Duke Shows Off Finishing Touch

Alana Beard had 22 points, and No. 1-ranked Duke used a late run to beat No. 13 North Carolina, 79-57, Sunday at Durham, N.C., for the Blue Devils’ 47th consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference victory in women’s basketball.

The Blue Devils (13-1 overall, 4-0 conference) scored 25 of the game’s final 28 points in the victory over the Tar Heels (13-2, 3-1).

No. 5 Tennessee 61, Mississippi State 53 -- Shanna Zolman scored 17 points at Starkville, Miss., for the Lady Vols (12-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference), who improved to 22-0 all-time against the Bulldogs. Tan White had 25 points for Mississippi State (5-9, 0-2).

No. 6 Minnesota 75, Iowa 61 -- The victory at Minneapolis gave the Golden Gophers (14-0, 3-0 Big Ten) their best start ever. Minnesota’s defense fueled a 12-2 run that gave it a 57-46 lead. Iowa (7-7, 1-2) made 29 turnovers.

No. 9 Penn State 60, Wisconsin 59 -- Kelly Mazzante made two free throws with 19 seconds left to give the Nittany Lions (11-3, 4-0 Big Ten) a 60-56 lead at Madison, Wis. Lello Gebisa brought the Badgers (5-7, 0-3) within one point with a three-point shot with 3.8 seconds left, but Mazzante then took the inbounds pass and dribbled out the clock.

No. 10 Purdue 58, Illinois 49 -- After a halftime tie, the Boilermakers (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) opened the second half with a 19-4 run to defeat the Illini (7-7, 1-2) at Champaign, Ill.

No. 12 Georgia 74, Kentucky 53 -- The Bulldogs (13-2, 2-0 SEC) scored seven consecutive points in less than 30 seconds at the end of the half to pull away to a 35-23 lead over Kentucky (8-7, 0-2) at Lexington, Ky.

No. 17 Louisiana State 70, No. 21 Auburn 59 -- Doneeka Hodges scored 20 points and Hanna Biernacka had 14 to help LSU (13-2) to victory at Baton Rouge, La., in an SEC opener for both teams. Auburn (12-3, 0-1) pulled within five points, at 33-28, with four seconds left in the half, but LSU took control in the second half.

No. 18 DePaul 88, Cincinnati 61 -- Khara Smith had a career-high 35 points to lead the Blue Demons (14-1, 2-0 Conference USA) over the Bearcats (9-7, 0-2) at Chicago.

No. 19 Texas Christian 78, Memphis 75 -- Amy Pack scored 22 points, and Ebony Shaw made two free throws with nine seconds left to lift the Horned Frogs (13-2, 2-0 Conference USA) over the Tigers (10-5, 0-2) at Memphis, Tenn.

No. 22 Ohio St. 77, Northwestern 35 -- Caity Matter’s 21 points led the Buckeyes (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten) over the Wildcats (7-7, 0-3) at Evanston, Ill.