Lauren Betts has 23 points in No. 1 UCLA’s 73-62 win over Washington
SEATTLE (AP) — Lauren Betts had 23 point and top-ranked UCLA survived a late challenge with a 73-62 victory over Washington in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Kiki Rice added 18 for the undefeated Bruins (9-0, 1-0), who led by as many as 17 in the third quarter.
Elle Ladine led the Huskies (7-3, 0-1) with 19 points, going 3 for 5 from beyond the arc. Dalayah Daniels added 14 points.
Sayvia Sellers and Ladine hit back-to-back 3-pointer to close Washington’s deficit to 64-59 with 4:04 left. But the Bruins answered with a 7-0 run and were not threatened the rest of the way.
No. 3 SOUTH CAROLINA 85, No. 9 TCU 52
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Ashlyn Watkins had her third career dunk, MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 20 points and third-ranked South Carolina overwhelmed No. 9 TCU.
Te-Hina Paopao and Raven Johnson each added 11 points, and Chloe Kitts had 12 rebounds for the Gamecocks (9-1).
Hailey Van Lith had 21 points and six assists for the Horned Frogs (9-1), who finished their first week ever as a top 10 team with a lopsided loss against the reigning national champion. They had their second 9-0 start since coach Mark Campbell’s arrival after going 8-23 the year before that.
Watkins now has a dunk in each of her three seasons with South Carolina.
The 6-foot-3 junior forward had a steal from Madison Conner past midcourt late in the first quarter, then went the other way and dunked with her right hand ahead of 6-7 Sedona Prince trying to catch up to defend the shot.
NO. 4 TEXAS 93, JAMES MADISON 62
HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — Madison Booker scored 21 points, Jordan Lee added 20 and No. 4 Texas shook off its first loss of the season by routing James Madison.
Rori Harmon had 19 points, five assists and four rebounds for the Longhorns (8-1), who scored the most points ever for a visiting team in the 4-year-old Atlantic Union Bank Center.
Ro Scott scored 22 points for JMU (7-3) for her sixth straight game in double figures. But she was one of seven Dukes players with multiple turnovers in a game played in front of 3,361, the fourth-largest crowd for a women’s game at the venue.
No. 5 LSU 100, GRAMBLING 54
BOSSIER CITY, La. (AP) — Aneesah Morrow led all scorers with 26 points and controlled the boards with 16 rebounds, and No. 5 LSU dominated Grambling State with a win.
The game against Grambling State in the Brookshire Grocery Arena was a homecoming for sophomore starter Mikaylah Williams, who had 16 points for LSU. Flau’Jae Johnson added 20 points.
LSU (11-0) hit 100 on a Mjracle Sheppard jumper with 30 seconds to play, assisted by Jada Richard. LSU scored 58 points in the paint and 26 off turnovers.
Halima Salat led Grambling State (2-7) with 12 points, making 4 of 6 3-point attempts.
NO. 8 DUKE 81, VIRGINIA TECH 59
Toby Fournier scored a season-high 27 points and collected nine rebounds to lead No. 8 Duke to a victory over Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Fournier, a freshman forward, shot 12 of 17 from the floor in an off-the-bench effort to power the Blue Devils (9-2, 1-0 ACC). Oluchi Okananwa added 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Delaney Thomas chipped in 14 points. Reigan Richardson finished with just five points but dished out a career-high-tying seven assists.
Carleigh Wenzel paced the Hokies (7-3, 0-1) with 19 points, while Carys Baker had 11 points and six rebounds.
NO. 10 NOTRE DAME 93, SYRACUSE 62
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Sonia Citron had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Hannah Hidalgo had 24 points and 10 rebounds and No. 10 Notre Dame defeated Syracuse in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Olivia Miles added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Notre Dame (7-2, 1-0 ACC), which held Syracuse to 32% shooting.
Keira Scott had 16 points and Sophie Burrows added 13 to lead Syracuse (4-6, 0-1 ACC).
A lay-in by Georgia Wooley got the Orange to within eight points with under seven minutes to go in the third quarter, but Notre Dame went on an 18-2 run over the next five minutes to take control. The Fighting Irish took a 65-40 lead near the end of the third and extended it to 87-54 with under four to go.
Notre Dame outscored Syracuse 57-33 in the second half.
