Tonie Morgan pumped in 23 points and reserve Dani Carnegie scored 22 points as No. 25 Georgia Tech remained unbeaten by defeating No. 14 North Carolina 82-76 on Sunday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Yellow Jackets (11-0, 1-0 ACC) were in control in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams, leading 66-45 after three quarters. Kara Dunn finished with 13 points, Kayla Blackshear posted 12 and Zoesha Smith had 10 for Georgia Tech, which shot 51.7 percent from the field and 16-for-18 on free throws.
Maria Gakdeng scored 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field for North Carolina (10-2, 0-1), which only lost previously to No. 2 Connecticut. Indya Nivar had 16 points while Reniya Kelly and Lexie Donarski each added 15, but the Tar Heels had a 41-24 rebounding deficit.
North Carolina trailed by as many as 23 and made the result look closer with a 7-2 run in the final 13 seconds.
No. 2 UConn 79, Georgetown 44
The Huskies bounced back from a loss to Notre Dame by rolling in the Big East Conference opener for both teams in Hartford, Conn., behind Paige Bueckers’ 24 points.
Bueckers shot 11-for-16 from the floor. Sarah Strong added 17 points and 14 rebounds for UConn (9-1, 1-0), which led 40-19 at halftime.
Ariel Jenkins scored 12 points for Georgetown (6-5, 0-1), which made 26.3 percent (15-of-57) of its shots from the field and was charged with 22 turnovers.
No. 3 South Carolina 78, South Florida 62
Joyce Edwards scored 15 points off the bench and the Gamecocks benefitted from 51.7 percent shooting from the field in Columbia, S.C.
Sania Feagin added 14 points, while Chloe Kitts, Te-Hina Paopao and Ashlyn Watkins all had 10 for South Carolina (10-1).
The Gamecocks used a 21-10 third-quarter edge after holding a 43-31 halftime lead. Sammie Puisis scored 19 points to lead South Florida (5-6), which has lost four of its last five.
No. 4 LSU 85, Louisiana 57
Jersey Wolfenbarger and the undefeated Tigers took control in the second quarter and cruised past the Ragin’ Cajuns in a nonconference victory in Baton Rouge, La.
Wolfenbarger led LSU (12-0) with 18 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks and was among five Tigers scorers in double figures. Aneesah Morrow added 15 points and 15 boards and Kailyn Gilbert chipped in 14 points. Flau’Jae Johnson, the ninth-leading scorer in the nation at 22 points per game entering the day, finished with 11.
Tamiah Robinson finished with 15 points and Erica Lafayette 12 for Louisiana, but both players went just 5-for-12 from the floor. Louisiana shot 35.5 percent and made 7 of 21 3-point attempts.
No. 5 Southern California 88, Elon 30
The start of the nonconference game in Los Angeles was delayed briefly by a power outage, but JuJu Watkins and the Trojans had no trouble dominating the Phoenix from the outset.
Watkins, who began the day third in Division I in scoring with 24.6 points per game, finished with 26, albeit on 7-for-18 shooting. She added five rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. The Trojans (10-1) held the Phoenix to six points in each of the first two quarters, and the rout was on.
Hannah Dereje led Elon with 10 points and seven rebounds. She hit 4 of 10 shots from the floor and the Phoenix finished at 21.2 percent, including 2 of 13 on 3-point attempts. USC hit 46.6 percent of its shots and 4 of 21 from deep.
No. 6 Texas 65, Richmond 54
Madison Booker’s 25 points and 11 rebounds led the Longhorns in Richmond, Va.
Taylor Jones added 10 points as Texas (10-1) won despite shooting 2-for-12 on 3-pointers.
Rachel Ullstrom’s 20 points led the Spiders (9-2), who were charged with 24 turnovers. Addie Budnik added 12 points and Maggie Doogan had 10.
No. 8 Notre Dame 118, Eastern Michigan 49
Hannah Hidalgo made 10-of-14 shots from the field en route to 27 points, and there was no letdown for the Irish a South Bend, Ind., a few days after defeating previously undefeated Connecticut.
Emma Risch racked up 23 points, aided by 7-for-9 shooting on 3s, and fellow reserve Cassandre Prosper had 20 points. Notre Dame (9-2) shot 67.6 percent from the field, including 16-for-24 from 3-point range. Olivia Miles added 17 points and eight assists and Laitu King provided 15 points and 15 rebounds.
Olivia Smith’s 13 points off the bench were tops for Eastern Michigan (1-6), which shot just 28.8 percent from the field.
No. 10 Oklahoma 94, Oral Roberts 54
The Sooners spread their points around in routing the Golden Eagles in the nonconference mismatch in Norman, Okla.
Raegan Beers collected 14 points, 10 rebounds and three steals for Oklahoma (9-1). Zya Vann added 14 points off the bench, which supplied the same number of points — 47 — as the starters. Payton Verhulst chipped in 12 points and nine boards, and Sahara Williams had 11 and seven, respectively.
