Saylor Poffenbarger and Christina Dalce both had double-doubles as No. 7 Maryland overcame a 16-point deficit to beat host Purdue 78-69 in the Big Ten opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette, Ind.
Poffenbarger finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds while Dalce had 10 points and 11 boards for the Terrapins (10-0, 1-0 Big Ten). Bri McDaniel added 16 points off the bench, Kaylene Smikle scored 13 and Shyanne Sellers had 12.
Rashunda Jones powered Purdue (5-4, 0-1) with 17 points while Reagan Bass had 16 points and four rebounds.
Maryland was outscored 18-6 in the first quarter and fell behind by 16 in the second. McDaniel took over in the second half, hitting a jumper to cap off an 8-0 third-quarter run that gave the Terrapins their first lead of the game at 48-46. McDaniel scored 13 of her points in the second half in Maryland’s largest comeback win since 2019 (19 points).
No. 2 UConn 85, No. 22 Louisville 52
Sarah Strong had 21 points and eight rebounds as the Huskies rolled past the Cardinals in a neutral-site game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Strong, a freshman, made 8-of-10 shots from the floor and knocked down a trio of 3-pointers as UConn (8-0) remained undefeated. Azzi Fudd added 18 points before exiting the game with an apparent injury, but she did return to the bench and was seen laughing with Huskies coach Geno Auriemma. Ashlynn Shade chipped in 13 points, and Paige Bueckers had eight points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Imari Berry paced the Cardinals (5-4) with 10 points.
No. 6 USC 66, Oregon 53
Kiki Iriafen had 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Trojans notched a road victory over the Ducks, their former Pac-12 foes, to open Big Ten play for both teams in Eugene, Ore.
Juju Watkins led USC (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten) in scoring with 21 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Talia von Oelhoffen added 11 points and three rebounds. Oregon (7-3, 0-1) was led by Deja Kelly’s 16 points. Peyton Scott scored 13 points and Ari Long added 10 with five steals off the bench.
The Ducks jumped out to an early six-point lead and led 13-12 at the end of the first frame. In the second quarter, USC outscored Oregon 28-6 and never looked back, leading by as much as 22 points in the second half. USC won the rebounding margin 45-31 and logged all seven of the game’s blocked shots.
Tennessee 78, No. 17 Iowa 68
Talaysia Cooper scored 23 points to lead the Lady Vols to a win over the Hawkeyes on a neutral court at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Cooper shot 10-of-22 from the floor and also packed the box score with six rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals as Tennessee (7-0) remained undefeated under first-year coach Kim Caldwell. Ruby Whitehorn added 16 points, while Samara Spencer and Tess Darby each scored 11 apiece.
In its first loss under first-year coach Jan Jensen, Iowa (8-1) was led by Lucy Olsen’s 23 points. Addison O’Grady added 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Tennessee aggravated the Hawkeyes all game long, putting the defensive clamps on them and forcing them into an astounding 30 turnovers. It’s the first time Iowa has given away that many possessions since a Nov. 29, 2002, loss at North Carolina State.
Still, Iowa led by four points with 4:38 to play after a layup by Kylie Feuerbach. But then, beginning with a mid-range jumper by Cooper, the Lady Vols closed the game on a 14-2 run.
–Field Level Media
