BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Nicole Cardano-Hillary’s 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals led No. 10 Indiana to a 70-40 victory over Penn State in its opening Big Ten game on Monday night.

Mackenzie Holmes of Gorham scored 16 points and Ali Patberg added 15 for the Hoosiers (6-2), who shot over 50% from the field and were 6 for 14 from 3-point range, while the Lady Lions shot 33.9% from the field and made just two of 16 3-point attempts.

Cardano-Hillary, who missed all 10 of her shots against No. 2 N.C. State on Dec. 2, made three 3s on Monday.

Makenna Marisa led Penn State (4-5) with 21 points.

Indiana outscored Penn State 23-9 in the third quarter, including a 21-0 run lasting 7:40, to put the game out of reach.

After a slow first quarter that saw Indiana turn the ball over seven times, the Hoosiers settled in for the remainder of the game and finished with 16 turnovers.

Penn State had 22 turnovers, including nine forced on steals by Indiana. Three came from Cardano-Hillaryin the first half.

POLL: Tennessee is back in the top 10 of The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll for the first time in nearly three years.

The Lady Vols, who moved up two spots to No. 9, haven’t been in the top 10 since Dec. 31, 2018.

For years, Tennessee set the standard in the poll, appearing in the first 10 spots for 212 consecutive weeks from March 10, 1997, to Dec. 18, 2008. Only UConn has a longer streak in the history of the poll; the third-ranked Huskies were ranked in the top 10 this week for the 312th consecutive time.

South Carolina remained a unanimous No. 1, garnering all 30 votes from a national media panel. N.C. State was second, breaking a tie with UConn. Stanford and Baylor rounded out the top five.
Duke, LSU and Colorado all returned to the rankings this week for the first time in a few years. The Blue Devils, who upset then-No. 9 Iowa in the Big Ten/ACC challenge, joined at No. 19. It’s the first appearance in the Top 25 under Coach Kara Lawson, who took over the program last season.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

(14) HOUSTON 77, ALCORN STATE 45: Tramon Mark scored 18 points off the bench, Marcus Sasser had 17 points and a career-high six steals and host Houston (8-1) defeated Alcorn State (1-7).

Kyler Edwards finished with 12 points and seven rebounds and Josh Carlton had 12 points for the Cougars, who have won four in a row. Houston shot 47% overall.

Houston forced Alcorn State into 20 turnovers, which the Cougars turned into 30 points. During its winning streak, Houston is averaging over 30 points a game off turnovers.

The Cougars, who never trailed, won their 31st straight at home.

TEXAS SOUTHERN 69, (20) FLORIDA 54: Previously winless Texas Southern (1-7) stunned host Florida (6-2) behind PJ Henry’s 16 points and Joirdon Karl Nicholas’ perfect shooting performance.

Texas Southern became the first Southwestern Athletic Conference team to beat a ranked SEC program in The Associated Press poll era dating to 1936, ESPN Stats & Info said. Ranked SEC teams had been 51-0 against SWAC opponents.

It was the Gators’ first loss in 27 games against teams from the SWAC.

Nicholas finished with 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting. John Walker chipped in 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Tigers, an NCAA Tournament team last season.

POLL: Purdue is No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time.

The Boilermakers were a unanimous No. 1 in the poll to move up from No. 2 last week. Reigning national champion Baylor moved up to No. 2, with Duke, UCLA and Gonzaga rounding out the top five.

Purdue (8-0, 1-0 Big Ten) reached No. 2 in consecutive seasons under Gene Keady from 1986-88 and matched its previous high last week, receiving nine first-place votes from a 61-person media panel.