Rice Upsets Louisiana Tech

Johnetta Hayes made the winning free throw with five seconds left, and Rice avenged a 46-point loss earlier this season by upsetting seventh-ranked Louisiana Tech, 57-56, Thursday night at Houston.

Rice (18-7, 12-4 Western Athletic Conference) led, 56-53, with 23 seconds left before a three-point basket by Brooke Lassiter tied the game with 17 seconds left.

Hayes was fouled on Rice’s next possession and made one of two free throws.

The Lady Techsters (19-4, 14-1) defeated the Lady Owls, 88-42, last month in Ruston.

Louisiana Tech is the highest-ranked team Rice has ever beaten.

In other games:

Kara Lawson scored 24 points as No. 4 Tennessee (23-3, 12-1 Southeastern) rolled to an 86-69 victory over Mississippi (11-15, 3-10) at Oxford, Miss., to win its fifth consecutive conference title.... Alana Beard scored 22 points as No. 5 Duke (23-3, 15-0 Atlantic Coast) scored an 88-55 victory over Florida State (13-13, 4-11) at Durham, N.C.... Chantelle Anderson scored 28 points as No. 6 Vanderbilt (23-6, 9-4 Southeastern) earned an easy 73-57 victory over Kentucky (8-18, 1-12) at Lexington, Ky....Shereka Wri- ght scored 21 points as No. 8 Purdue (22-4, 13-3) clinched the Big Ten championship with a 64-58 victory over Penn State at West Lafayette, Ind....LaKeisha Johnson scored 13 second-half points as Auburn (15-11, 3-10 Southeastern) scored a 67-49 upset of No. 10 South Carolina 921-5, 9-4) at Auburn, Ala.... Lindsay Whalen scored 21 points as No. 14 Minnesota (21-5, 10-4 Big Ten) held on for a 76-74 victory over Wisconsin (17-9, 8-7) at Minneapolis.... Vanessa Hayden scored 21 points and grabbed 20 rebounds as No. 16 Florida (18-8, 8-5 Southeastern) scored a 64-58 victory over Arkansas (16-10, 6-7) at Gainesville, Fla....Coretta Brown scored 22 points to lead No. 19 North Carolina (22-6, 11-4 ACC) to a 78-68 victory over Virginia (15-11, 8-7) at Charlottesville, Va....Freshman Kara Braxton scored 23 points as No. 23 Georgia (18-8, 6-7 Southeastern) rallied for a 73-62 victory over Alabama (16-10, 6-7) at Athens, Ga.