No. 1 Louisville 65, Wake Forest 63

Louisville spent most of Sunday looking little like the nation's top-ranked team, from struggling to make shots to keeping a determined opponent off the boards.

Of course, it helps to have Dana Evans to offset all that — and allow the Cardinals to barely avoid a huge upset in their first week at No. 1.

The reigning Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year hit a driving shot for the go-ahead three-point play with 8.0 seconds left to help Louisville hang on to beat Wake Forest on Sunday. It was part of a huge day for the preseason Associated Press All-American in a game in which little came easily for the Cardinals and they had to survive a final-play shot from the Demon Deacons to hold on.

"We needed her down the stretch there," coach Jeff Walz said of Evans.

And did they ever.

Evans finished with 25 points, the last coming when she banked in a tough drive over Gina Conti and hit the ensuing free throw. That came after she sparked the 14-2 run that helped Louisville (14-0, 7-0 ACC) erase a nine-point deficit with about seven minutes left, scoring twice and assisting on another basket before ending the run with a 3-pointer for a 60-57 lead with 3:27 left.

"I'm the leader of this team," Evans said of her winning drive, "so they were counting on me to make something happen — make something out of nothing, so that's what I did."

And yet, Wake Forest (7-6, 4-5) had a final chance for its first-ever win against a top-ranked opponent. Ivana Raca popped open on the wing for a 3-pointer, but the shot bounced off the iron at the horn.

Conti scored 13 points while Raca had 12 to lead the Demon Deacons, who erased an early nine-point deficit by going relentlessly to the boards. They took their biggest lead at 55-46 on Alexandria Scruggs' stickback before the Cardinals regrouped.

"This group's got to mentally be able to handle what happened today," Wake Forest coach Jen Hoover said. "And it's gonna hurt. ... We're not into moral victories. I don't care if we are little ol' Wake Forest. That doesn't mean anything to us. We wanted that win."

No. 2 N.C. State 89, Virginia Tech 87

Kai Crutchfield scored 10 of her 20 points in the last 4½ minutes, Jakia Brown-Turner finished with 23 points and North Carolina State rallied from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to remain undefeated, beating Virginia Tech.

Kayla Jones, who made two free throws at the 15-second mark, tallied 22 points for N.C. State (11-0, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which was coming off a three-week layoff.

"We've got some players who in crunch time can make some plays," N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. "It was touch-and-go, for sure. ... We're going to take this win. I know it was a comeback win and all that."

The Wolfpack hadn't played since Jan. 3. The lone absence related to a coronavirus test or contract tracing was a big one, with standout center Elissa Cunane missing the game. She is likely out for at least the next game, also against the Hokies.

"Hopefully getting this game under our belt will help those who've been in protocol," Moore said.

Georgia Amoore's 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds to play for Virginia Tech cut the gap to 88-87 before Raina Perez hit a free throw for the Wolfpack. A heave from near midcourt was well off the mark.

Sophomore center Elizabeth Kitley matched a career high with 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Aisha Sheppard added 24 points for Virginia Tech (7-7, 2-7).

"I really think that we executed our game plan to the T," Sheppard said. "It just kind of got away from us those last few minutes."

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Crutchfield trimmed the gap to 81-76 with 3:28 to play, igniting what became a 16-0 run.

Crutchfield's steal and layoff off Virginia Tech's next possession followed by Brown-Turner's 3 tied the game. Crutchfield gave N.C. State the lead for keeps with two foul shots with 1:41 remaining.

"We had fight," Crutchfield said. "We fought to the end."

In a four-minute span of the third quarter, the Hokies wiped out a 10-point hole to go up 56-53.

The gap grew to 69-59 by the end of the quarter.

Virginia Tech's 10-0 run that involved the third and fourth quarters pushed the margin to 73-59 before N.C. State rallied.

"We kicked up our defense and we started to press, which caused them to take quick shots," Brown-Turner said. "It took us a while to get back in the rhythm."

Virginia Tech led 24-17 by the end of the first quarter as Cayla King and Sheppard each provided nine points. King's 3-pointer – her fourth of the game -- stretched the lead to start the second quarter.

The Wolfpack was up 37-36 on Jones' 3-pointer at the second-quarter's 4:01 mark. It was the team's fifth 3 of the quarter. The Hokies scored only three points in the final 4:20 of the first half, falling into a 47-41 hole at the break.

No. 4 South Carolina 69, LSU 65

Other than the rainbow braids tied in a ponytail that dangled against the back of South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston's jersey, there wasn't much to set the AP preseason All-American apart from her LSU competitors for most of the first three quarters.

And then, as a closely contested game entered its late stages, the 6-foot-5 Boston was a powerful presence under both baskets, and a big reason the Gamecocks' winning streak increased to nine games.

"You can't keep a good player down," LSU coach Nikki Fargas said. "She's going to figure out a way to get to her numbers because she's a competitor."

Boston scored 11 of her 20 points in the final 14 1/2 minutes and grabbed 14 rebounds to help South Carolina secure a victory over LSU on Sunday.

"She scored enough, she rebounded the ball, she facilitated," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said of Boston. "She played huge minutes for us and I know she was probably tired."

Destanni Henderson added 16 points and eight assists while Zia Cooke had 11 points for South Carolina (12-1, 7-0 SEC), which won its 26th consecutive game against conference competition.

Khayla Pointer scored 18 and Tiara Young 16 for the Lady Tigers (6-7, 4-3) who'd defeated No. 8 Texas A&M earlier this month and looked primed to stage their second upset of a top 10 team in two weeks when they carried a lead into the fourth quarter.

"We're still just trying to put together a full game," Pointer said. "This game, we were tit for tat, right there with SC, one of the best teams in the country, and we just got to find ways to pull it out.

