CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Sarah Bates hit five 3-pointers and finished with 16 points — both season highs — and Nerea Hermosa scored eight of her 12 points in the fourth quarter to help No. 14 Georgia Tech pull away and beat Clemson 69-62 on Sunday night.
Lotta-Maj Lahtinen had 14 points and six assists and Lorela Cubaj added 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Georgia Tech (17-4, 8-2 ACC).
Kionna Gianes led Clemson (7-14, 1-9) with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Delicia Washington scored 14.
Bates hit three 3-pointers in an 11-0 spurt that made it 28-19 with 3:14 left in the first half and the Yellow Jackets led the rest of the way.
Gaines made a jumper and Amari Robinson a layup to pull the Tigers within a point but Eylia Love scored five straight over the next 57 seconds to make it 46-40 with 47 seconds left in the third quarter and Clemson went scoreless for 4-plus minutes as the Yellow Jackets opened the fourth with an 18-8 spurt — including eight points by Hermosa — to take their largest lead of the game at 66-51 with 61 seconds left.
Georgia Tech, which has won four games in a row and seven of their last eight, shot a season-high 60% (25 of 42) from the field, including 8 of 17 (47%) from 3-point range.
The Yellow Jackets moved a half-game ahead of idle Virginia Tech into sole possession of third in the conference standings, two games back of third-ranked N.C. State (10-0) and a game behind No. 5 Louisville (9-1) — the latter of which beat Georgia Tech 50-40 in Atlanta on Jan. 2 in the lone regular season game between the two teams.
Georgia Tech has won seven straight against the Tigers to even the all-time at 45-45.
Clemson has lost nine of its last 10 games overall, including each of the last three.
Georgia Tech continues its four-game road trip at No. 21 Duke on Tuesday before games at N.C. State on Feb. 7 and Virginia Tech on Feb. 10.
Clemson plays host to Louisville on Thursday.
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More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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