Roper’s 30 points help Kentucky beat Winthrop

Tennessee bounces back from its first loss of season

LEXINGTON, Ky, Dec 12, (AP): Jaida Roper scored 15 of her career-high 30 points in the first quarter and No. 14 Kentucky beat Winthrop 91-36 on Wednesday night.

Roper, whose previous career best was 15 points, made 12 of 13 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. Blair Green had a career-high 13 points and Rhyne Howard, who did not play in the second half, scored 12 points for the Wildcats (10-0).

Roper and Howard each hit three of Kentucky’s eight first-quarter 3-pointers to make it 32-12 going into the second and the Eagles got no closer the rest of the way.

The Wildcats had 14 steals and forced a season-high 35 turnovers – including 23 in the first half – which they turned into 46 points. Kentucky made 13 of 23 (56.5%) from 3-point range and shot 52.4% (33 of 63) overall.

Kem Nwabudu led Winthrop (16) with nine points. The Eagles, who have lost five in a row, shot just 30% (14 of 47) from the field and made 2 of 12 (17%) from behind the arc.

DePaul 105, Notre Dame 94

In South Bend, Ind, Sonya Morris scored 29 points and hit a career-best five of DePaul’s 16 3-pointers and the No. 16 Blue Demons pulled away late in their 105-94 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday night.

DePaul (8-1) has won six games in a row overall and snapped its 11game skid against the Irish.

Deja Church and Chante Stonewall had 20 points apiece, Lexi Held scored 17 and Kelly Campbell added 12 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists for the Blue Demons. It was a career-high for Church, who started every game as a sophomore for Michigan last season and was granted immediate eligibility at DePaul by the NCAA.

Sam Brunelle made back-to-back baskets to pull Notre Dame (5-7) within a point with six minutes left in the game but Held sandwiched two of her four 3s around to free throws by Campbell to make it 97-88 two minutes later. The Fighting Irish scored six of the next eight points to make it a five-point game with 2:27 left but then committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions.

Brunelle led Notre Dame with a career-high 31 points on 13-of-18 shooting. The 6-foot-2 freshman forward was questionable for Wednesday’s game after leaving Sunday’s 81-57 loss to then-No. 4 UConn early in the second half due to a left knee injury.

Freshman Anaya Peoples had season highs with 22 points and 15 rebounds and Katlyn Gilbert scored 16 for the Fighting Irish. Graduate transfers Destinee Walker (North Carolina) and Marta Sniezek (Stanford) had 20 points and 12 assists, respectively.

DePaul made 16 of 29 (55%) from 3-point range, including 8 of 12 in the second half.

Arkansas 91, Tulsa 41 In Fayetteville, Ark, Alexis Tolefree had 20 points, A’tyanna Gaulden and Erynn Barnum scored 14 each, and No. 21 Arkansas ran away from Tulsa 91-41 on Wednesday night.

Tolefree remained hot from 3-point distance, making 6 of 10. She has made 13 of 22 3-pointers over the last three games. Barnum, a redshirt freshman forward, had her first career double-double, adding 12 rebounds to her 14 points.

PSG’s Kylian Mbappe (right), challenges for the ball with Galatasaray’s Ryan Donk during the Champions League, Group A soccer match between PSG and Galatasaray, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on Dec 11. (AP)

Tulsa was hurt by a 9-minute, 15 second scoring drought in the first half. After the game was tied at 2, Arkansas went on an 18-0 run and Tulsa failed to score until Addison Richards made a layup with 7:43 remaining in the second quarter. A 3-pointer by Gaulden capped the first-half scoring with Arkansas leading 41-16.

The Golden Hurricane (3-7) missed all 16 of their 3-point attempts and shot 28% from the field overall. Arkansas (9-1) made 11 of 32 3-pointers and finished at 44% shooting overall. Arkansas had more bench points (46) and points in the paint (42) than Tulsa had total points.

Richards and KK Rodriguez scored 9 points each for Tulsa. Kendrian Elliott had 11 rebounds.

Tolefree had a quiet first half, scoring two points. The second half was a different story as she made 6 of 8 3-pointers and scored 18 points. Three of her 3-pointers came in the first 3½ minutes of the third quarter as the Razorbacks had a 13-2 run to extend their lead to 36 points. The margin first reached 50 points, 84-34, with 2:49 to go in the game. Tennessee 79, Colorado State 41 In Knoxville, Tenn, Rennia Davis had 23 points and 11 rebounds as No. 23 Tennessee bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 79-41 blowout of cold-shooting Colorado State on Wednesday.

Tennessee (8-1) was playing three nights after falling 66-60 to Texas as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Colorado State (5-6) attempted two-thirds of its shots from 3-point range and spent most of the night misfiring. The Rams shot 18.2% (8 of 44) on 3-point attempts and 21.2% (14 of 66) overall.

Davis increased her career scoring total to 1,009 and became the 46th player in Lady Vols history to reach the 1,000-point mark.

Jazmine Massengill scored a career-high 16 points, Tamari Key had 11 and Jordan Horston added 10 for Tennessee. Horston also had 14 points and seven assists.

Megan Jacobs had 10 points to lead Colorado State, which lost its third straight.

This marked the last of six straight home games for Tennessee, which will head west to face No. 1 Stanford on Dec 18 and Portland State on Dec 21.