No. 8 Maryland beats Loyola Maryland 89-53
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Alyssa Thomas had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Alicia DeVaughn added 14 points as No. 8 Maryland never trailed in an 89-53 victory against in-state foe Loyola Maryland on Sunday.
The Terrapins (2-0) never trailed as they defeated the Greyhounds (0-1) to win their home opener for the 15th consecutive season.
Nai Brown led Loyola with 11 points.
It was a solid bounce back for Thomas, a second-team All-America selection last season who had only four points in 10 minutes in Friday's opening 78-70 win at South Florida after dealing with foul trouble throughout. She needed less than six minutes to surpass her scoring output from the opener.
Maryland didn't put away South Florida until the final minute in that game, but needed little time to assert itself against Loyola.
Gray leads No. 2 Duke past No. 9 Cal, 70-58
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Two-time All-America guard Chelsea Gray was pleasantly surprised. Her repaired kneecap felt better than expected in her first game back from the injury.
Gray, who had surgery in March after suffering a dislocated right kneecap in February, had 22 points, five assists and a couple of steals in 31 minutes to lead No. 2 Duke past No. 9 California 70-58 on Sunday.
Tricia Liston added 15 points for the Blue Devils, who opened the season against a ranked opponent for the first time in school history. Richa Jackson had 13 on 6 of 7 shooting.
Afure Jemerigbe, Gray's best friend and teammate at St. Mary's, scored 16 points to lead the Golden Bears (1-1), who had won 15 consecutive regular-season games. Brittany Boyd scored seven of her 13 points in the final three minutes. Reshanda Gray added 10.
Stallworth helps No. 7 Kentucky women rout Wagner
NEW YORK -- DeNesha Stallworth had 18 points and 13 rebounds while Bria Goss added 17 for Kentucky in the 96-57 victory against Wagner.
The game also served as a homecoming for Wildcats Jennifer O'Neill and Jelleah Sidney, who are from New York. O'Neill finished with 11 points. Sidney had six points and seven rebounds.
Kentucky (2-0) trailed 7-3 early before scoring 27 of the next 30 points to take control of the game. They hit five 3-pointers during the game-changing spurt. Goss had eight points in the run, including a 3-pointer that made it 30-10 with 8:26 left in the half.
Kentucky led 50-27 at halftime and poured it on in the second half. Goss scored nine quick points to extend the lead to more than 30 before the first media timeout of the second half.
Wagner (0-1), which was hosting its first top 25 team in program history, couldn't get any closer the rest of the way.
No. 11 Sooners power past Wichita St. 89-70
NORMAN, Okla. -- Sharane Campbell matched her career high as she scored 24 points to lead No. 11 Oklahoma past Wichita St. 89-70 in the second round of the Preseason WNIT.
Oklahoma (2-0) used a 23-2 run, in which seven Sooners contributed, to grab a 43-19 lead with 4:38 left in the first half. Wichita State (1-1) responded, going on a 15-3 run to cut the lead to 46-34 at half time.
The Shockers couldn't get closer than nine points, and Oklahoma pulled away late.
Four of Oklahoma's starters finished in double figures, and Nicole Griffin pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Sooners shot poorly from outside (4 of 15) but made the difference up at the free-throw line, hitting 27 of 31 attempts.
Wichita State struggled from 3-point range (4 of 17) and the free-throw line (18-31). Alex Harden led the Shockers with 24 points.
No. 13 Penn State handles Fordham 78-61
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Maggie Lucas had 23 points and six rebounds to lead No. 13 Penn State to a 78-61 victory against Fordham on Sunday.
Lucas had four 3-pointers and moved past Michigan State's Lindsay Bowen to second place on the Big Ten's career 3-pointers list (297). She scored at least 20 points for the 48th time in her career.
Ariel Edwards and Dara Taylor also reached double figures for the Lady Lions (2-0). Edwards had 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting and Taylor added 12 points and a pair of steals.
The Rams (1-1) never led in the contest but closed Penn State's lead to 52-42 on Erin Rooney's 3-pointer with 13:13 left. Lucas answered with a 3 of her own and Penn State never looked back.
Rooney led the Rams with 20 points.
Iowa upsets No. 14 Dayton 97-93 in OT
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Bethany Doolittle shot 10 of 13 from the field and scored 22 points as Iowa upset No. 14 Dayton 97-93 in overtime on Sunday in the Hawkeye Challenge.
Samantha Logic hit a 3-pointer for Iowa with nine seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 90 and force overtime.
Iowa (2-0) held a 77-63 lead with under 10 minutes remaining in the second half and was up 85-79 with three minutes to play. But Dayton (1-1) then scored 11 consecutive points to take a 90-85 lead with 32 seconds left.
Iowa held the Flyers to just three points in overtime and scored five of its seven points in the extra frame on free throws.
Ally Disterhoft scored 19 points for the Hawkeyes and Logic added 16. Andrea Hoover led Dayton with 23.
Dayton is coming off a 28-3 season. Both teams lost in the second round of last season's NCAA tournament.
LSU advances in WNIT against Saint Joseph's, 80-64
BATON ROUGE, La. -- DaShawn Harden had 19 points and five steals to lead No. 15 LSU to the preseason WNIT semifinal round with a win against Saint Joseph's 80-64.
Theresa Plaisance scored 15 points, Danielle Ballard added 12 and LSU (2-0) was able to take a 40-25 halftime lead thanks to an 8-0 run to end the half.
