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USF women upset by St. John's

 
CLOSING IN: Texas center Imani Boyette defends Tennessee guard Diamond DeShields in the second quarter of the Longhorns’ victory, which ends the Vols’ 27-game home winning streak.
CLOSING IN: Texas center Imani Boyette defends Tennessee guard Diamond DeShields in the second quarter of the Longhorns’ victory, which ends the Vols’ 27-game home winning streak.
Published Nov. 30, 2015

NEW YORK — With the game on the line, USF couldn't contain St. John's dynamic duo of Danaejah Grant and Aliyyah Handford.

Grant scored 27 and Handford added 23 to help the Red Storm beat the No. 18 Bulls 74-70 on Sunday.

USF (3-2) trailed by as many as eight in the fourth quarter before cutting its deficit to 72-70 on Courtney Williams' 3-pointer with nine seconds left. The Bulls were unable to get any closer.

"It was too little, too late," head coach Jose Fernandez said. "The big thing with us is it just took us so long to get going. We have to get back, and we have to get better."

The Red Storm (4-1) built an early nine-point lead and withstood every Bulls run thanks to its two stellar guards. USF cut its deficit to 55-52 midway through the fourth quarter on Williams' basket in the lane. But Grant answered with a three-point play on the next possession.

Williams wouldn't let USF go away. She sprinted down the court to block Handford's shot after a steal, then hit a 3-pointer to make it 64-60 with 1:32 left.

After two free throws by Handford, Williams hit another 3-pointer to get USF within 66-63 with just more than a minute left.

St. John's hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final minute, including four by Aaliyah Lewis in the final 18 seconds to seal the win.

"Great win for our program against a great opponent who has played well this year and was a tournament team last year," St. John's coach Joe Tartamella said. "Most complete game we've had all year."

Williams scored 25 of her 28 in the second half to lead the Bulls.

The Red Storm got out to a nine-point lead in the first quarter behind Handford and Grant before USF rallied to 31-27 at halftime. Williams had just three points in the first half while playing only 11 minutes because of foul trouble.

"It took her a little bit to get going," Fernandez said. "Lot of it was credit to how they defended. They did a really good job on her, chasing her off screens. The second half she really got going."

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 52, TAMPA 46: The visiting Spartans (3-4) managed only two points after Ellen Nurmi's 3-pointer with 3:59 left tied the score at 44, and the Firebirds made all six of their free throws down the stretch in the final game of the Firebird Classic in Washington. Nurmi finished with 12 points and made 3 of 6 3-pointers.

NO. 8 TEXAS 64, NO. 4 TENN. 53: Lashann Higgs scored 18 and led an efficient 3-point attack as the Longhorns (5-0) snapped the Vols' 27-game home winning streak. Tennessee (5-1) hadn't lost at home since 75-71 to Kentucky in February 2014. "I was really proud of our team's mentality," Texas coach Karen Aston said. "I think that's the main thing that we've talked about all summer and all fall was how to have a better road mentality. Really, this wasn't necessarily about who we were playing but can we be better on the road."

NO. 8 MISS. ST. 92, SAVANNAH ST. 25: Victoria Vivians scored a season-high 27 for the host Bulldogs (5-0), who have won by an average of nearly 56 points and have won their past four by at least 58. The carefree romps might be fun, but Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer said there's only so much to be learned when playing against obviously inferior opponents. "Now it's time to see how we stack up against the big girls," Schaefer said. He gets his wish Wednesday when the Bulldogs travel to face No. 8 Texas.

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NO. 12 KENTUCKY 92, JACKSON ST. 24: Evelyn Akhator had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the host Wildcats (6-0), who held the Tigers to seven second-half points, the fewest allowed in a half in program history.

NO. 13 STANFORD 71, PURDUE 65, OT: Briana Roberson had 26 points for the Cardinal (6-1), which overcame 34.5 percent (19-of-55) shooting from the field by making 25 of 26 free throws at the Gulf Coast Showcase final in Estero.

NO. 16 ARIZ. ST. 60, CAL-BAKERSFIELD 47: Quinn Dornstauder scored 14 on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbed four rebounds to lead the Sun Devils (3-2) in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Honolulu.

DAYTON 79, NO. 22 L'VILLE 66: Amber Deane scored a career-high 29 for the Flyers, who handed the Cardinals (1-4) their second straight loss in the third-place game at the Gulf Coast Showcase.

Men

NO. 6 DUKE 85, UTAH ST. 52: Freshman Luke Kennard stayed confident as he wrestled with his shot to start his Blue Devils career, and he has finally started connecting. Kennard had the best game of his young career, scoring 22 for the host Blue Devils (6-1), who won their fourth straight since losing to Kentucky. "Shooters, they can have off nights," he said. "I had a few in a row just to start the season. We're going to build off of what we did (Sunday), keep working hard and we'll see how it goes."

NO. 7 OKLA. 65, WISCONSIN 48: The Sooners' first three games featured a fast tempo and lots of points from senior guard Buddy Hield. Their fourth had neither, but the result was the same. Ryan Spangler had 20 points and 14 rebounds for Oklahoma (4-0) while Hield, a preseason All-American who had averaged 25.3 points, was held to 12 on 5-of-16 shooting.

NO. 11 ARIZONA 68, BOISE ST. 59: Allonzo Trier and Kadeem Allen scored 13 each for the Wildcats (6-1) in the third-place game of the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, Calif. Ryan Anderson added 11 points and seven rebounds and Gabe York and Mark Tollefsen had 10 points each for Arizona, which was upset by Providence 69-65 in the semis after narrowly escaping with a 75-73 overtime win against winless Santa Clara in the three-day event.

IOWA 84, NO. 20 WICHITA ST. 62: Jarrod Uthoff scored 22, Adam Woodbury had 15 and the Hawkeyes won the seventh-place game at the AdvoCare Invitational in Lake Buena Vista. The Shockers (2-4) played without forward Anton Grady, who was hospitalized with what doctors believe is a spinal cord concussion. Doctors found no signs of spinal cord trauma, and Grady was expected to return home with the team.

ALABAMA 74, NO. 17 N. DAME 73: Retin Obasohan had 19 points, including the winning layup with eight seconds left, as the Crimson Tide upset the Fighting Irish (4-2) in the fifth-place game at the AdvoCare Invitational. Notre Dame had a chance to win it with two seconds left, but Demetrius Jackson's layup was off the mark.

NO. 23 XAVIER 90, DAYTON 61: Edmond Sumner had 14 points for the Musketeers (7-0) in the AdvoCare Invitational title game in Lake Buena Vista. Xavier broke open an eight-point halftime advantage by outscoring the Flyers 25-4 during the first eight minutes of the second half.

NO. 25 SMU 77, BROWN 69: Keith Frazier scored 23 and made three 3-pointers to break out of his 3-point shooting slump for the host Mustangs (4-0). The Bears' Steven Spieth scored 14 in his Dallas homecoming. He is the brother of top-ranked golfer Jordan Spieth.

CLAYTON ST. 76, SAINT LEO 63: The host Lions (5-2) were held to 29.2 percent shooting (19-of-65) from the field and 20.7 percent (6-of-29) from 3-point range.