NEW YORK (AP) — It was a week of firsts for Ohio and Georgia Tech.
The Bobcats went into Columbus on Sunday and beat Ohio State 74-68 for the first time in school history. Ohio had been winless in the previous 12 meetings with the last coming in 2004.
“This was a big win for us,” said Erica Johnson, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the win. “We wanted it. We went out and got it. It’s huge to be able to beat them and show we’re capable of beating them and we’re able to play with these big teams.”
Johnson had the first triple-double in school history last Sunday.
The Bobcats weren’t the only team to break a winless streak this week. Georgia Tech went into Athens and took down Georgia 73-40 for the first time ever in Stegeman Coliseum. The Yellow Jackets (3-0) have only won seven of the 42 meetings between the schools.
“I thought we came in here and played really well today after a slow start,” said coach Nell Fortner. “Georgia got out and came after us early. We didn’t shoot the ball well, but we kept our confidence. I thought our team showed a real toughness today to come into this setting, a place where Georgia Tech had never won before, and hang tough and eventually play well. I’m really proud of this bunch.”
Here are a few other things that happened this past week:
BIG EAST POWER: Fordham hosted a Big East/Atlantic 10 doubleheader on Sunday with the Rams facing Villanova and Seton Hall playing Saint Joseph’s. The two Big East teams came away with the victories.
Coach Stephanie Gaitley of Fordham was key in putting the games together.
“I am excited that we were able to put together a doubleheader of four very strong programs,” she said. “Little did I know it would be my coach’s swan song (Nova coach Harry Perretta). It will be a yearly four-year commitment with a yearly rotation. I appreciate the efforts by all the coaches to make this event a reality. It is a great showcase for women’s basketball.”
Gaitley gave a short tribute before the game to Perretta and also was honored herself for coaching in her 1,000th career game last weekend against Columbia.
The games will rotate between the four schools with Villanova expected to host next year.
“We have a lot of respect for the A-10. It’s just nice to be able to not have to worry about do I get another quality opponent,” Seton Hall coach Tony Bozzella said. “It was a good test for our kids. I like playing neutral site games. We play a lot of tournaments that are neutral sites.”
MILESTONES: Alabama coach Kristy Curry became just the second at the school to reach 100 victories with the Crimson Tide’s rout of Mercer on Sunday. She’s second behind Rick Moody, who had 311 wins in his 16 seasons. … Minnesota junior Destiny Pitts reached 1,000 points for her career. She’s the 25th Gopher to achieve that, doing so in 69 games — the ninth-quickest in program history. … Boise State senior guard Riley Lupfer set the school career 3-point record on Friday when she hit five against UAB. She passed Abby Vaughn’s mark of 260 set from 1999-20003. She’s fourth on the Mountain West conference list. … With 1,023 career victories, Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer tied UNC’s Sylvia Hatchell for fifth place all-time in NCAA women’s basketball coaching wins. She is also tied for fourth all-time in NCAA Division I coaching victories.
TIP-INS: San Jose State beat UC Santa Barbara marking the Spartans first non-conference road victory since beating Santa Clara in overtime on Nov. 28, 2017. … Michigan State improved to 3-0 with a road win against Notre Dame 72-69 on Thursday. It was the Spartans’ first win against the Irish since 2004 when current assistant coach Kristin Haynie was on the team. MSU earned the wire-to-wire win behind a career-high 28 points by sophomore guard Nia Clouden. She got the Spartans’ started with a career-high four 3-pointers in the first quarter. … Rutgers is 4-0 to start a season for the third consecutive year. The Scarlet Knights held their third straight opponent under 30 percent shooting to defeat Harvard, 74-46, on Sunday. Holding Harvard 17 points below its early season average, the Scarlet Knights have now held all four opponents under their scoring averages to start the year, and dating back to 34 of its last 36 since the beginning of 2018-19.
WHAT A DAY! Arizona junior Aari McDonald set the school record scoring 44 points in Arizona’s win over No. 22 Texas. She made 14 of 18 from the field and made all 14 of her free throw attempts. McDonald broke the mark she held with Davellyn Whyte of 39 points. Whyte did it in 2010 against Oregon and McDonald matched it against Loyola Marymount last season.
GONE MISSING: Texas Southern was forced to play in practice jerseys in its game against Oregon on Saturday night when a duffel bag containing the team’s uniforms was stolen from the hotel the Tigers were staying at.
COMEBACK KIDS: La Salle had some week. The Explorers rallied from 20-down at the half to stun Penn State on Sunday 69-67. That came a few days after the team trailed Harvard by 14 at the half before winning by six. That avenged a 45-point loss at Harvard last season.
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Follow Doug Feinberg on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg
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