Sports
Women's Top 25 roundup: Vandy freshman Mikayla Blakes scores 53
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes (1) celebrates after defeating Tennessee at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes needed a quarter to get warmed up, and then she went off, finishing with an NCAA freshman-record 53 points as the 23rd-ranked Commodores defeated Florida in Gainesville, Fla., on Thursday night.
Blakes made 16 of 24 shots from the field, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range, as she surpassed the 51 points scored by JuJu Watkins as a freshman last season. She also set Vanderbilt’s single-game scoring record and the Southeastern Conference single-game mark.
The Commodores (18-4, 5-3 SEC) turned a close game into what looked like a blowout when Blakes netted 18 points in the second quarter to extend the lead to 46-26. Her 13 in the third period helped pad the lead as high as 23 points, and she poured in 18 more in the fourth to hold off the Gators, who had their deficit down to single digits multiple times.
Iyana Moore collected 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Commodores, who entered the Top 25 this week for the first time in 11 years. Ra Shaya Kyle led Florida (11-11, 2-6) with 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Liv McGill scored 20 points.
No. 3 Notre Dame 77, Virginia Tech 61
Hannah Hidalgo scored 16 of her 30 points in the third quarter as the Fighting Irish won their 13th straight game, defeating the Hokies in Blacksburg, Va.
Hidalgo, who began the night second in the nation in Division I in scoring at 25.4 points per game, went 10 of 16 from the field for the game. She netted the first five points of the third quarter and kept on scoring as Notre Dame (18-2, 9-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) pulled away from a four-point lead at the half.
Carys Baker led Virginia Tech (9-12, 4-6) with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Matilda Ekh followed with 13 points.
No. 7 LSU 107, Oklahoma 100
Mikaylah Williams poured in 37 points, including 16 in the Tigers’ big second quarter, and LSU beat the Sooners in Baton Rouge, La.
LSU (22-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) made 68.8 percent of its shots in the second period while outscoring Oklahoma 32-19. The Tigers shot 52.2 percent for the game. Flau’Jae Johnson scored 25 points for LSU, and Aneesah Morrow had 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Payton Verhulst finished with 26 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Sooners (16-5, 4-4), who have lost two of their last three games, both against top-10 teams.
No. 12 Kentucky 65, No. 22 Alabama 56
Georgia Amoore finished with 16 points and nine assists, Clara Strack paired 14 points with 14 rebounds, and the Wildcats dominated the middle quarters for a victory over Crimson Tide in Lexington, Ky.
Amelia Hassett added 11 points, seven boards, three steals and two blocks for Kentucky (18-2, 7-1 SEC), which outscored Alabama 37-19 in he second and thirds quarters combined.
Sarah Ashlee Barker notched 22 points and seven rebounds, and Zaay Green had 14 points for Alabama, but Green also committed six of the team’s 16 turnovers. The Crimson Tide (17-5, 4-4) have lost two straight games four of six.
Oregon 63, No. 16 Michigan State 59
The Ducks built an 18-point in the third quarter and held on in the game’s last four minutes to topple the Spartans in East Lansing, Mich.
Peyton Scott led Oregon (16-5, 7-3 Big Ten) with 12 points, and Phillipina Kyei delivered nine points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Kyei went 3 of 8 from the free-throw line, but she hit two with 13 seconds left to put Oregon ahead by seven.
The Spartans (17-4, 7-3) were held to their lowest point total of the season and took their first home loss after 10 wins. Julia Ayrault logged 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, and Grace VanSlooten also scored 14 points.
No. 17 North Carolina State 90, Wake Forest 83
Zoe Brooks led four scorers in double figures with 18 points as the Wolfpack outlasted the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Zamareya Jones went for 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting while Saniya Rivers and Tilda Trygger scored 13 and 12, respectively, for NC State (17-4, 9-1 ACC). The Wolfpack were ahead by six at halftime but began the third period with 14 straight points. They led by as many as 24 points in the quarter en route to their sixth straight victory.
Rylie Theuerkauf paced Wake Forest (8-13, 1-9) with 25 points by going 10-for-15 from the floor. Raegyn Conley hit 7 of 11 shots and finished with 21 points off the bench.
No. 25 Florida State 104, Boston College 80
The high-scoring Seminoles put all five starters in double figures while blowing away the Eagles in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Makayla Timpson collected 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, and Division I scoring leader Ta’Niya Latson had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Florida State (17-4, 7-2 ACC). The Seminoles scored at least 22 points in every quarter.
Teya Sidberry carried Boston College (12-11, 3-7) with 28 points and 10 rebounds. T’yana Todd scored 14 points, and Tatum Greene had 13.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Knicks and Nuggets Blow Big Leads: What Went Wrong in Game 2?
Roughly 5,000 feet of elevation separate Denver and New York City.
Still, gravity works the same regardless of where one stands. Just ask the NBA teams in both towns.
“You get too high, and you get, I don’t want to say cocky, but feeling yourself,” Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said.
That sensation went south on either side of the country Monday night.
After squandering sizable leads that would have cemented commanding 2-0 advantages in their respective first-round playoff series, the Nuggets and Knicks now find themselves bracing for a fight.
Should their opponents ultimately have their number, Denver and New York will look back with disdain on 19 and 14. Those were the Game 2 cushions the teams coughed up as the No. 3 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference.
“It’s a game we should’ve won,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said. “In the playoffs, we can’t give away games.”
