Blanca Millan of the University of Maine was named the America East player of the week for the fifth time this season. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
University of Maine guard Blanca Millan was named the America East women’s basketball player of the week for the fifth time this season and 13th time in her career on Monday.
Millan averaged 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 steals while helping Maine sweep Binghamton, to run it winning streak to seven. She had 20 points and six steals on Saturday and 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals on Sunday.
Millan is now second in program history for most league player of the week honors, passing Rachel Bouchards. Cindy Blodgett holds the school record with 17 honors in her career.
TOP 25: Louisville and North Carolina State both survived upset bids by unranked teams to remain the top two teams in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll.
The No. 1 Cardinals needed a late basket from Dana Evans to stave off Wake Forest on Sunday while the second-ranked Wolfpack had to rally from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Virginia Tech a few hours later.
Louisville received 22 of the 30 first-place votes from a national media panel while N.C. State garnered five. The two teams will meet next Monday in a makeup of their game postponed because of COVID-19 issues.
N.C. State was playing its first game since Jan. 3 after the team was paused because of the coronavirus. The Wolfpack were still missing their star Elissa Cunane because of the virus. They are hoping to have her back by the beginning of February.
(14) OHIO STATE 88, (7) MARYLAND 86: Madison Greene scored 24 points, Jacy Sheldon had 21 and No. 14 Ohio State (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) beat No. 7 Maryland (11-2, 7-1) in Columbus, Ohio.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Braxtin Miller put the Buckeyes up 75-69 with 4:22 left. The Terps missed 12 of their next 13 field-goal attempts, allowing the Buckeyes to build a lead down the stretch. The Terps pulled within five on a pair of foul shots by Ashley Owusu with under a minute left. A late 3-pointer by Chloe Bibby and another by Katie Benzan at the buzzer weren’t enough.
Miller scored 18 points and Dorka Juhasz had 16 rebounds as Ohio State handed Maryland its first conference loss of the season and snapped the Terps’ 24-game Big Ten winning streak going back to last January.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
TOP 25: Gonzaga, Baylor and Villanova remained atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll Monday, while ninth-ranked Alabama climbed to its highest ranking in 14 years.
Mark Few’s Bulldogs earned 61 of 64 first-place votes in the latest Top 25, while Scott Drew’s Bears claimed the other three. Those two teams have been 1-2 in all 10 polls this season.
Villanova remained third followed by Michigan, with the Wolverines cracking the top five for a second straight season under Juwan Howard after being unranked earlier in the year. Michigan’s rise comes after the school announced a two-week pause in all sports activities due to concerns about a new COVID-19 variant that transmits at a higher rate.
The rest of the top 10 included No. 5 Texas, followed by Houston, Iowa, Virginia, Alabama and Texas Tech.
(8) VIRGINIA 81, SYRACUSE 58: Sam Hauser hit seven of Virginia’s 14 3-pointers and the No. 8 Cavaliers (11-2, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) cruised to an 81-58 victory against Syracuse (9-5, 3-4) in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Hauser hit five 3s before halftime as Virginia took a 41-26 lead into the locker room. He finished with 21 points. With Jay Huff adding a career-high 21 points to go along with 12 rebounds and Trey Murphy III making four 3s on his way to 16 points, the Cavaliers finished 14 for 31 from deep. It was the seventh consecutive victory for the 2019 national champions.
Quincy Guerrier led the Orange with 15 points, and Alan Griffin had 13.
(22) GEORGIA 75, (19) ARKANSAS 73: Gabby Connally scored 20 points, including a long jumper with 0.9 seconds left to lift No. 22 Georgia (13-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) over No. 19 Arkansas (11-6, 2-5) in Athens, Georgia.
Connally made two shots in the final minute from about the same spot. Her first from the top of the key with 57.7 seconds left tied the game for the 11th time, to go with 11 lead changes. Arkansas went with a quick shot trying to a get 2-for-1 possession advantage but Jailyn Mason’s jumper missed with 41 seconds to go.
Waiting until late in the shot clock, Que Morrison missed a 3-pointer but Jordan Isaacs corralled the offensive rebound on the baseline with less than 11 seconds to go. She got the ball to Mikayla Combs in the left corner who got the ball back to Connally near midcourt. Connally made her move, shaking free about a step behind her previous shot and knocked the game-winner home.
FOOTBALL
CLEMSON: Linebacker Mike Jones Jr. has entered the NCAA transfer portal, becoming the first player to be leaving the Tigers’ top 15 defense that was projected to have all 11 starters returning next season.
A team spokesman said the athletic department’s compliance office confirmed Jones had entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Jones, a 6-0, 220-pound redshirt sophomore from Nashville, Tennessee, started seven games this season in helping the defense lead the Atlantic Coast Conference and finish 15th nationally with 326 yards allowed per game.
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