PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Paige Bueckers had 21 points and seven assists to help No. 2 Connecticut hold off No. 23 South Florida 60-53 in Sunday’s semifinals of the inaugural women’s Battle 4 Atlantis.

Freshman Azzi Fudd added a season-high 18 points on six 3-pointers for the Huskies (3-0), who had to fight to the final minutes to maintain a perfect mark against the Bulls (3-2). UConn squandered a 13-point second-quarter lead and an eight-point margin midway through the third, then found itself trailing in the final seconds of that quarter after giving up an 11-0 run.

But Bueckers hit a contested turnaround 3-pointer from in front of the UConn bench to tie it at 45 at the end of the third. The Huskies got the ball to start the fourth, and Fudd followed with a straightaway 3 – essentially a six-point possession that took momentum back from the surging Bulls.

That was the start of a 14-2 burst, which included Bueckers scoring on a cut off a perfect feed from Olivia Nelson-Ododa in the post and Fudd adding another 3 to push the lead to 56-47 with 4:28 left.

(1) SOUTH CAROLINA 80, (9) OREGON 63: Zia Cooke scored 20 points and Laeticia Amihere added 18 to help the Gamecocks (5-0) routthe Ducks (3-1) in the semifinals of the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis women’s tournament.

South Carolina’s victory sets up a matchup Monday against No. 2 UConn for the tournament title Monday. The Huskies edged No. 23 South Florida in the other semifinal.

(3) MARYLAND 79, (6) BAYLOR 76: Ashley Owusu scored 24 points and the Terrapins (6-0) handed the Bears (3-1) their first loss of the post-Kim Mulkey era, in College Park, Maryland.

The Terrapins led 76-65 before a furious Baylor rally nearly forced overtime. The Bears had the ball down by three, but Sarah Andrews missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

(10) LOUISVILLE 61, WASHINGTON 53: Kianna Smith and Liz Dixon each scored 13 points for the Cardinals (3-1), who beat the Huskies (2-1) in Seattle.

The Cardinals led by as much as 16 late in the third quarter, but had to hold off a late charge by the Huskies to win their third straight.

(12) TENNESSEE 76, (12) TEXAS 70: Jordan Horston scored 28 points with 15 rebounds, both career highs, Tamari Key had a triple-double and the Volunteers (5-0) made 6 of 8 free throws in overtime to defeat the Longhorns (3-1) in Knoxville, Tennessee.

(14) IOWA STATE 96, SOUTHERN 55: Aubrey Joens hit 5 3-pointers for the second-straight game and increased her career best to 21 points to lead the Cyclones (4-0) to a  win over the Jaguars (0-4) in Ames, Iowa.

Big sister Ashley Joens added 16 points, Lexie Donarski 15 and Nyamer Diew 13 off the bench for the Cyclones. Emily Ryan had a career high 13 assists and nine points.

(17) FLORIDA STATE 76, GRAMBLING 53: Morgan Jones scored a career-high 25 points, Valencia Myers added 10 points and 10 rebounds, and the Seminoles (4-0) defeated the Lady Tigers (2-2) in Tallahassee, Florida.

(19) KENTUCKY 92, WINTHROP 47: Rhyne Howard had the third triple-double in Kentucky history to lead the Wildcats (3-1) to a win over the Eagles (0-4) in Lexington, Kentucky.

(22) WEST VIRGINIA 83, RADFORD 31: Kirsten Deans scored 16 points, 10 of 11 West Virginia (3-0) players scored and the No. 22 Mountaineers routed the Highlanders (1-3) in Morgantown, West Virginia.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

(6) PURDUE 80, (5) VILLANOVA 74: Zach Edey scored 21 points and the Boilermakers (5-0) overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to beat the Wildcats (3-2) and win the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament, in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Caleb Furst and Isaiah Thompson each added 12 points for the Boilermakers (5-0), who dominated underneath, outscoring the Wildcats 38-18 in the paint and outrebounding them 38-26.

(17) TENNESSEE 89, (18) NORTH CAROLINA 72: Freshman Zakai Zeigler scored 18 points to lead the Volunteers (3-1) over the Tar Heels (3-2) in Uncasville, Connecticut, in the consolation game of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament.

(22) ST. BONAVENTURE 70, MARQUETTE 54: Jaren Holmes had 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, Osun Osunniyi added 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks and the Bonnies (5-0) beat the Golden Eagles (5-1) to win the Charleston Classic in Charleston, South Carolina.

Osunniyi — who went into the game as the NCAA’s active leader in blocks per game (2.73) — made 8 of 10 from the field. Jalen Adaway had 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Kyle Lofton added 12 points, four assists and two steals.

FOOTBALL

TOP 25: Ohio State is No. 2 in The Associated Press poll, surging three spots past No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Cincinnati in a close vote.

Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank for the seventh consecutive week, but for the second week in a row, No. 2 has changed.

Alabama slipped past Cincinnati last week and then Ohio State leapfrogged them both after routing Michigan State 56-7 on Saturday. The Buckeyes received 1,434 points from the media panel. The Crimson Tide had 1,423 and the Bearcats got 1,416.

Notre Dame is up to a season-high No. 5 and Michigan will go into its game against Ohio State next Saturday ranked No. 6. The winner of Buckeyes-Wolverines will play in the Big Ten championship game.

FLORIDA: Florida fired coach Dan Mullen, a day after his sixth loss in nine games, two months after the Gators went toe to toe with defending national champion Alabama and a year after they had a chance to make the College Football Playoff.

Mullen’s stunning downfall and not-so-surprising departure ends a tumultuous two seasons that included mounting losses, numerous public relation missteps, NCAA sanctions and a victory against lower-division Samford that didn’t seem like much for Gators fans to celebrate.

Mullen finished 34-15 over four seasons at Florida that included a trip to the Southeastern Conference championship game last year and three New Year’s Six bowls.

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