"You can't be that close in a game like that and then lose it at the end, especially on our home court," she added.

LSU took a 45-43 lead into the fourth quarter after Faustine Aifuwa's jumper beat the clock at the end of the third period. Awa Trasi's layup briefly widened the lead to 47-43 before South Carolina suddenly seized momentum with a 9-0 run.

The Gamecocks are "not a team that flinches, even through mistakes," Staley said. "They believe in their defense. They believe in things that they can do well and they believe in themselves."

The pivotal surge began with Boston's bucket and featured five points by Henderson on a 3-pointer and free throws. LeLe Grissett's fast-break layup capped the run and made it 52-47 with 7:37 left.

LSU pulled back to 56-55 after Young's jumper with 3:41 left, but consecutive fast-break layups by Cooke and Grissett ignited a decisive 10-2 Gamecocks run that included more fast-break points for Cooke and Grissett.

No. 8 Texas A&M 70, Missouri 66

N'dea Jones and Ciera Johnson led a balanced attack with 14 points apiece and Jones grabbed 18 rebounds as Texas A&M held off Missouri.

Jordan Nixon and Distiny Pitts each made a pair of free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the win.

Aaliyah Wilson added 13 points for the Aggies (15-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) and Pitts had 10.

Ladazhia Williams scored 20 points for the Tigers (5-5, 1-4), Aijha Black added 11 with 16 rebounds and Haley Troup scored 10.

The Aggies trailed 62-60 with less than four minutes to go when Kayla Wells hit a pair of jumpers and Nixon followed with a layup with 1:36 to go. Williams got a pair from the foul line at 1:03.

Texas A&M missed twice and Mizzou once before Wilson stole a pass, which led to Wilson's free throws with 15 seconds to go. Williams answered at nine seconds to make it 68-66 and the Tigers had a chance when Wilson missed twice from the foul line but another turnover and Pitts saved the game.

Missouri shot 54% (28 of 52), going 8 of 19 from 3-point range, but the Tigers got outrebounded 40-31, including 16-3 on the offensive end, had 16 turnovers and were just 2 of 6 at the foul line.

In addition to getting 15 more shot attempts — the Aggies were 26 of 67 (39%) — they were 15 of 21 from the foul line and only had nine turnovers.

Texas A&M plays at Auburn on Thursday when Missouri heads to Florida.

No. 25 Tennessee 70, No. 12 Kentucky 53

Tamari Key scored a career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, Rennia Davis added 15 points and a career-high 20 rebounds, and Tennessee throttled Kentucky.

The Lady Vols (10-3, 4-1 SEC) took control in the third quarter when Key scored the first six points of the second half to start an 11-1 run for a 38-23 lead. Tennessee scored the last eight points for a 49-31 lead entering the fourth quarter, which started with a 9-1 run for a 26-point lead.

Chasity Patterson led Kentucky (11-4, 4-3) with 15 points and Howard added 14, six below her average, but was 3 of 16 shooting.

No. 13 Oregon 69, Washington 52

Sedona Prince scored 16 points and blocked five shots, Lydia Giomi added a double-double off the bench and Oregon defeated Washington.

Giomi had 11 points and 10 rebounds and fellow reserve Sydney Parrish added 12 points for the short-handed Ducks (11-3, 9-3 Pac-12 Conference), who were without starters Nyara Sabally and Erin Boley, who had made 84 consecutive starts.

Angela Dugalic scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with eight rebounds in her first career start. Te-Hina Paopao scored 10 with six assists and three steals.

Haley Van Dyke scored 13 to lead the Huskies (4-5, 1-5). UW has lost four straight, the first one to the Ducks 73-49 in Seattle on Dec. 19. Since then they have had six games postponed, including the last five. Tameiya Sadler and Darcy Rees both scored 10.

Parish had a pair of 3-pointers and Prince scored twice in a first-quarter 12-0 run to get the Ducks started. They got the lead to 26-12 on a Giomi basket in the middle of the second quarter before the Huskies had an 11-2 run. It was 32-23 at the half.

Oregon scored the first four points of the third quarter to put the lead in double figures for good, stretching it as high as 20 and to 22 midway through the fourth quarter.

The usually high-powered Ducks continued to win with defense, holding their 10th opponent to fewer than 60 points.

Oregon goes to Utah on Friday. The Huskies have a makeup game with Oregon State on Tuesday.

No. 16 Indiana 74, No. 21 Northwestern 61

Mackenzie Holmes scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Indiana took over after trailing by 13 midway through the fourth quarter to beat Northwestern.

The Hoosiers (9-3, 7-1 Big Ten) came to life after Sydney Wood's layup capped a 10-0 run to put the Wildcats up 49-36 at the 5:17 mark of the third quarter. Indiana held Northwestern without a field goal and closed within 54-48 by the end of the quarter.

Northwestern (8-3, 6-3) led 57-56 with 6:34 left in the game when the Hoosiers reeled off 12 straight points, with Holmes scoring seven, to lead 68-57 with two minutes to play.

The Wildcats went 3 of 21 after their big lead.

Clemson 86, No. 23 Syracuse 77 (OT)

Kendall Spray scored 24 points with seven 3-pointers, Amari Robinson added 23 and short-handed Clemson upended Syracuse after blowing a 25-point halftime lead.

The Tigers were outscored 23-9 in the third quarter and 20-9 in the fourth before scoring 16 points in overtime to end a four-game losing streak and beat the Orange for the first time ever in 10 tries.

Delicia Washington scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Clemson (9-5, 4-5 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Kiara Lewis scored 25 points with eight rebounds and Emily Engstler added 17 and nine for the Orange (7-3, 4-3), who were playing their fourth game in eight days after going more than three weeks without a game.