Stanford guard Haley Jones drives to the basket against Arizona guard Helena Pueyo during the second half of the Cardinal’s 73-57 win on Monday in Stanford, California. Jones finished with 18 points, 16 rebounds and five assists. Tony Avelar/Associated Press
STANFORD — Haley Jones had 18 points, a season-high 16 rebounds and five assists, and second-ranked Stanford picked up its defense after the first quarter and rolled past No. 15 Arizona 73-57 in a Monday showdown of the 2021 national champion Cardinal and NCAA runner-up Wildcats.
Francesca Belibi contributed season-bests of 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Stanford (15-1, 3-0 Pac-12), which held Arizona to seven second-quarter points on the way to winning its 10th straight game since the team’s lone defeat in a 76-71 overtime loss to No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 20.
Jade Loville scored 12 for a Wildcats team (12-2, 2-1) that came in averaging 81.2 points per game and was beating teams by an average of 22.2 points – but no team has scored more than 77 points against the Cardinal since the start of the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season.
Both power programs struggled to find their 3-point grooves – Arizona going 1 for 6 in the first half and Stanford 3 of 13. Hannah Jump made four for Stanford on the way to 13 points.
Cameron Brink overcame a cold shooting day to finish with 12 points, six rebounds and three more blocks. She shot 3 of 15, missing all six of her 3-point tries and with four turnovers but was picked up by Stanford’s deep supporting cast.
(1) SOUTH CAROLINA 68, GEORGIA 51: Zia Cooke scored a career-high 31 points and the Gamecocks (14-0, 2-0 SEC) recovered after trailing throughout the first half to beat the Bulldogs (11-5, 0-2) in Athens, Georgia.
Aliyah Boston, the reigning AP Player of the Year, scored a season-low four points, her second consecutive game in single figures. Boston made only one of six shots from the field and had five rebounds.
Cooke, who has scored 14 or more points in six consecutive games, helped fill the scoring void for the Gamecocks. Cooke made four of 12 3-pointers and 11 of 13 free throws.
No other South Carolina player scored in double figures.
(13) MARYLAND 78, RUTGERS 67: Abby Meyers scored 13 of her 22 points in the first quarter to help Maryland get off to a quick start and the No. 13 Terrapins (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) defeated the Scarlet Knights (6-10, 0-4) in Piscataway, New Jersey.
TOP 25: South Carolina finished 2022 how it started the year: No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25.
While the top-ranked Gamecocks cruised to a win in their lone game last week, then-No. 4 Indiana, No. 6 N.C. State and No. 7 Virginia Tech all lost as they scrambled to replace injured players.
Stanford, Ohio State, Notre Dame and UConn round out the top five teams in the poll released. With the Hoosiers’ defeat, that left only five unbeaten teams, including the top-ranked Gamecocks, who were once again a unanimous choice at No. 1.
No. 3 Ohio State, No. 7 LSU, No. 8 Utah and 24th-ranked St. John’s are the other undefeated teams heading into 2023. Utah is making its first appearance in the top 10.
Indiana, featuring Gorham’s Mackenzie Holmes, dropped to sixth with Virginia Tech and North Carolina State finishing off the top 10.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
BOWDOIN 5, JOHNSON & WALES 2: Peyton Mulhern had a goal and an assist as the Polar Bears (5-4) beat the Wildcats (0-7-2) in Brunswick.
Zoe Wilson, Allie Britt, Brett Stoddard and Anyi Sun also scored for Bowdoin. Dani Maquez had eight saves.
Harmony Chicoose and Kaylin Garner scored for Johnson & Wales.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
COLBY 79, MAINE MARITIME 71: Will King had 23 points to lead the Mules (12-1) to a victory over the Mariners (4-5) in Castine.
Noah Tyson added 13 points and Jonah Obi had 11 points for Colby.
Curt Heinz had a double-double for Maine Maritime, finishing with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Josiah Dancy added 15 points for the Mariners.
RUTGERS 65, (1) PURDUE 64: Cam Spencer’s 3-pointer with 13.3 seconds left gave the Scarlet Knights (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten) the lead and the Boilermakers (13-1, 2-1) failed to convert on their final two chances as Rutgers held on for a shocking road victory.
It’s the second straight year Coach Steve Pikiell’s team has upset top-ranked Purdue. Last year, the Scarlet Knights needed a half-court buzzer-beater on its home court to pull off the school’s first win over a No. 1 ranked team.
This time Rutgers did it in front of Mackey Arena’s 49th consecutive sellout crowd.
Spencer finished with 14 points while Paul Mulcahy had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
The Boilermakers were led by Zach Edey who overcame early foul trouble to finish with 19 points and 10 rebounds. It just wasn’t enough to close out an incredible second-half rally from a 10-point deficit. New Mexico is now the last remaining unbeaten team in Division I.
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