Liston leads No. 2 Duke against Vandy 88-69
DURHAM, N.C. -- Tricia Liston scored 18 points and Alexis Jones had 17 to lead six players in double figures for No. 2 Duke in an 88-69 victory against Vanderbilt on Thursday night.
Chelsea Gray added 14 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists for Duke, which got 13 points from Elizabeth Williams and 11 each from Haley Peters and Chloe Wells.
Senior guards Jasmine Lister had 23 points and Christina Foggie 18 for Vanderbilt (3-2), which was playing its road opener and lost its second consecutive game.
It was the second consecutive win against an SEC team for Duke, which drubbed visiting Alabama 92-57 Sunday.
Duke shot 51.7 to the Commodores' 48.2, won the rebound battle 32-29 and committed 19 turnovers to Vanderbilt's 28.
Peters hit two free throws with 11:16 left in the first half to give Duke the lead for good at 16-15, but took a long time to put the zone-oriented Commodores away.
Peters left the game after injuring her right knee when she picked up a foul with 3:27 left in the first half, but returned with 14:11 remaining.
No. 4 Louisville routs Ohio 90-33
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Shoni Schimmel scored 13 points and No. 4 Louisville made Jeff Walz the program's winningest coach in cruising past Ohio 90-33 on Thursday night.
Four days after an overtime victory at Oklahoma to win the preseason WNIT, the Cardinals (5-0) picked up where they left off to dominate Ohio in every category. Besides shooting 34 of 56 from the field to finish a season-best 61 percent, Louisville outscored the Bobcats 46-14 inside and outrebounded them 54-25.
Ohio (2-1) never got going offensively, hitting just 7 of 29 in the first half - including missing its first 14 from 3-point range. The Bobcats hit just 2 of 25 from beyond the arc and 10 of 53 overall (19 percent).
Bria Smith added 12 points, reserve forward Shawnta' Dyer 15 and Megan Deines 11 as every Cardinal scored.
Quiera Lampkins' 13 points led the Bobcats.
Goss scores 18, No. 7 Kentucky downs Lipscomb
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Bria Goss scored 18 points and Janee Thompson had 16 as No. 7 Kentucky used a balanced offense to rout Lipscomb 116-49 on Thursday night.
Bernisha Puckett scored 15 points, DeNesha Stallworth and Linnae Harper had 12 each, Jennifer O'Neal 11 and Samarie Walker added 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Wildcats (5-0).
Stallworth had all of her scoring in the first half as Kentucky had a season-high 57 points in the first 20 minutes en route to reaching triple digits for the second time this season. The Wildcats also got their 41st consecutive home win against a non-conference opponent.
Chandler Cooper had 15 points to lead Lipscomb (0-4).
The Wildcats outscored the Lady Bisons 66-14 in the paint and outrebounded them 57-30.
No. 9 Baylor beats Savannah State 99-31
WACO, Texas -- Ninth-ranked Baylor still has a presence in the post.
Kristina Higgins and Sune Agbuke, the Lady Bears' two tallest players, both had double-doubles as Baylor extended the nation's-best home winning streak to 61 games with a 99-31 victory against Savannah State on Thursday night.
''Yes, it's very important. We are guard-heavy, but at the same time we need our posts to score and run, rebound,'' Odyssey Sims, the senior point guard and preseason AP All-American who had 22 points, said. ''And they do a very good job. ... Coach is on them about finishing, and I think they were focusing more on being able to finish and be strong with it.''
The 6-foot-5 Higgins had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while 6-4 Agbuke had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
No. 11 Nebraska tops Arkansas-Pine Bluff 78-55
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Jordan Hooper scored 23 points, including 17 in the first half, as No. 11 Nebraska cruised by Arkansas-Pine Bluff 78-55 on Thursday night.
Nebraska (4-0) opened the game on a 14-0 run, as Hooper scored the first 12 points of the game herself. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-4) could not recover as the Cornhuskers built a 42-17 lead at halftime.
The Cornhuskers were 40.7 percent (11 of 27) from 3-point range, their best performance of the season. Nebraska also had a 42-28 rebounding advantage, including a 13-5 advantage on the offensive boards.
Hooper finished 9 of 13 from the field, and 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Sadie Murren scored 12 points for the Cornhuskers and Emily Cady added 11.
Jazmyne Victorian scored 13 points to lead the Golden Lions. Cassidy Wright had 12 and Carlisha Walker added 10.
No. 12 UNC tops Coastal Carolina 106-52
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Stephanie Mavunga scored 20 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked five shots to lead the No. 12 North Carolina to a 106-52 win against Coastal Carolina on Thursday night.
Diamond DeShields scored 16 of her game-high 21 points in the first half and North Carolina (3-1) used an 18-4 run in the final 5:03 to take a 46-24 lead into halftime.
Mavunga, who came into the game shooting .583 from the floor, was 10 of 10 from the field while the freshman set career-highs for points, rebounds and blocked shots.
North Carolina's dominated the game defensively, forcing 27 Coastal Carolina (3-1) turnovers, including 19 steals, and limited the Chanticleers to 22.2 percent (18 of 81) shooting. The Tar Heels blocked 11 shots.
Xylina McDaniel and Allisha Gray scored 14 points each while Jessica Washington and Danielle Butts had 11 apiece.
Angelica Henry paced Coastal Carolina with 15 points.
Duke led 58-54 before taking control with an 11-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers from Liston and a 3-point play from Gray with 8:28 left.
No. 22 Iowa State routs Cincinnati 78-42
CINCINNATI -- Hallie Christofferson scored 25 points as No. 22 Iowa State used a dominant second half to rout Cincinnati 78-42 on Thursday night.
Leading 40-32 with 14 minutes remaining, Iowa State (3-0) scored the game's next 15 points to extend its lead to 55-32. The Cyclones outscored Cincinnati 44-17 in the second half and have now won their first three games by an average of 27 points apiece.
Iowa State shot 52 percent from the field and was 12-of-24 on 3-pointers. Cincinnati (1-3) shot only 29.6 percent from the floor and just 4-of-20 from behind the 3-point line.
Seanna Johnson added 13 points for the Cyclones and Jadda Bukley had 12. Christofferson, who entered the game as the Big 12 Conference's leading scorer, also grabbed seven rebounds.
Dayeesha Hollins led Cincinnati with 12 points.