Ruthie Udoumoh led Oral Roberts (7-3) with 15 points and Jalei Oglesby netted 14. That duo hit 12 of their 21 shots, but the rest of the team made 8 of 42 as the Golden Eagles finished at 31.7 percent from the floor and 3 of 20 on 3-point attempts. The Sooners shot 44 percent from the floor, including 9 of 33 from deep.
No. 12 TCU 92, Louisiana Tech 41
The Horned Frogs shot 53.8 percent from the floor and dominated the Lady Techsters in rebounding 46-22 in the nonconference blowout in Fort Worth, Texas.
Hailey Van Lith made 7 of 10 shots overall, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, to lead TCU with 23 points. Madison Conner added 18 points off the bench, and Sedona Prince chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds. The Horned Frogs (10-1) trailed by two points in the first three minutes of the game but scored the final 16 points of the first quarter. They were ahead by 30 at halftime.
Paris Bradley netted 15 points and Jianna Morris 11 for Louisiana Tech (5-4), which managed only 28 percent from the floor.
No. 15 West Virginia 68, Temple 46
Kyah Watson posted a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double and led five Mountaineers in double figures in scoring to beat the Owls in Philadelphia.
Celia Riviere had 12 points, Jordan Harrison (three 3-pointers) and JJ Quinerly both had 11 and Sydney Shaw supplied 10. The Mountaineers (10-1), despite 18 turnovers, pulled away from a 31-21 halftime lead.
Tiarra East had 15 points, going 3-for-13 from the field with all her baskets from 3-point range for Temple (5-4). The Owls, who shot 24.2 percent from the floor, fell to 1-3 at home.
No. 17 Michigan State 68, No. 21 Iowa 66
Nyla Hampton scored all 13 of her points in the fourth quarter and the Spartans hung on to edge the Hawkeyes in East Lansing, Mich., in the Big Ten opener for each team.
Julia Ayrault led Michigan State (10-0, 1-0 Big Ten) with 19 points and Grace VanSlooten added 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals, but they gave way to Hampton, who netted all but six of Michigan State’s points in the fourth.
Hannah Stuelke paced Iowa (9-2, 0-1) with 18 points and eight rebounds. Lucy Olsen put up 13 points but hit only 4 of 17 shots from the field and was responsible for seven of the Hawkeyes’ 23 turnovers. Kylie Feuerbach chipped in 12 points.
No. 18 Iowa State 87, Eastern Illinois 55
Audi Crooks poured in 30 points, on 12-for-16 shooting from the field and 6-for-6 from the foul line, as the Cyclones cruised past the visiting Panthers in Ames, Iowa.
Crooks notched her third 30-point game of the season and Addy Brown added 20 points and 11 rebounds for Iowa State (8-3), which outshot Eastern Illinois 53.4 percent to 32.8 percent and had 26 assists on 31 made field goals. The Cyclones led by as many as 36.
For Eastern Illinois (3-6), Macy McGlone led the way with 14 points and eight rebounds before fouling out. Alex Rouse scored 13 points and Sydney-James Desroches had 12.
No. 22 North Carolina State 72, Louisville 42
Freshman Zamareya Jones poured in 18 points off the bench in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams in Louisville, Ky.
Jones was 3-for-3 on 3-pointers, while Louisville was 2-for-28.
Saniya Rivers had 14 points and Zoe Brooks and Aziaha James had 11 apiece for the Wolfpack (8-3, 1-0), who led 19-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Louisville (6-5, 0-1) was held to a season-low point total in its sixth consecutive loss to NC State. Nyla Harris and Olivia Cochran both scored eight points.
No. 22 Ole Miss 94, South Alabama 39
Freshman Sira Thienou scored a season-high 23 points and added seven rebounds as the Rebels pulled away from a close first quarter to eviscerate the nonconference opponent Jaguars in Oxford, Miss.
Starr Jacobs followed with 15 points and seven boards and Christeen Iwuala and Rhema Collins netted 10 points apiece for Ole Miss (7-3), which outscored South Alabama 23-3 in the second period. Collins also had three steals as the Rebels forced 30 turnovers and turned them into 37 points.
Daniela Gonzalez led the Jaguars (3-6) with 13 points and two steals, but she also had six turnovers.
No. 24 Nebraska 66, Chattanooga 42
Alexis Markowski scored 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field and grabbed eight rebounds in a nonconference victory in Lincoln, Neb.
Callin Hake had 10 points for the Cornhuskers (10-1), who made nine 3-point baskets. Nebraska, which improved to 9-0 at home, outscored Chattanooga 37-22 in the second half.
Caia Elisaldez and Ava Card both scored 10 points for the Mocs (4-8).
–Field Level Media