Be that as it may, the Knicks did just that against the Atlanta Hawks. They controlled the outcome for much of the night and took a 12-point edge into the fourth quarter after leading by as many as 14.
Then New York shot 5-for-22 from the floor in the final 12 minutes compared to 10-for-15 for Atlanta. Fighting through vulgar chants from the Madison Square Garden faithful, Hawks star CJ McCullom scored six straight points down the stretch during one key sequence on the way to a game-high 32.
“In that fourth quarter, you could tell [the Hawks] were playing with a level of desperation,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “There were four 50-50 balls, and they got three of the four. We always use that stat to gauge the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter, their aggression stepped up.”
New York’s melted at the same time. How many late possessions saw the Knicks pass or hold the ball around the perimeter before settling for subpar looks from 3-point range? The Knicks went 3-for-11 from deep as part of their flop.
Denver led the Minnesota Timberwolves by 19 points early in the second quarter before crumbling. The Nuggets still were ahead by three points to start the fourth quarter but a combined 2-for-12 shooting effort from pillars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in the final 12 minutes took a toll.
“I feel like we had the game in hand, and then we just didn’t make our shots,” Murray said.
As with the Knicks and Hawks, the reversal of fortunes stemmed both from the hosts’ miscues and an outstanding effort from a visiting player, as Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards had 30 points.
“Great leadership, positive,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “He recognized he needed to get into attack mode and get downhill a little bit more. He did that.”
The Knicks and Nuggets no doubt sensed the need to amp up their own urgency as things started slipping away Monday.
That neither could act upon it didn’t signal the end for either New York or Denver, of course. But now there’s unnecessary added weight for the climb back to the top.
Sports
Pistons seek return to identity vs. Magic after Game 1 shocker
Apr 19, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) is defended by Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) in the second half during the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images After an exceptional regular season, this wasn’t the start to the NBA playoffs that the Detroit Pistons envisioned.
Reeling from a stunning Game 1 loss in which only two players reached double figures, the Eastern Conference’s top seed heads into Game 2 Wednesday against the visiting Orlando Magic facing early pressure to reset the best-of-seven series.
The eighth-seeded Magic controlled the opener from the start, never trailing and leaning on a balanced offensive attack. Paolo Banchero led the way with 23 points while Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter to help close out the 112-101 win.
For Detroit, the issue wasn’t just the loss — it was how it happened. The Pistons never established their defensive identity and struggled to find consistent offense beyond star guard Cade Cunningham, two areas that will be central entering Game 2.
“It starts, always, with us defensively,” said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “When you go back and watch the film of that (game), we weren’t ourselves defensively. The telling tale is typically when we play them, they go to the free-throw line a ton.
“… We went 38 (times) but they went 19. So that means we weren’t playing our brand of basketball, being physical, being handsy, being aggressive. That kind of sets the tone for us.”
Offensively, the Pistons leaned on Cunningham, who scored 39 points, but got little other support — scoring their fewest points in nearly three months, since a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 29. Detroit will need more help from All-Star center Jalen Duren, who was held to just eight points and seven rebounds in Game 1.
“They came out ready from the jump,” Duren said. “We didn’t really meet their intensity. They’ve been playing with their backs against the walls the last few weeks, so they were already kind of already rolling. I think we just got to do a better job meeting that intensity.”
Duren said the Pistons remain confident despite the loss, which extended their home playoff losing streak to 11 games, the longest in NBA history.
“We know the type of team we are,” Duren said. “We feel like we’re the better team. We know that we’ve just got to make adjustments and come out smarter, come out playing harder.”
Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said he has talked to his team about not becoming too overconfident coming off Sunday’s win.
“It’s one game at a time,” Mosley said of his message to the team. “It’s the reality that, yeah, you did get the Game 1 win, but now you have to go and figure out how to get a Game 2 (win). There’s going to be, obviously, the positive talk about what you’ve done, and thinking there’s reasons to celebrate, but at the end of the day, it’s one game, and that’s the most important piece that we’ve talked about: just taking it one game at a time.”
Banchero said the team has received the message, and he believes the key for the Magic is to play defense like they did in the opener.
“I thought we were on a string, just communicating, talking out coverages,” Banchero said. “I think it’s just going to continue to take that, being aggressive, being the aggressors on defense and just not trying to give them much. Obviously they’re going to make shots, but just not trying to give them any free looks.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lynx star Napheesa Collier (ankle) targets June for on-court work
Mar 2, 2026; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Unrivaled Co-founder Napheesa Collier at Barclay’s Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The Minnesota Lynx said Tuesday that star forward Napheesa Collier’s rehab from left ankle surgery is “progressing as expected,” and she could resume on-court activities in early June.
The team plans to release updates on Collier’s progress when available.
The timeline means Collier will miss, at minimum, the first month of the WNBA season, which begins May 10 for the Lynx.
Collier underwent surgery on her ankle on March 24 after sustaining a severe injury during the 2025 playoffs. Per reports at the time, she sustained a Grade 2 tear of three ligaments in the ankle and a muscle in her left shin on a collision during Game 3 of the playoff semifinal series vs. Phoenix.
Collier, 29, averaged a career-high 22.9 points and shot 40.3% from 3-point range to go with 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last year. The back-to-back WNBA Most Valuable Player runner-up, Collier is a five-time All-Star and earned MVP honors in the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup final and the 2025 All-Star Game.
–Field Level Media
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