Cardano-Hillary helps No. 8 Indiana women beat Butler 86-63

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Nicole Cardano-Hillary scored 29 points to lead No. 8 Indiana to an 86-63 victory over Butler on Wednesday night. Cardano-Hillary shot 11 for 12 from the field, including 7 for 8 on 3-pointers, and had six rebounds and five assists to lead the Hoosiers, who shot 52%. Grace Berger added 18 points on 9-for-15 shooting, Mackenzie Holmes had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Ali Patberg had 10 assists. Alex Richard scored 20 points on 10-for-13 shooting and Zoe Jackson added 18 points for Butler. The Bulldogs shot 50% but committed 18 turnovers. Indiana led by 13 late in the first half before Butler pulled to 43-31 at the break. The Hoosiers extended the advantage to 16 points in the third quarter before pulling away in the fourth. Their largest lead was 25. NO. 15 TENNESSEE 59, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 49 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Jordan Walker scored 14 points, Alexus Dye had 14 points and 13 rebounds as No. 15 Tennessee closed with a 17-2 run to beat Southern Illinois. Rae Burrell added 12 points for the Lady Vols. Quierra Love scored 13 points and Gabby Walker added 10 for the Salukis. Jordan Walker had seven points and Tamari Key and Sara Puckett each had five in Tennessee’s critical run after Southern Illinois had the Lady Vols on the ropes. Southern Illinois, which led 30-27 at the half and 42-38 after three quarters, was up 47-42 after a deep 3-pointer by Makenzie Silvey and a fast-break layup by Love with 5:24 to play. At that point the Salukis had made eight 3-pointers and the Lady Vols were 0 for 13. NO. 17 OHIO STATE 71, BUCKNELL 48 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Jacy Sheldon scored 20 points and No. 17 Ohio State pulled away in the second half. The Buckeyes raced to a 20-7 lead late in the first quarter, which closed with a 7-0 Bucknell run. The Bison extended that run with the first eight points of the second quarter to grab the lead before Ohio State edged in front 28-24 at the half. From there, the Buckeyes slowly pulled away. A 51-38 lead entering the fourth quarter grew to as much as 25 down the stretch. Taylor Mikesell hit four 3-pointers and added 14 points for Ohio State, which shot 56% in the second half with five of its seven 3-pointers. The Buckeyes shot 28% in the first half, going 3 of 17 in the second quarter. Taylor O’Brien scored 17 points for Bucknell, which shot 30% in the second half and finished 2 of 11 behind the arc. NO. 20 UCLA 78, PEPPERDINE 69 LOS ANGELES (AP) – Charisma Osborne scored 24 points, freshman IImar’l Thomas added 21 and No. 20 UCLA turned back Pepperdine. Ally Stedman scored 28 points for Pepperdine and Malia Bambrick added 17. The Waves led 22-15 at the end of the first quarter but the Bruins reeled off 13 straight points to open the second quarter and the teams were tied at 42 at the break. UCLA opened the third quarter with 11 consecutive points but couldn’t put the Waves away. Pepperdine scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to get within four and Stedman hit a 3 to pull the Waves to 62-61 with seven minutes to play. The Bruins surged ahead again and held on for the win. ___ More 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