WACO, Texas (AP) - Preseason AP All-America post Kalani Brown scored the first four points for fourth-ranked Baylor, which opened the season by scoring the first 24 points and had seven players in double figures on the way to a 100-39 victory over Nicholls State on Tuesday night.
Brown finished with 13 points, matching Moon Ursin for the team high. The 6-foot-7 Brown also had four rebounds while playing only 18 minutes. All 11 players who saw action for the Big 12 champion Lady Bears scored multiple points and had at least one rebound.
Cassidy Barrios had 20 points and nine rebounds for Nicholls State. The senior guard was the leading scorer last season at 17.3 points a game for the Colonels, who were an NCAA Tournament team after winning the Southland Conference tournament. Their season ended with a loss to No. 1 seed Mississippi State.
No. 3 OREGON 115, ALASKA 36
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Sabrina Ionescu picked up her 11th triple-double, Satou Sabally scored 23 points and Oregon beat Alaska.
Ionescu had 18 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds. Ruthy Hebard, playing in her hometown, had 15 points.
Hebard scored the first basket of the game, Sabally scored the next seven points as the Ducks were never challenged. It was 34-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Maitre Cazorla added 16 points, Erin Boley 14 and Taylor Chavez 13 as the Ducks made 12 of 24 from 3-point range and shot 68 percent overall (42 of 62). They also went 19 of 22 from the foul line.
Emily Evans scored 12 points for the Division II Nanooks.
No. 5 LOUISVILLE 102, WESTERN KENTUCKY 80
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - Asia Durr scored 33 points to help Louisville beat Western Kentucky and get coach Jeff Walz his 300th career win.
Durr scored the first 11 points for the Cardinals (1-0) and had 21 by halftime as the team shot an efficient 56 percent from the floor and 47 percent from 3-point range.
Already the winningest coach at Louisville, Walz got No. 300 in the same E.A. Diddle Arena where he started his career as a Western Kentucky graduate assistant in 1996-97.
Tuesday also marked the head coaching debut of Greg Collins at Western Kentucky (0-1). The defending Conference USA Tournament champion Lady Toppers orchestrated two runs in the first half to trim Louisville’s lead to single digits, but Durr and the Cardinals never let it get close.
No. 6 MISSISSIPPI STATE 88, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 53
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) - Teaira McCowan scored 24 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked seven shots to lead Mississippi State over Southeast Missouri.
McCowan, a 6-foot-7 senior who is one of the nation’s best returning post players, had her first double-double of the year by early in the second quarter. She had 29 double-doubles last season, which set a Southeastern Conference record.
McCowan shot 7 of 11 from the field and made 10 of 15 free throws.
Jazzmun Holmes and Chloe Bibby both scored 11 points for the Bulldogs. Jordan Danberry added 10. The Bulldogs had a 54-26 rebounding advantage.
Southeast Missouri was led by Tesia Thompson, who scored 19 points.
No. 16 MISSOURI 89, WESTERN ILLINOIS 64
MACOMB, Ill. (AP) - Sophie Cunningham scored 31 points and Missouri beat Western Illinois.
Lauren Aldridge and Amber Smith added 14 points apiece for the Tigers, who scored the first four points of the game and never trailed.
Annabel Graettinger and Olivia Kaufmann had 18 points apiece for the Leathernecks.
Missouri, which had a 52-32 rebounding advantage, held Western Illinois to 29 percent shooting (17 for 59). The Tigers went 33 for 71 (46.5 percent).
Missouri is the first Power Five team to play at Western Illinois since 1997.
No. 18 SYRACUSE 85, NORTH DAKOTA 49
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Kiara Lewis and McDonald’s All-American Emily Engstler each scored 13 points and Syracuse beat North Dakota.
Syracuse is coming off its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, going 22-9, and returns all five starters with the addition of Engstler.
Junior guard Tiana Mangakahia led the nation last year with 304 assists and an average of 9.8 per game - both program and ACC records. She had 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists against UND.
Syracuse made 12 3-pointers - with three apiece from Lewis, Engstler and Miranda Drummond. Gabrielle Cooper and Mangakahia each had four steals as UND turned it over 27 times and shot just 32.8 percent.
