No. 1 South Carolina tops second-ranked Stanford 65-61

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Aliyah Boston didn’t miss this time, her layup with 1:05 to go giving No. 1 South Carolina a 65-61 victory over No. 2 Stanford on Tuesday night. She finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, her fifth straight double double and 36th of her career. It was Boston who couldn’t convert last April at the Final Four in the closing seconds to send the Cardinal to a 66-65 victory en route to the national championship. This time, the 6-foot-5 All-American set herself up down low, got the ball from Destanni Henderson and put it in for the game-winning basket as the Gamecocks (12-0) rallied from 18 points down in the first half to keep alive their best start in six years. It was the biggest comeback in school history. Stanford (8-3) had a chance to go in front, but Cameron Brink’s jumper came off the rim and into the capable hands of Boston. Lexie Hull led Stanford with 17 points, just three of those coming in the final three quarters. IUPUI 74, No. 15 IOWA 73 IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Rachel McLimore scored 12 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter, including the winning free throws with three seconds left, as IUPUI dominated the fourth quarter to defeat Iowa. The Hawkeyes led by 18 points in the middle of the third quarter and 62-47 entering the fourth quarter IUPUI (5-4), playing its first game since Dec. 8 because its last four opponents had to cancel because of COVID-19 issues, had an early 9-0 run to cut the deficit to single figures. Macee Williams, who also had 19 points, started it with a three-point play and McLimore followed with consecutive 3-pointers. Iowa led 69-60 on a Kate Martin layup with under six minutes to play but a 10-2 burst made it 71-70 with under two minutes to go. Monika Czinano made a layup for the Hawkeyes (6-3) but Williams answered that. Following an Iowa turnover, McLimore was driving to the basket and was fouled by Caitlin Clark. After the successful free throws, Czinano, who led Iowa with 23 points, missed a potential winner. Clark had 19 points and 11 rebounds. MISSISSIPPI 61, No. 18 SOUTH FLORIDA 53 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Madison Scott scored 12 points, Angel Baker had 11 and Mississippi’s defense took over in the third quarter to propel the Rebels to a win over South Florida at the West Palm Beach Invitational. It was the first game against a ranked team this season for the Rebels (12-1), who take a 12-game winning streak into their Southeastern Conference opener on Dec. 30. It was their first win over ranked team outside the SEC since 2007. The Bulls (8-4) were playing their seventh game against a ranked or Power Five team and fell to 4-3. Sydni Harvey scored 17 points, hitting 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and Elena Tsineke added 10. No. 21 LSU 74, TEXAS TECH 60 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Khayla Pointer had 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and LSU beat short-handed Texas Tech for its 10th straight victory in the West Palm Beach Invitational. LSU scored 12 of the first 14 points of the game, led 39-26 at the break and never trailed. Pointer reached the 1,500-point club in the first half. Jailin Cherry added 16 points, Alexis Morris had 13, Autumn Newby 12 and Faustine Aifuwa 10 for LSU (11-1), which only won nine games last season before the arrival of coach Kim Mulkey. Newby also grabbed 12 rebounds for her first double-double with LSU and Ryann Payne was the only Tiger reserve to score, finishing with four points. LSU outrebounded Texas Tech 46-31, leading to a 16-6 advantage in second-chance points. Texas Tech was without All-American Vivian Gray, who did not travel with the Lady Raiders to Florida for an undisclosed reason. She’s averaging 17 points per game.