Duke Plays Up to No. 1 Ranking

Duke, only two days after upsetting No. 1 Connecticut, had little time to enjoy its elevation to the top spot in the Associated Press women’s basketball poll Monday.

Alana Beard scored 19 points to set a school career scoring record, and Duke extended its streak of Atlantic Coast Conference victories to 45 by beating Florida State, 79-66, later in the day at Durham, N.C., in its first game this season as the nation’s top-ranked team.

Coach Gail Goestenkors said she was “a little surprised, actually,” that her Blue Devils, 11-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, leapfrogged No. 2 Texas Tech (14-0) and No. 3 Texas (12-1) in the rankings.

“I just assumed Texas Tech would move up,” she said before the Florida State game. “We understand how fragile those rankings are. We were No. 2 at the beginning of the season, and that lasted for a whole game.”

Beard surpassed the previous mark of 2,232 points by Chris Moreland (1985-89) and finished the game with 2,248 points.

Beard’s total moved her into third place all-time among ACC women behind Clemson’s Barbara Kennedy (3,113) and North Carolina State’s Linda Page (2,307).

Shante Williams led Florida State (7-6, 0-2) with 18 points.

Rice 87, No. 8 Louisiana Tech 84 -- Lauren Neaves scored three points in the final minute of overtime, and the Owls upset the Lady Techsters at Houston. Louisiana Tech (8-2, 1-1 Western Athletic Conference), which had trailed, 41-29, at halftime, led by as many as four points in overtime before the score was tied, at 82-82.

Neaves made the go-ahead free throw and followed with a field goal with 24 seconds to go. Tech’s Lakiste Barkus cut the margin to 85-84 before Eshombi Singleton and Elisa Inman made clinching free throws for the Owls (5-6, 1-1).

“They were a lot more physical than I thought they would be,” Neaves said. “I knew I had to fight back. I didn’t see any reason to be pushed around.”