Utah tops Stanford to earn share of first-ever Pac-12 title

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Gianna Kneepkens scored 28 points to lead No. 8 Utah to an 84-78 victory over No. 3 Stanford on Saturday that gave the Utes a share of their first regular-season Pac-12 Conference title.

Alissa Pili finished with 14 points and Kennedy McQueen had 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and six steals for Utah (25-3, 15-3), which shares the conference title with Stanford.

Hannah Jump led Stanford (27-4, 15-3) with 24 points. Cameron Brink had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Cardinal, while Haley Jones added nine points and eight rebounds.

Utah led the entire second half, but Stanford pulled within one at 73-72 after Brink and Jones combined to make four straight baskets. Kneepkens knocked down a 3-pointer to keep the Cardinal from erasing the deficit completely.

The Utes then forced three straight turnovers in the final minute to secure the win.

No. 4 UCONN 72, DEPAUL 69

CHICAGO (AP) — Aaliyah Edwards scored 16 points, including two clutch baskets down the stretch, and UConn edged DePaul to clinch at least a share of the Big East regular season championship.

DePaul (15-15, 8-11 Big East) led by as much seven in the second half and was nursing a four-point lead late in the fourth of a tight, physical, contest, but Edwards and Lou Lopez Sénéchal scored to tie it at 65 with 3:10 left.

Then Edwards scored off a turnover with 2:40 to go to put the Huskies ahead. Nika Mühl nailed 3-pointer from the corner with 1:13 to go for a 70-65 UConn (26-5, 17-2) lead.

Anaya Peoples hit two free throws and then layup with 17 seconds left to pull the Blue Demons to within one. DePaul star Aneesah Morrow raced down the court in the final seconds with a chance to win it, but was forced into a turnover with nine seconds left.

Muhl, who finished 13 points, sank a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining to ice it. Peoples missed a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

No. 19 TEXAS 67, No. 13 OKLAHOMA 45

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Shaylee Gonzales scored 19 points and Texas snapped a first-place tie with Oklahoma in the Big 12, beating the Sooners,

Rori Harmon had 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and DeYona Gaston scored 12 points with 11 rebounds, her second double-double this season for the Longhorns (22-7, 13-3). Taylor Jones had five of Texas’ 10 blocks to go with 10 points. Shay Holle added 11 points, all in the pivotal third quarter.

Liz Scott scored 13 points with nine rebounds for the Sooners (22-5, 12-4), who had a six-game win streak snapped.

No. 17 UCLA 70, WASHINGTON 62

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Charisma Osborne scored 11 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to lift UCLA to a win over Washington.

KiKi Rice added 15 points for the Bruins (22-8, 11-7 Pac-12 Conference), who pulled away by making 9 of 15 shots. Londynn Jones had 10 points as all 10 players scored for UCLA.

Haley Van Dyke scored 12 points for the Huskies (15-13, 7-11).

The Bruins scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take a 40-34 lead. Later, Rice made two free throws to make it 48-39. The lead was seven heading into the fourth quarter.

The Huskies pulled within 57-53 midway through the final quarter on a Ladine 3. Osborne then hit a jumper and a 3-pointer and had nine points in an 11-2 run for a 13-point lead with less than two minutes to play.

No. 25 MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE 61, LOUISIANA TECH 59

RUSTON, La. (AP) — Kseniya Malashka scored 27 points, the last two on a short, contested jumper with 2.8 seconds to play, and blocked a last-second shot to give Middle Tennessee State a win over Louisiana Tech.

Malashka’s basket came after she missed a shot with just over 30 seconds to go but Jalynn Gregory came up with the rebound out of a scramble so the Lady Raiders kept possession.

Gregory put MTSU on top 59-57 with a 3-pointer with 1:16 to play but Keiunna Walker made two free throws on Tech’s next possession to tie the game.

Gregory finished with 16 points for the Lady Raiders (23-4, 16-2 Conference USA), who already had the league title secured.

Walker scored 19 points for La Tech (17-11, 10-8) and Anna Roberson and Robyn Lee both added 14.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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