Kentucky rallies to top South Carolina, win SEC crown

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Dre’una Edwards hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4.2 seconds left, and the Kentucky Wildcats rallied from 15 points down to upset top-ranked South Carolina 64-62 on Sunday to win their first Southeastern Conference women’s tournament championship since 1982. Kentucky hadn’t even reached this game since 2014. These seventh-seeded Wildcats (19-11) won their 10th straight game with this the biggest yet after knocking off sixth-ranked LSU and No. 18 Tennessee to get to this championship. The Wildcats not only snapped South Carolina’s 18-game winning streak this season, they also ended the Gamecocks’ search for a third straight SEC tournament title for the regular season champs with Kentucky’s fourth win in as many days. South Carolina (28-2) led 45-30 with 4:45 left in the third quarter seemingly minutes away from cutting down the nets again. But the Gamecocks didn’t score after Aliyah Boston’s jumper with 5:04 remained that put them up 62-53. No. 2 STANFORD 73, UTAH 48 LAS VEGAS (AP) – Haley Jones scored 19 points, Cameron Brink added 16 and Stanford won its second straight Pac-12 tournament with a rout of Utah. The Cardinal (28-3, 17-0) shut down the Utes defensively in the second half to pull away in what was a two-point game at halftime. The reigning national champions held Utah (20-11, 8-8) to 7-of-33 shooting in the second half and had a 40-12 advantage in the paint to win their 15th Pac-12 tournament in 21 tries. The Cardinal stretched their winning streak to 20 straight games heading into the NCAA Tournament, where they’ll undoubtedly be a No. 1 seed. Stanford is 30-1 all-time against the Utes. Utah was without forward Peyton McFarland, who injured her knee against Washington State on Thursday, and struggled against Stanford’s length inside, particularly in the second half. Brynna Maxwell had 16 points to lead the Utes, who went 2 for 13 from 3 in the second half as Stanford pulled away. No. 3 N.C. STATE 60, MIAMI 47 GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – Third-ranked North Carolina State completed its chase to a third straight Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship Sunday, ending Miami’s upset-filled run. Elissa Cunane had 17 points and eight rebounds despite exiting the game for a stretch in the second half with an apparent left-ankle injury for the top-seeded Wolfpack (29-3). N.C. State shot just 35% but took control with a 17-4 run with Miami’s offense unable to much of anything, a burst that stretched an eight-point margin to 54-33 on consecutive 3-pointers by Diamond Johnson to end the third quarter and start the fourth. N.C. State kept that margin at double figures the rest of the way, never letting Miami (20-12) repeat its improbable quarterfinal comeback win against No. 4 Louisville. No. 5 BAYLOR 82, TEXAS TECH 57 WACO, Texas (AP) – NaLyssa Smith had a career-high 35 points with 12 rebounds in her senior day game for Baylor, and the Bears clinched the outright Big 12 women’s title with an 82-57 win over Texas Tech in the regular-season finale. The Bears (25-5, 15-3 Big 12) were guaranteed at least a share of their 12th consecutive Big 12 title and 13th overall after an 87-62 win at ninth-ranked Iowa State last Monday. Baylor had to beat Texas Tech for the outright championship after the Cyclones ended their regular season with win Saturday night at West Virginia. Bryn Gerlich had 12 points and Taylah Thomas 12 for Texas Tech (11-18, 4-14), which as a team wasn’t able to outscore Smith by herself until the second half. No. 7 UCONN 71, MARQUETTE 51 UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) – Evina Westbrook scored 14 points and UConn cruised into the Big East title game with a win over No. 5 seed Marquette.