Story courtesy of Gatorzone.com
Gainesville, FL - Junior All-American Vanessa Hayden (Orlando, FL) led a balanced scoring attack, pacing the University of Florida women’s basketball team to a 70-59 victory over USF on Sunday in front of 3,073 at the O’Connell Center.

Hayden, who contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds in addition to six blocks, recorded her second double-double of the year and the 28th of her career.

Sunday’s victory was UF’s 12th consecutive over USF (0-2) and marked the Gator’s 40th straight win over a team from the Sunshine State. Florida puts that intrastate streak on the line again on Tue., Nov. 26, when the Gators (2-0) play host to rival Florida State (2-0) at 7 p.m.

Florida built a 32-24 halftime lead and carried that momentum into the second half, allowing only three USF baskets in the first 11 minutes, as the Gators went on an 8-0 run to establish a 23-point lead (58-32) with 9:02 remaining in the game.

But the Bulls stormed back behind a furious 19-4 run to close the gap to eight (62-54) with 2:37 left in the game. Freshman Dalila Esha (Tallahassee, FL) converted a driving layup to stop the run and give the Gators a 10-point cushion for the remainder of the game. In the final 1:31 of the contest, UF went 6-for-6 from the free throw line to secure the victory. The Gators hit 21-of-28 free throws for the game, while the Bulls sank 20-of-32.

USF struggled from the floor, shooting a mere 24.7 percent (18-of-73), including a 22.5 percent effort in the second half.

Freshmen Sarah Lowe (Wynnewood, PA) and Danielle Santos (Marietta, GA) chipped in 10 points apiece. Fellow freshman Bernice Mosby (Brooksville, FL) flirted with a double-double for the second straight game, contributing nine points and eight rebounds.

"You have to give USF a lot of credit because they were a team that would not go away," Peck said. "I also have to give our team a lot of credit for the tenacity that they showed. Sarah Lowe picked up two early fouls and we did not have Tara (Taylor), Tishona (Gregory) or Courtney (Cooper) available to help us out, but our bench stepped in and made a difference. Everyone contributed and gave us sparks at different times which helped us keep our lead."

The Gators steadily pressed through the opening minutes, using a 10-0 run to pull away from the Bulls 19-9, after both teams fought through an evenly balanced start. Hayden (Orlando, Fla.) led all scorers in the first-half with 10 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Sophomore Tamia Williams (West Palm Beach, Fla.) had four of Florida's seven steals in the first half while scoring seven points, ending the game with nine points, four steals and three assists.

Sarah Lochmann was the lone Bull scoring in double-figures, tallying a game-high 26 points with 14 rebounds.

LSU 93, Southeastern Louisiana 52

HAMMOND, La. – LSU’s third-ranked Lady Tigers basketball team outscored Southeastern Louisiana 53-20 in the second half and pulled out a 93-52 victory on Sunday afternoon at SLU’s University Center.

After holding a 40-32 lead at halftime, the Lady Tigers (2-0) jumped out early in the second half with a 16-6 run that gave them a 24-point lead. The lead did not drop below 21 the rest of way as LSU finished the game on a 22-2 run, which included a SLU (1-1) scoring drought of over 10 minutes.

“We asked the players in the locker room at halftime to make a commitment defensively,” LSU head coach Sue Gunter said. “We felt like if we could do it defensively it would carry over to the offense. But give some credit to Southeastern. They shoot the three extremely well. We were defending the heck out of them, but the shots were still falling.”

LSU’s defense forced 22 turnovers and held the Lady Lions to 36.2 percent shooting from the floor, including just 29.6 percent in the second half.

The first half was a different story. LSU did jump out to an early 18-8 lead, but SLU used a 7-2 run to get back into it and pulled even at 28-28 before the Lady Tigers finished the half on 8-2 run.

All 13 players played for LSU and 12 scored at least two points. Freshman Seimone Augustus led the way with 17 points on eight of 10 shooting, while DeTina White and Temeka Johnson each added 12 points. Ke-Ke Tardy and Roneeka Hodges each scored 10 points off the bench and Wendlyn Jones had six points and a game-high eight rebounds off the bench as well.

“We are going to have to do this,” Gunter said about going deep into her bench. “We are going to need about 10 or 11 players that are going to have to play for us going down the stretch. I was very please that we could work these people into the lineup tonight. This is going to be a pattern that we are going to have to use.”

Melissa Williams led SLU with 12 points on four three-point baskets. Tish Guy added 10 points and seven assists for the Lady Lions.

The Lady Tigers shot 56.5 percent from the floor, including hitting 24 of 38 (63.2%) shots in the second half. LSU outrebounded SLU 43-26 with all 13 players grabbing at least one board and the Lady Tigers dished out 28 assists and collected 10 blocks in the game.

LSU is back in action Monday when they host Florida Atlantic in the home opener at the Maravich Assembly Center at 7 p.m. CST. It will be the third game in four days for the Lady Tigers.

South Carolina 83, College of Charleston 54

JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ Minutes after she lit up College of Charleston for a career-high 45 points, Jocelyn Penn smiled and shrugged her shoulders when asked to judge her performance.

``I don't know what to say,'' she said.

