No. 6 Notre Dame beats North Carolina-Wilmington
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Jewell Loyd and Michaela Mabrey scored 19 points each on Saturday to lead No. 6 Notre Dame to a 99-50 victory against North Carolina-Wilmington in the season opener for both teams.
Despite playing without injured senior forward Natalie Achonwa, Notre Dame dominated the boards, outrebounding UNCW 52-24. Freshman forward Taya Reimer led with 12 rebounds, followed by Loyd with 11.
Notre Dame senior guard Kayla McBride scored 17 points.
Junior guard Kelva Atkins, the Seahawks' lone returning starter from last season, scored 16 points.
Notre Dame scored with ease in the paint. Its transition game and repeated drives to the hoop were simply too much for UNC Wilmington to handle.
The Irish led 51-22 at halftime.
Consecutive layups by Loyd and freshman Lindsay Allen sparked a 12-0 run during a 4:30 span in the second half that removed any doubt.
No. 1 Connecticut routs Hartford 89-34 in season opener
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Moriah Jefferson scored a career-high 17 points and top-ranked Connecticut began the defense of its eighth national title with an 89-34 rout of in-state rival Hartford on Saturday.
The sophomore guard, who also had five assists, led a balanced offensive that saw four players reach double figures.
Center Stefanie Dolson had 16 points and six rebounds. Breanna Stewart added 14 points and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis chipped in 12 for the Huskies.
Freshman Deanna Mayza led Hartford with eight points.
No. 3 Stanford tops Boston College 83-71
BOSTON -- Amber Orrange had 19 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, just missing a triple-double for No. 3 Stanford in an 83-71 season-opening win against Boston College on Saturday.
Chiney Ogwumike led with 30 points and 14 rebounds and Bonnie Samuelson scored 15 for the Cardinal, who gave coach Tara VanDerveer her 895th career victory.
Kristen Doherty had 16 points and Shayra Brown scored 10 for the Eagles.
Stanford had a 28-0 run late in the first half and led 44-24 at the break. Boston College shot 52 percent in the second half, but could not recover from the deficit.
Mikaela Ruef pulled down 10 rebounds as Stanford dominated inside and finished with 44 rebounds while holding Boston College to 26.
No. 14 Dayton beats UC-Riverside 89-54
DAYTON, Ohio -- Amber Deane scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double on Saturday that helped Dayton easily handle Riverside 89-54.
The Flyers took an early lead in their season opener and never looked back, out-shooting the Highlanders (0-2) from the field 51.5 percent to 34.4 percent, out-rebounding them 43 to 35 and hitting 18 free throws to their nine.
Ally Mallot came off the bench to sink 20 points and three assists for the Flyers, Kelly Austria had 14 points and five rebounds, and Andrea Hoover added 11 points and five assists.
The Highlanders often missed defensive assignments and turned the ball over 20 times. Natasha Hadley had 13 points, Kiara Harewood had 12 and nine rebounds, and Brittany Cain added 10 points and three assists.
Sims 28 points, No. 10 Baylor 110-55 against Grambling
WACO, Texas -- Odyssey Sims had 28 points to lead five Baylor players in double-figure scoring and the 10th-ranked Lady Bears cruised to a 110-55 season-opening victory against Grambling on Saturday night in their first game without Brittney Griner.
Mariah Chandler added 14 points while freshman Nina Davis and Kristina Higgins both had 11 for Baylor, which had the game's first 16 points before Grambling (0-1) finally scored nearly 5 minutes into the game.
The Lady Bears extended their nation's-best home winning streak to 58 in a row. They haven't lost in the Ferrell Center since March 2010 to Texas, the final home game of Griner's freshman season.
Baylor has won all 14 of its home openers for coach Kim Mulkey.
Victoya Ricks had 14 points to lead four players in double figures for Grambling. Dennisha Chambers had 13, Jessica Watkins 12, SWAC preseason player of the year Joanna Miller scored 10 10.
All 13 Baylor players, including five freshmen in their college debuts, had rebounds in the game. All the freshmen were among the 12 Lady Bears who scored points.