Syracuse led 24-23 on a lay-in by Scott with more than a minute gone in the second quarter, but the Orange failed to score for the next five minutes. Notre Dame scored the next eight to take a 31-24 lead and had a 36-29 advantage at halftime.
NO. 11 OKLAHOMA 110, ALABAMA STATE 46
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Skylar Vann scored a season-high 20 points and No. 11 Oklahoma ran its home-court win streak to 13 straight by steamrolling past Alabama State.
The Sooners played a home game for the first time in nearly a month and they took the lead for good less than 90 seconds into the contest after Vann and Payton Verhulst hit back-to-back 3-pointers. The last time Oklahoma lost a home game was December 22, 2023.
Oklahoma scores an average of 90.3 points per game and shot a tick under 59% against the Hornets (43 of 73), knocking down 16 of 37 from behind the three-point arc while amassing 30 assists on 43 made baskets. Eight players off the Sooners’ bench combined to score 55 points, paced by Aubrey Jones and Lexy Keys, who scored 14 and 11 points, respectively. Raegan Beers scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds and Verhulst hit 3 of 6 from distance and finished with 13 points with three assists and three steals.
Justina Graham was the lone Alabama State scorer to reach double figures, posting 10 points with four rebounds. The Hornets were held to 17-for-54 shooting from the field (17-for-54), including 5 of 19 from behind the arc.
No. 12 OHIO ST. 83, No. 21 ILLINOIS 74
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cotie McMahon scored a season-high 25 and No. 12 Ohio State stayed unbeaten with a victory over No. 21 Illinois in a Big Ten Conference opener.
McMahon made 7 of 12 shots with two 3-pointers and 9 of 12 free throws.
Taylor Thierry scored 14 on 5-for-7 shooting with two 3-pointers for Ohio State (8-0). Chance Gray scored 13.
Genesis Bryant hit four 3-pointers and scored 22 to lead the Fighting Illini (7-2). Kendall Bostic totaled 17 points and 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Jasmine Brown-Hagger added 14 points off the bench.
Thierry and McMahon scored six points each in the first quarter and Ohio State led 18-16.
No. 13 KANSAS ST. 89, TEXAS A&M 50
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Taryn Sides made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points off the bench, Zyanna Walker scored a career-high 17 and No. 13 Kansas State beat Texas A&M.
Sides tied her career high with seven rebounds and had six assists. Serena Sundell added 16 points and five assists for Kansas State (10-1) and Jaelyn Glenn scored 12.
The Wildcats have won five games in a row since a 73-62 loss to then-No. 13 Duke on Nov. 25 at the Ball Dawgs Classic.
Texas A&M (5-5) has lost 18 consecutive games against ranked opponents, dating to an 80-70 win over then-No. 16 Tennessee on Feb. 14, 2021.
Temira Poindexter hit a 3-pointer with 5:20 left in the first quarter that gave the Wildcats the lead for good at 7-5. After Aicha Coulibaly made 1 of 2 free throws on the other end, Poindexter and Sides hit 3s 30 seconds apart to cap a 17-2 run and Walker’s jumper as time expired gave Kansas State a 26-10 lead.
NO. 16 NORTH CAROLINA 72, COPPIN STATE 46
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Maria Gakdeng had 10 points and No. 16 North Carolina saw 12 players score in a victory over Coppin State.
Gakdeng made 5 of 6 shots for the Tar Heels (9-1), who improved to 5-0 at home.
Reniya Kelly made both of her 3-point attempts and Alyssa Ustby, Lexi Donarski and Indya Nivar all sank shots from beyond the arc as the Tar Heels took a 23-13 lead after one quarter.
Donarski made both of her 3-point tries in the second quarter and reserves Laila Hull and Ciera Toomey hit from distance as North Carolina built a 46-27 lead at halftime. The Tar Heels shot 56.7% overall in the first half and made 9 of 13 from 3-point range (69.2%). Donarski and Coppin State’s Tiffany Hammond led with nine points at intermission.
Angel Jones had five points in the third quarter as the Eagles scored 14 to match the Tar Heels. North Carolina outscored Coppin State 12-5 in the final period.
NO. 18 MISSISSIPPI 85, TENNESSEE STATE 38
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Madison Scott had 16 points, Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 15 and No. 18 Mississippi rolled to a victory over Tennessee State.