That's because Penn's game spoke for itself as the Gamecocks (2-0) beat the Cougars 83-54 on Sunday night.

She added 10 rebounds and seven steals, both just four shy of career-highs. Penn shot 18-of-26 from the field and hit nine of 14 free throws.

Her 45 points was the second-best performance ever for the Gamecocks, topped only by Shannon Johnson's 50 points against Appalachian State on Jan. 31, 1996.

``I think she'll break that record'' before the end of the season, South Carolina coach Susan Walvius said after the game.

Wilma Simpson was the top scorer for the Cougars (0-2) with 13 points. Allison Reiger and Patrice Bryant each added 10 points, while Shanna Mickens had seven assists for Charleston.

Cristina Ciocan, who set a career-best of her own with 23 points in Friday night's 72-58 win over Clemson, went back to dishing out the ball, making 11 assists and scoring just five points after having her hand taped following a collision. Petra Ujheyli had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Gamecocks.

But Sunday night was without a doubt Penn's game.

``I don't think very many people will have an answer for Jocelyn,'' Walvius said.

Charleston certainly didn't. Penn had 20 points at halftime, but didn't let up, continuing to make great plays even with the game well in hand.

With South Carolina's 24-point lead at halftime cut down to a 49-34 advantage, Penn tried to trap a Charleston player on the baseline. When the Cougar passed out of the triple-team, Penn flew back down the court, making a steal near the other baseline and saving the ball back into play in one motion.

Or how about with the Cougars making three-straight 3-pointers in a run that cut South Carolina's lead to 57-35 with 12:25 to go, Penn driving the ball in the lane, rebounding her own misses twice before getting fouled.

Penn also ended the Cougars' last run. With Charleston trailing by 18, Penn stole a pass, drove down the court, and hit a lay-up as she was fouled. She made the free throw for her 33rd point, one better than her previous best set against Arkansas last season.

``She gets them all by herself,'' Walvius said. ``You don't even have to pass it to her.''

The men's game that took place before drew 14,922 fans, nearly 3,000 less than the state-record crowd for the women's game on Friday night. But only 2,512 of them stayed for the later Sunday game, and even more had hit the doors by halftime. That let the cleaning crew get a jump on picking up trash in the Carolina Center's upper deck.

Tennessee 55, Duke 76

By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. - Alana Beard had 22 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals to power the top-ranked Blue Devils over No. 2 Tennessee 76-55 Sunday in the inaugural women's Jimmy V Classic.

It was the 35th meeting of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in women's college basketball. Tennessee, with six national titles, has been involved in 19 such matchups and dropped to 4-6 when ranked second.

"This was a great opportunity for us to show the nation that we were here to play," said Duke coach Gail Goestenkors, whose team won its opener over East Carolina by 62 points Friday. "This hopefully proves to people that not only were we here to play, but we're here to stay."

Iciss Tillis added 17 points for Duke, on 7-for-10 shooting.

"Going into the game we had a lot of doubters," Tillis said. "There were a lot of people who believed that we did not deserve to be No. 1. Knowing that gave us a lot of motivation. We wanted to go out and prove it."

Tennessee (1-1) turned the ball over 23 times and shot 21 percent in the second half, shooting just 6-for-29. Gwen Jackson led the Lady Vols with 12 points.

"We're extremely disappointed and embarrassed by our lack of competitiveness," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "It was glaring.

"The one thing you learn about a basketball team right off is what happens when things are not going well," Summitt added. "Our turning the basketball over was atrocious at times. All I can tell you is Duke deserves to be the No. 1 ranked team in the country and Tennessee obviously doesn't look to be second-best. We have an awful lot to learn."

Tennessee hasn't had much luck recently in big games against the Blue Devils in North Carolina. Duke (2-0) broke Tennessee's string of three straight NCAA championships with a 69-63 win in the East Regional title game in 1999 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The Blue Devils took the first double-digit lead of the game at 44-32 four minutes into the second half. Tennessee started 0-for-7 from the field with three turnovers.

"They were able to take away our first option and we weren't able to go to our second, third or fourth options," said Tennessee point guard Kara Lawson. "Credit their defense for affecting us."

Beard had a follow shot and a free throw during Duke's 8-1 run to start the period.

Moments later Beard fed Tillis for a layup, and Tillis sank a 3-pointer for a 17-point lead with 13:54 left as Summitt called timeout to try to calm her reeling club.

Duke freshman Jessica Foley gave the Blue Devils a 20-point lead less than two minutes later with a 3-pointer from the wing.

Tennessee never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.

"I thought we played a great second half of basketball," Goestenkors said.

Summitt didn't disagree.

"They went after us and they went after this game," Summitt said.

Duke fell behind by five early on, but Beard keyed an 11-2 run with a bank shot and a pair of layups in a first half in which the All-American guard was a factor on both ends of the court.

The Lady Vols - who had 15 turnovers in their season-opening 26-point win over No. 22 Oklahoma - gave the ball up 12 times in the opening 20 minutes. Beard had four steals in the half.

"Coming into this game we wanted to be up in their face," Beard said. "We wanted to extend their offense and that's what we did. We put a lot of pressure on their guards."