Women’s Top 25 Capsules: No. 4 Baylor tops No. 23 Arizona State at Fort Defiance
Nalyssa Smith had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 4 Baylor overpowered No. 23 Arizona State inside for a 65-59 victory Sunday night in a game played on the Navajo Nation, at Fort Defiance, Ariz.
Baylor (3-0) got the Showdown at the Rez off to an ugly start, repeatedly turning the ball over while falling into an 11-point first-half hole.
The Bears fought their way back in the third quarter and used a 12-0 run to build a 55-47 lead midway through the fourth.
Arizona State (1-1) slowed Baylor’s post players through most of the half, but had a hard time containing them in the second. Lauren Cox had 14 points and nine rebounds for Baylor, which had a 46-8 advantage in the paint and 21 more rebounds.
The Sun Devils went cold from the floor in the fourth quarter as well in front of a rowdy, mostly pro-Sun Devils crowd. Kianna Ibis and Courtney Ekmark led Arizona State with 13 points each.
The Sun Devils have celebrated Native American culture at a game every season and this year decided to bring the game to the Navajo Nation. Anticipation built quickly for the game among the Native American communities of northern Arizona and the Bee Holdzil Fighting Scouts Events Center had a buzz long before tipoff between the two power programs.
(2) UConn 85, Ohio State 53: Katie Lou Samuelson scored 19 points and UConn opened its quest for a 12th national title with an easy victory over Ohio State, at Storrs, Conn.
Crystal Dangerfield had 18 points, Napheesa Collier added 17 and Megan Walker chipped in with 15 as the Huskies won their season opener for the 23rd straight year.
Carly Santoro had 20 points for Ohio State (1-2), which had to replace all five starters and its top six scorers from last season’s Big Ten championship team.
It was clear early the Buckeyes were overmatched in this game.
(7) Stanford 115, Idaho 71: Alanna Smith had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Stanford totaled its most points since 1994, at Stanford, Calif.
The Cardinal (2-0) had their fifth-highest point total ever and most since tying a school record with 122 against Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 10, 1994.
Kiana Williams also scored 19 points and had nine assists as Stanford kept pace with the sharp-shooting Vandals (1-1) from long-range by matching the school record with 16 3-pointers.
Gina Marxen scored 22 points to lead Idaho.
(9) Maryland 82, Dayton 71: Kaila Charles scored 22 points, freshman Taylor Mikesell added 15 and Maryland won for the second time in three days, beating Dayton, at College Park, Md.
Blair Watson and Shakira Austin had 14 points apiece for Maryland.
After routing Coppin State 93-36 in the opener, the Terrapins (2-0) got a tougher fight from the resilient Flyers, who were 13 of 30 from beyond the arc.
Redshirt junior Julia Chandler led Dayton (1-1) with 23 points. Lauren Cannatelli added 12 points and junior guard Jayla Scaife, the team’s leading returning scorer, scored 10 for the Flyers.
(10) South Carolina 94, Alabama State 38: Te’a Cooper scored 17 points in her South Carolina debut to lead in the Gamecocks’ season opener, at Montgomery, Ala.
Cooper, who sat out last season after transferring from Tennessee, had 15 points by halftime as the Gamecocks built a 60-20 cushion. South Carolina’s Bianca Jackson and top freshman recruit Destanni Henderson each scored 13 points against the Hornets (0-2). The Southwestern Athletic Conference team is coached by Jackson’s mother, Freda Freeman-Jackson.
(11) Tennessee 97, Presbyterian 49: Evina Westbrook had 20 points and seven steals, both career highs, and Tennessee withstood the absence of Rennia Davis to rout Presbyterian, at Knoxville, Tenn.
Davis, the Lady Vols’ top returning scorer and rebounder, was wearing a walking boot on her left foot as she watched game from the bench. The sophomore forward averaged 12 points and 7.6 rebounds last season.
Freshman Shamani Stafford scored 20 points to lead Presbyterian (0-1).
(14) Georgia 85, Winthrop 39: Taja Cole led a balanced attack with 14 points and added a career-high 11 assists for her first double-double to lead Georgia to a win over Winthrop, at Athens, Ga.
Caliya Robinson and Kaila Hubbard added 13 points apiece for the Bulldogs (2-0), Gabby Connally and Jenna Staiti scored 12 each and Caitlin Hose 10.
Winthrop, coached by two-time Olympian, four-time All-American, Hall-of-Famer and the first woman to ever play for the Harlem Globetrotters Lynette Woodard, shot just 21 percent (14 of 66) and had 19 turnovers.
Georgia scored 14 straight points and turned that into a 22-2 run to close the first quarter for a 24-6 lead. The middle two quarters were close but in the fourth quarter the Bulldogs had a 27-5 advantage.
The Eagles (0-2), who lost to Wisconsin in their opener, shot 2 of 16 in the opening quarter and 2 of 15 in the fourth.
(17) N.C. State 78, Kent State 61: Grace Hunter and Aislinn Konig scored 15 points apiece and North Carolina State used a strong start to defeat Kent State, at Raleigh, N.C.
Kiara Leslie had 12 points and 10 rebounds for her sixth career double-double as the Wolfpack started 2-0 for the ninth-straight season. Konig was 5 of 6 from 3-point range, where the Wolfpack went 13 of 23 (56.5 percent) and shot 55 percent (29 of 53) overall.
Megan Carter led the Golden Flashes (0-2) with 22 points and seven rebounds.
(20) Texas A&M 73, Jacksonville 53: Chennedy Carter scored 22 to lead Texas A&M, at College Station, Texas.
N’dea Jones added 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Ciera Johnson had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies (2-0). Kiara Meeks had 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting for Jacksonville (1-1).
Northwestern 84, (21) Duke 58: Lindsey Pulliam scored 21 points and Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah added 11 points and 17 rebounds to power Northwestern past Duke in the Blue Devils;’ season opener, at Evanston, Ill.
Pulliam made just 6 of 21 shots from the floor, but made all eight of her free-throw attempts and added five rebounds and four assists for the Wildcats, who were playing their first regular-season game at the new Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Jordan Hamilton hit three 3-pointers on her way to 18 points, and Abi Scheid also had 18 for the Wildcats (2-0).
Leaonna Odom topped the Blue Devils with 14 points and 14 rebounds, but she had eight of Duke’s 24 turnovers.
(24) California 75, Penn State 58: Kristine Anigwe had 24 points and 22 rebounds for her second career 20-20 game, and California beat Penn State, at University Park, Pa.
Jaelyn Brown scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half and Asha Thomas had 11 for California (2-0). Siyeh Frazier led Penn State (1-1) with 17 points.
(25) Miami 75, Hartford 62: Emese Hof scored 21 points, Beatrice Mompremier had 19 points and 13 rebounds and Miami beat Hartford to advance to the semifinals of the preseason WNIT, at Coral Gables, Fla.
Miami used a 27-point third quarter to take control, with Endia Banks scoring the first five points of a 10-3 run to close the quarter for a 56-46 lead. Hartford was within seven points with four minutes left in the fourth, but Mompremier scored six straight to seal it.
Banks had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Miami (2-0). The Hurricanes dominated the paint, outscoring Hartford 48-12.
The Hurricanes beat Stephen F. Austin 81-60 in their home opener on Friday, trailing for just 14 seconds, and the Hawks topped Morgan State in its tournament debut.
Sierra DaCosta made four 3-pointers and scored 24 points for Hartford (1-1), which was picked second in the America East preseason poll.