NASSAU, Bahamas — Cameron Brink had 21 points, 22 rebounds and five blocks to help seventh-ranked Stanford edge No. 4 Indiana 69-66 on Thursday at the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship tournament.
Brink, who set a career high on the boards, also added five assists for the Cardinal (4-1) and made one of two free throws with 6.8 seconds left to make it a three-point game.
Indiana had one last chance, but Ali Patberg’s 3-pointer was off the mark.
With the Cardinal clinging to a 61-59 lead with 4:33 left, Brink scored to start a 6-0 run that gave the Cardinal an eight-point lead with 2:19 to go. The Hoosiers (4-1) had gone without a field goal for 5:19 before Aleksa Gulbe swished a 3-pointer from the wing with 37.5 seconds left that made it 68-66.
Indiana got a stop on the defensive end when Brink turned it over with 13.2 seconds remaining. The Hoosiers had a chance to tie it, but Grace Berger missed both free throws with 8.7 seconds left after she was fouled.
Brink the made 1 of 2 free throws, setting up the Hoosier’s final chance.
Patberg had 19 points to lead Indiana.
Gorham’s Mackenzie Holmes had six points and 10 rebounds.
(5) N.C. STATE 78, (2) MARYLAND 60: Elissa Cunane scored 20 points, making eight of her nine shots from the field, to help North Carolina State (5-1) run past Maryland (6-1) at the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship tournament at Nassau, Bahamas.
Diamond Johnson added 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Wolfpack.
The game was played at the Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas in a converted ballroom complete with a low ceiling and a raised stage right off midcourt. There were bleachers behind the two benches for fans.
(6) BAYLOR 86, FORDHAM 45: NaLyssa Smith had 19 points and 15 rebounds, Jordan Lewis added 15 points with six assists and Baylor (4-1) rallied in the second half to beat Fordham (3-2) at the Cancun Challenge.
Sarah Andrews and Ja’Mee Asberry each scored 10 points for Baylor. Smith, who was 8 of 16 from the field, secured her fourth consecutive double-double of the season. Queen Egbo was 0 for 9 from the field but grabbed eight boards.
Kendell Heremaia scored all 14 of her points in the first half for Fordham. She left the game with an apparent knee injury with 8:20 left in the fourth.
(9) ARIZONA 48, VANDERBILT 46: Shaina Pellington hit an off-balance layup at the buzzer to lift Arizona (5-0) past pesky Vanderbilt (3-3) in the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament.
With the game tied at 46, Arizona put the ball in Pellington’s hands. She drove from the left wing and her off-balance scoop layup dropped in just before the horn sounded.
(22) WEST VIRGINIA 65, PURDUE 57: Kirsten Deans scored 12 points with six assists, 10 of 11 Mountaineers scored and West Virginia (4-0) held off a tough challenge from Purdue (4-2) at the St. Pete Showcase.
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(4) KANSAS 71, NORTH TEXAS 59: Ochai Agbaji had 18 points and Christian Braun added 16 as Kansas (4-0) beat North Texas (2-2) in the first round of the ESPN Events Invitational at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Agbaji became the 63rd player to reach 1,000 points in Kansas history when he hit a 3 to open the scoring 2 minutes into the game. The guard entered the game just one point away from the milestone.
(6) BAYLOR 69, VCU 61: Matthew Mayer scored 15 points to help Baylor (6-0) hold off VCU (3-3) in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Freshman Kendall Brown added 14 points for the reigning national champion Bears, who had to clean up a mistake-filled first half and keep the Rams at arm’s distance throughout the second half.
IONA 72, (10) ALABAMA 68: Nelly Joseph and Walter Clayton Jr. made key free throws in the final seconds to lift Iona (6-0) over Alabama (4-1) in an opening-round game at the ESPN Events Invitational at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Clayton got an offensive rebound and made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 70-68 with 20 seconds left. After Jahvon Quinerly missed a shot for Alabama, Joseph secured the win with two free throws with 9 seconds remaining.
(19) AUBURN 62, LOYOLA CHICAGO 53: Freshman Jabari Smith had 14 points to help Auburn (4-1) regroup from a double-overtime loss and beat Loyola Chicago (4-2) in the consolation round at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament at Paradise Island, Bahamas.
The Tigers held the Ramblers to just two field goals over an 11-minute span in the second half, building a 10-point margin heading into the final minutes.
MICHIGAN STATE 64, (22) UCONN 60: A.J. Hoggard hit the go-ahead free throws with 30.3 seconds left and Michigan State scored the game’s final nine points to push past No. 22 Connecticut 64-60 in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals at Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Gabe Brown scored 16 points for the Spartans (5-1), who blew a 14-point lead before halftime and shot just 32% after the break.
But Michigan State did enough to take back momentum after the Huskies had gone up 60-55 with 1:41 left and finally secure a spot in Friday’s championship game.
It was another tense finish for both teams after their first-round games had plenty of late-game drama – including two extra periods for the Huskies in a draining 115-109 win against No. 19 Auburn. But Michigan State’s defense came up with multiple critical stops late, holding the Huskies to 1-for-9 shooting in the final 3 minutes.
The final one came with the Huskies (5-1) getting a chance to tie. But after a long stretch of dribbling, Jalen Gaffney managed to fire up a tough straightaway 3 that fell short of everything.
Tyson Walker hit a clinching free throw with 2.5 seconds left to make it a two-possession game.
FOOTBALL
MICHIGAN STATE: Michigan State is giving Mel Tucker a $95 million, 10-year contract, making an aggressive move to keep a football coach who potentially could have left for LSU or the NFL.
The 12th-ranked Spartans (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) close the regular season against Penn State (7-4, 4-4) on Saturday at home.
Tucker’s contract establishes him as one of the riches coaches in college football.
Only Alabama’s Nick Saban, one of his mentors, who makes $9,753,221 a year, is paid more on an annual basis, according to the USA Today coaches’ salaries database.
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