Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes defends Kayla Jones of North Carolina State during the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Thursday in Bloomington, Ind. Darron Cummings/Associated Press
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Reserve Diamond Johnson scored 19 points, and No. 2 N.C. State used an 11-2 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 66-58 women’s basketball win over No. 6 Indiana on Thursday night.
Kayla Jones scored 15 points, Raina Perez had 13 and star center Elissa Cunane battled through foul trouble to score 11 for the Wolfpack (7-1), who haven’t lost since a season-opening defeat to No. 1 South Carolina.
Mackenzie Holmes of Gorham scored 24 points for Indiana (5-2), whose only two losses have come against teams ranked in the top 10. Ali Patberg added 10 points.
The Hoosiers led 23-21 at halftime and kept it close throughout, moving within 48-47 on Aleksa Gulbe’s 3-pointer with 3:44 remaining. But Jones responded with a 3 to start N.C. State’s decisive run, and the Wolfpack extended their lead to 59-49 on Perez’s two free throws with 53 seconds left.
(8) MARYLAND 82, MIAMI 74: Angel Reese had 26 points and 15 rebounds, Ashley Owusu scored 22 and the Terrapins (7-2) defeated the Hurricanes (4-3) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at College Park, Maryland.
(10) LOUISVILLE 70, (12) MICHIGAN 48: Emily Engstler had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Kianna Smith added 14 points and the Cardinals (6-1) used a 25-2 run over the first and second quarters to run past the Wolverines (7-1) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Louisville, Kentucky.
UTSA 61, (13) SOUTH FLORIDA 56: Terryn Milton scored 14 points to lead four in double figures and Texas-Arlington (5-2) upset South Florida (5-3) in Arlington, Texas.
(20) GEORGIA 66, TEXAS TECH 56: Que Morrison scored 20 points, Jenna Staiti had 12 points and nine rebounds, and the Bulldogs (7-0) beat the Red Raiders (6-2) in the Big 12/SEC Challenge at Lubbock, Texas.
(24) NOTRE DAME 76, MICHIGAN STATE 71: Freshman Sonia Citron scored a career-high 29 points, classmate Olivia Miles missed a triple-double by two assists and the Fighting Irish (7-1) edged the Spartans (6-3) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at East Lansing, Michigan.
(25) FLORIDA STATE 67, ILLINOIS 58: Morgan Jones scored 12 points with 10 rebounds, and the Seminoles (5-2) turned back the Illini (3-4) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Champaign, Illinois.
FOOTBALL
VIRGINIA: Coach Bronco Mendenhall is stepping down after the Cavaliers play their bowl game, ending his tenure at the school after six seasons.
The surprising announcement came in a news release and gave no explanation as to why the 55-year-old Mendenhall was leaving the school after a 6-6 regular season. There was no mention of retirement.
In a hastily organized conference call with reporters, Mendenhall said: “I need to step back from college football.”
He added: “This is 100 percent my choice.”
Mendenhall is 36-38 at Virginia, leading the Cavaliers to five straight bowl appearances and their only Atlantic Coast Conference title game appearance two years ago.
BOWL GAMES: The NCAA football oversight committee approved a waiver to the deadline for bowl certification so another game can be added to this season’s lineup, upping the number to 42 and ensuring all teams that finished 6-6 can play in the postseason.
The additional game, likely to be held in Texas, is a late replacement for a game that was scheduled to be played in San Francisco. The Redbox Bowl was canceled in early September.
After last Saturday’s games, there were 83 bowl eligible teams, not including Hawaii, which finished 6-7.
With 41 games, one eligible team would have been left out, most likely one from the MAC or C-USA. Now, all the 6-6 teams can participate and there will be room for Hawaii, too. NCAA rules allow 6-7 teams to be eligible for bowl selection if there are no available 6-6 teams.
Having Hawaii eligible allows the Rainbow Warriors to play in the Hawaii Bowl.
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