Erin Shields scored 23 for Saint Joseph's (1-1), including a 3-pointer at 12:59 in the second half to cut the Hawks deficit to nine at 55-46, but the Lady Tigers were able to open the lead back to 18 with under a minute left in the game.
The Lady Tigers advance to the semifinal round to face the Quinnipiac at Louisville winner Thursday.
This was the first meeting between the teams in history.
No. 18 Purdue narrowly beats Ball State 63-57
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- KK Houser matched her career high of 21 points Sunday as Purdue halted a late rally by Ball State and won 63-57 in the season opener for both teams.
Houser went on a 15-point streak after drilling two 3's to tie up the score at the end of the first half and scored nine consecutive points at the start of the second for the No. 18 Boilermakers. Purdue was not tied at the half in any game last season.
Brittany Carter led the Cardinals with 19 points, hitting a jumper with 1:14 left to cut the deficit to three. Ball State started slow in the second, but went on a 12-0 run at 5:22 with a steal by Carter.
Whitney Hays made a three-point play after an assist from Houser to stretch Purdue's lead to 61-55 with 13.6 seconds left.
No. 21 Oklahoma State crushes Texas-Arlington 74-35
STILLWATER, Okla. -- Tiffany Bias had 14 points, nine assists and six steals Sunday at Gallagher-Iba Arena as No. 21 Oklahoma State crushed Texas-Arlington 74-35.
LaShawn Jones had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds and Brittney Martin scored a game-high 16 points for OSU.
The Cowgirls (2-0) opened the game with a 32-7 run before UTA closed the gap to 41-23 at halftime. OSU then scored 18 unanswered points, holding the Mavericks scoreless for the first 7:59 of the second half.
The Cowgirls held the Mavericks (0-2) to 22 percent shooting and controlled the glass with a 55-32 rebounding edge.
Briana Walker and Laila Suleiman lead UTA with 11 points each. Walker also had six boards.
The Cowgirls returned four of their NCAA tournament starters from last season.
No. 22 South Carolina beats Louisiana Tech 68-45
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Aleighsa Welch scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as No. 22 South Carolina beat Louisiana Tech 68-45 on Sunday.
Alaina Coates also had 10 rebounds and added 12 points for South Carolina (2-0), which outrebounded Louisiana Tech 47-29. South Carolina shot better than 45 percent from the field despite going 4 of 18 from beyond the 3-point arc.
The Gamecocks jumped to an early 16-4 lead in the first eight minutes of the game, forcing five Louisiana Tech turnovers during the span. The Gamecocks never trailed and led by as many as 27 in the second half.
Louisiana Tech (0-1) shot just 18 of 50 from the field. JaQuan Jackson led Louisiana Tech with 13 points.
South Carolina lost in the second round of last season's NCAA tournament. The Gamecocks beat Charleston Southern 99-29 in their season opener on Friday.
No. 23 Iowa State defeats North Dakota 84-55
AMES, Iowa -- Hallie Christofferson scored a career-high 32 points to go along with 11 rebounds as No. 23 Iowa State beat North Dakota 84-55 Sunday in the season opener for both teams.
Iowa State struggled to break away from North Dakota for most of the first half, but the Cyclones closed the first half on a 14-5 run, pushing their halftime lead to 47-35. North Dakota never threatened in the second half.
Nicole Blaskowsky scored 14 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds while Nikki Moody added 10 points of her own.
Madi Buck led North Dakota with 16 points, and Megan Lauck scored 13 of her own. Mia Loyd led the team with 10 rebounds. North Dakota struggled from the field, shooting only 30 percent.
The win brought Iowa State's season-opener record to 19-0 under head coach Bill Fennelly.
No. 24 Georgia takes down Presbyterian 45-30
ATHENS, Ga. -- Khaalidah Miller hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds and added seven points and six assists to help No. 24 Georgia beat Presbyterian 45-30 Sunday in the season opener for both teams.
The Bulldogs shot 32 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Blue Hose 51-37.
With the game tied 6-6 early in the first half, Georgia used a 9-0 run sparked by two Erika Ford jump shots and held Presbyterian to just four points in the remainder of the half for a 19-10 advantage.
The Blue Hose, who were 11-of-55 on field goal attempts, pulled within nine early in the second half. Georgia answered back, leading by as many as 16 with 9:16 to play.
Merritt Hempe scored a game-high 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Krista Donald added eight points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Keyonna Allen and Rebecca Walker paced Presbyterian, each scoring seven points.
No. 25 Gonzaga beats Tennessee-Martin 91-54 in WNIT
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Haiden Palmer had 18 points on Sunday as No. 25 Gonzaga suffocated Tennessee-Martin 91-54 in the second round of the Preseason WNIT at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Palmer also had five boards, three assists and three steals in her second consecutive 18-point game. Keani Albanez scored 14 points and set career-highs with both 4 of 7 3-point shooting and eight rebounds.
Gonzaga (2-0) led twice by 43 points, the last coming on a layup with 4:34 left by Shelby Cheslek to make the score 87-44. The Zags held UT-Martin to just 26.7 percent from the field.
Tiara Caldwell led the Skyhawks (1-1) with 13 points. Heather Butler added 12 but finished only 1 of 14 from long distance.
GU will now visit No. 11 Oklahoma on Thursday for the semifinals of the Preseason WNIT.