UND returns leading scorer and rebounder Lexi Klabo, who averaged 19 points and 9.3 rebounds as a junior. She had 12 points and seven boards against the Orange. North Dakota starts its season with seven straight road games.
No. 19 MARQUETTE 91, SOUTH DAKOTA 52
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Natisha Hiedeman made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points, reigning Big East player of the year Allazia Blockton scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half and Marquette beat South Dakota State.
Marquette returned all five starters from last season’s team that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament - its latest exit since 2011.
Hiedeman hit 4 of 7 3-pointers in the first half and Isabelle Spingola made all three of hers to help Marquette build a 44-25 halftime lead. The Golden Eagles were 10 of 19 from distance in the half, making 7 of 8 in the second quarter, and finished with 13 makes.
South Dakota State is picked to win the Summit League after a 26-7 season a year ago, falling to Big East opponent Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Macy Miller, who was named the league’s preseason player of the year, finished with seven points on 2-of-10 shooting.
No. 22 SOUTH FLORIDA 71, OHIO STATE 47
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Freshmen Beatriz Jordao had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Sydni Harvey scored 16, leading South Florida to a romp over Ohio State in the season opener for both teams.
All-American candidate Kitija Laksa also had 17 points for the Bulls but she was 4-of-16 shooting while Jordao was 8 of 9 in her debut.
The Buckeyes, one of just three teams to have to replace all five starters, as well as their top six scorers, was led by Carly Santoro, a Bowling Green graduate transfer. Dorka Juhasz, a 6-foot-4 freshman from Hungary, had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Jordao had seven points, making all three of her shots, and six rebounds in the first quarter as the Bulls raced to a 21-11 lead in the first quarter.
Ohio State shot just 30 percent, going 3 of 19 from 3-point range. The Buckeyes were 12 of 21 from the foul line and were outrebound 48-32. USF was 24 of 29 from the line with Harvey and Laksa both making 7 of 8.
No. 23 ARIZONA SATE 81, INCARNATE WORD 43
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Jamie Ruden scored 15 points and Arizona State cruised to a win over Incarnate Word.
Another reserve, Taya Hanson, hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points. Ruden was 3 for 3 from distance.
The Sun Devils shot 45 percent and outrebounded Incarnate Word 58-34.
Arizona State never trailed. It was 14-7 after one quarter when the Sun Devils shot 29 percent and a 13-0 run in the second and 53 percent shooting helped push the lead to 40-20 at halftime.
Courtney Ekmark, who had three 3s and 12 points, had back-to-back triples when ASU opened the second half with a 14-4 run.
Lunden Henry and Star Omozee had seven points apiece for the Cardinals.
No. 24 CALIFORNIA 80, HOUSTON 79
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Kristine Anigwe had 37 points and 13 rebounds and California survived a late rally to beat Houston.
The Golden Bears led 78-71 on Asha Thomas’ pair of free throws with 58 seconds left.
The Cougars’ Angela Harris hit a 3-pointer 14 seconds later and Jasmyne Harris made a trio of free throws to cut the deficit to 78-77 with 10 seconds left.
Jaelyn Brown made a pair of free throws to push the Cal lead to three and Jasmyne Harris missed a 3-point attempt that would have tied it in the closing seconds before Tatyana Hill scored the putback that left Houston a point short.
Thomas and Brown had 10 points each for Cal.
Jasymne Harris led the Cougars with 17 points.
No. 25 MIAMI 94, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 43
MIAMI (AP) - Sarah Mortensen scored 24 points, leading a 3-point barrage by making 8 of 9, and Miami opened the season with a win over cross-town rival Florida International.
Mykea Gray added 15 points off the bench and Miami native Beatrice Mompremier had 15 points and 11 rebounds and the transfer from Baylor surpassed 550 points and 450 rebounds for her career in her first game with the Hurricanes.
Miami was 16 of 32 behind the arc, going 13 of 20 in the second half. Mortensen matched the school record of WNBA All-Star Riquna Williams, who made eight triples on Jan. 12, 2012.
FIU, Miami’s most common opponent (59 meetings), shot 21 percent (11 of 53) and was outrebound 50-34. Chelsea Guimaraes had 11 points.
Miami, which led 38-18 at the half and outscored the Panthers 30-8 in the third quarter, picked up its fifth straight win in the series and 37th overall.
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