornell with a 23-5 third quarter to overcome that deficit and take the lead. Princeton scored 13 points off 20 Cornell turnovers.

–Field Level Media

Dailyn Swain poured in 25 points as Texas pulled away from Missouri 85-68 on Saturday night in Columbia, Mo., for its fourth straight victory.

Matas Vokietaitis scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Longhorns (16-9, 6-5 Southeastern Conference), who outscored the Tigers 52-37 in the second half. Jordan Pope added a total of 15 points as Texas improved its NCAA Tournament credentials.

Mark Mitchell and Jayden Stone each scored 16 points and Anthony Robinson II added 11 for the Tigers (17-8, 7-5), who suffered just their second loss in 15 games at home.

The foul-plagued game was played at a ponderous pace. While Texas made 21 of 23 free throws, Missouri missed 12 of 38 from the line.

The Tigers moved out to an early 12-7 lead spurred by Stone, who hit a 3-point jumper and drove for a dunk, and Mitchell, who scored twice inside.

Simeon Wilcher stopped that run with a 3-pointer for the Longhorns, who eventually pulled ahead 19-18 with 7 minutes left in the first half on Nic Codie’s three-point play in the lane.

The teams exchanged leads for the rest of the half. With 1.9 seconds left, Tramon Mark converted a three-point play in the lane to put Texas up 33-31 at the break.

With Missouri starting center Shawn Phillips Jr. limited to seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Texas grabbed eight offensive rebounds and outscored the Tigers 22-14 in the paint in the first 20 minutes.

Swain hit a short jumper to put Texas up 41-37 with 15:44 left to play, then Nicholas Randall pulled the Tigers even with a pair of dunks.

The Longhorns responded with a 16-6 run, triggered by Mark’s three-point play, to move ahead 57-47 with 10:11 left to play.

Missouri cut its deficit to seven points, but Texas pushed its lead to 67-55 with 7:05 left with Pope and Swain hitting 3-point jumpers on consecutive possessions.

The Tigers got no closer than eight points during the rest of the game. Swain’s 3-point jumper with 2:26 left extended the lead to 80-66 and iced the game.

–Field Level Media