Maryland routs Purdue to remain tied for first in Big Ten
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Stephanie Jones scored 18 points, Shakira Austin had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 7 Maryland stayed atop the Big Ten by pounding Purdue 88-45 Tuesday night for its 13th consecutive victory.
The Terrapins (24-4, 15-2) are tied in first place with Northwestern, which kept pace with a victory at Ohio State. The co-leaders have one game left: Maryland is at Minnesota and Northwestern hosts Illinois.
If the Wildcats and Terps finish deadlocked, they share the title but Maryland gets the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament via a tiebreaker. Northwestern and the Terrapins split the season series, so the next criteria is head-to-head record against third-place Iowa (Maryland went 1-1, Northwestern 0-1).
Kaila Charles had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Terrapins, who haven't lost since Jan. 9 at Iowa. Their last five victories have come by an average of 34.4 points.
No. 14 NORTHWESTERN 69, OHIO STATE 55
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Abi Scheid scored 19 points with five 3-pointers, Lindsey Pulliam added 16 points and Northwestern beat Ohio State to remain in first place in the Big Ten Conference.
Northwestern (25-3, 15-2) tied a program record for wins in a season with the 1978-79 team by winning at Ohio State for the first time since 2011. The Wildcats are 2-15 at Value City Arena.
Sydney Wood had 12 points and nine rebounds for Northwestern. Pulliam banked in a running 3-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer to give Northwestern a 56-45 lead.
Dorka Juhasz led Ohio State (17-11, 10-7) with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
No. 23 PRINCETON 80, PENN 44
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — Bella Alarie scored 21 points, Ellie Mitchell had 13 points, eight rebounds and six steals, and Princeton beat Pennsylvania.
Abby Meyers made 3 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points for Princeton (22-1, 10-0 Ivy League). The Tigers, who have won 18 consecutive games, clinched a berth in the conference tournament which begins March 14.
Maggie Connelly, Alarie and Meyers each hit a 3-pointer to close the first quarter and spark a 20-0 run that lasted nine minutes, 16 seconds and made it 32-8 when Mitchell made a layup with 3:46 left in the second quarter. Penn (17-6, 7-3) went 0 for 9 from the field and committed six turnovers during that span and trailed by at least 19 points the rest of the way.
The Quakers had their seven-game win streak snapped. They have a one-game lead over Yale and Columbia for second in the conference standings.
Kayla Padilla led Penn with 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting. The rest of the team shot 24% (8 of 33) from the field.