Scott made 7 of 12 shots with a 3-pointer and grabbed nine rebounds for the Rebels (6-3), who improved to 4-0 at home. Todd-Williams made 4 of 10 shots with a 3-pointer and all six of her free throws, adding seven rebounds.
Sira Thienou and reserve Rhema Collins both scored 12 for Ole Miss.
XaiOnna Whitfield had 10 points to lead the Tigers (4-6), who fell to 1-6 on the road. Somah Kamara scored nine on 3-for-15 shooting.
Scott made all three of her shots and scored seven first-quarter points to help Ole Miss race out to a 23-8 lead. Scott had 12 points in 13 minutes of play by halftime and the Rebels led 44-19.
Ole Miss outscored the Tigers 41-19 in the second half.
NO. 20 IOWA STATE 82, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 56
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Audi Crooks had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Addy Brown added 18 points, as No. 20 Iowa State rolls past Central Michigan.
Emily Ryan added 12 points, six assists and six steals for Iowa State (8-2).
Jayda Mosley scored 11 points and Madi Morson and Ayanna-Sarai Darrington 10 each for the Chippewas (3-6).
The Cyclones took a 15-3 lead in the first 4 1/2 minutes of play and a 12-0 run later in the first quarter had them up 27-9. They led 31-13 at the end of the quarter.
A layup by Brown gave Iowa State a 47-20 lead with 3 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter before Central Michigan scored eight of the next 10 points to make it 49-28 at halftime.
Crooks and Brown scored eight points each in the third quarter and the Cyclones shot 59% to increase their lead to 70-41 heading to the final quarter. Iowa State cooled off in the fourth quarter, shooting 36% to finish at 53% for the game.
NO. 23 MICHIGAN 60, NORTHWESTERN 54
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Olivia Olson scored 18 points, Jordan Hobbs added 16 and No. 23 Michigan used a strong fourth quarter to turn back Northwestern in the Big Ten opener for both.
Olson scored the first eight points and Syla Swords added a layup in a 10-0 run that rallied Michigan from a four-point deficit to a 50-44 lead with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats then strung together three 3-pointers and led 53-52 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining before Hobbs hit a layup and a jumper for a 56-53 Michigan lead. Hobbs added a layup near the 2-minute mark for a 58-54 lead. After the teams traded misses, Michigan’s Mila Holloway, who finished with 10 points, hit a turnaround jumper with 26 seconds left for the final margin.
Michigan outscored Northwestern 20-10 in the fourth quarter.
NO. 24 MICHIGAN STATE 89, DEPAUL 61
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Jaddan Simmons scored 18 points, Julia Ayrault added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 24 Michigan State blew past DePaul, improving to 9-0 for the first time in program history.
Emma Shumate scored 12 points and Jocelyn Tate had 10 points for the Spartans. Grace VanSlooten had four of MSU’s 14 blocks. Michigan State had 24 assists on 31 baskets.
The Spartans outshot the Blue Demons 47%-22% in the first half and led 42-25 at halftime. The lead peaked at 32 when Kennedy Blair converted a three-point play for an 89-57 lead with 2 minutes remaining in the game.
Jorie Allen had 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for DePaul (3-7). Grace Carstensen also scored 15 and Taylor Johnson-Matthews added 10 points.
NO. 25 NEBRASKA 84, MINNESOTA 65
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Amiah Hargrove came off the bench to hit back-to-back 3-pointers and eight straight points as No. 25 Nebraska built a 16-point lead after a quarter and rolled to a win over previously unbeaten Minnesota in a Big Ten Conference opener.
The Cornhuskers (8-1) were dominant on the boards, outrebounding the Golden Gophers 49-30 while amassing 22 assists on their 31 made baskets in the wire-to-wire win.
Minnesota (10-1) came into the game as the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten while earning votes in the women’s Top 25 poll but had difficulty getting untracked against its first ranked opponent, finishing the first half with just 19 points.
The Huskers got exactly half their offensive output from the bench. Alberte Rimdal led the effort, hitting 4 of 8 from the field, including 2 of 5 from stance, to score 12 points while dishing six assists. Starters Alexis Markowski and Callin Hake each scored 11 points and Markowski grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Hargrove finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Britt Prince had her string of five-straight double-digit scoring efforts stopped, finishing with seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.