LINCOLN, Neb. — Isabelle Bourne was one of five players in double figures with 17 points as Nebraska beat the University of Maine 108-50 in a women’s basketball season opener on Tuesday.
Anne Simon had 14 points, while Maeve Carroll had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Black Bears. Maine fell behind 28-8 in the first quarter, then was outscored 30-9 in the third quarter.
Bella Cravens had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Cornhuskers. Ashley Scoggin and Annika Stewart each added 12 points, while Sam Haiby had 10.
SOUTHERN MAINE 67, UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 53: The Huskies outscored the Nor’easters 44-20 in the second half and won their season opener in Gorham.
Amy Fleming had 17 points, while Victoria Harris added 12 for Southern Maine. Jackie Luckhardt had 10 rebounds.
Abby Cavallaro had 17 points, Jordyn Franzen 16 and Juliana Tracey 10 for UNE.
(1) SOUTH CAROLINA 66, (5) NORTH CAROLINA STATE 57: Zia Cooke scored 17 points and the top-ranked Gamecocks never trailed in their win over the Wolfpack in Raleigh, North Carolina, earning an impressive road win in a marquee season-opening matchup of Final Four contenders.
The Gamecocks scored the first six points and offered a composed response any time the Wolfpack tried to make a move. Cooke paced an offensive team effort that shot 49%, while preseason Associated Press All-American Aliyah Boston controlled the paint and helped shut down Elissa Cunane – N.C. State’s star and the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year.
Boston finished with eight points, six rebounds and five blocks for South Carolina.
(4) MARYLAND 97, LONGWOOD 67: Angel Reese had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Terrapins to a victory over the Lancers in College Park, Maryland.
The Terrapins return all five starters from a season ago, although one of them, guard Diamond Miller, missed this game with knee soreness. Maryland still had five players in double figures. Freshman Shyanne Sellers scored 17 points and Ashley Owusu and Mimi Collins had 16 apiece.
Kyla McMakin scored 22 points for Longwood.
(7) BAYLOR 77, TEXAS STATE 70: Preseason AP All-America forward NaLyssa Smith scored 23 points, Queen Egbo had a double-double and the seventh-ranked Bears beat the Bobcats in the Bears’ first game with new coach Nicki Collen, in Waco, Texas.
Smith scored nine of her points in the fourth quarter, including a three-point play after being fouled on a made putback basket. She followed with a steal that led to a breakaway layup with 1:52 left after the Bobcats got within 73-67 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Da’Nasia Hood.
(9) IOWA 93, NEW HAMPSHIRE 50: Caitlin Clark had 26 points and Monika Czinano added 14 points as the Hawkeyes opened the season with a win over the Wildcats in Iowa City, Iowa.
Clark and Czinano were 1-2 in the nation in field goals last season, and both began this season with strong offensive performances.
(11) MICHIGAN 67, IUPUI 62: Naz Hillmon scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Leigha Brown added 18 points and the Wolverines held off the Jaguars for an overtime win in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Hillmon, the consensus Big Ten player of the year last season, scored five points in a 7-0 run to open the extra period and Michigan held on from there.
(12) IOWA STATE 65, OMAHA 38: Lexi Donarski scored 18 points, making six 3-pointers, Ashley Joens added 15 points and the Cyclones beat the Mavericks in Ames, Iowa, in a season opener for both teams.
Donarski, the Big 12 freshman of the year last season, was 6 of 12 from distance and Joens, who led the conference and ranked fifth nationally with 24.2 points per game last season, went 3 for 9. Omaha didn’t make its first 3-pointer until early in the fourth and finished 2 for 10.
Iowa State trailed 12-11 after the first quarter but held Omaha to six points in the second quarter and nine points in the third to build a 45-27 lead.
(13) KENTUCKY 81, PRESBYTERIAN 53: Dre’una Edwards scored 20 points, Treasure Hunt added 18 off the bench and the Wildcats overcame a slow start to defeat the Blue Hose in the season opener for both teams in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Blue Hose led 25-15 after one quarter, hitting 9 of 11 shots, but Kentucky’s preseason All-American Rhyne Howard it a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put the Wildcats on top 38-37 at halftime.
(16) FLORIDA STATE 78, NORTH FLORIDA 50: Bianca Jackson scored 13 points, freshman Makayla Timpson added 10 in her collegiate debut and No. 16 Florida State beat North Florida in Tallahassee, Florida in the season opener for both teams.
(22) ARIZONA 87, CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 44: Cate Reese and Aaronette Vonleh both scored 14 points and the Wildcats coasted to a win over the Matadors in the season opener for both teams in Tucson, Arizona.
(23) TEXAS A&M 87, TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 54: Kayla Wells scored 18 points, Jordan Nixon added 17 and the Aggies starting long-time coach Gary Blair’s final season with a win over the Islanders in College Station, Texas.
Nixon and Wells combined for 12-straight Aggie points with a Wells layup putting the Aggies on top for good 17-15 at 3:27 of the first half. After an exchange of baskets to open the second quarter A&M lead by double figures the rest of the way.
(24) VIRGINIA TECH 76, DAVIDSON 57: Aisha Sheppard hit 7-of-10 3-pointers and scored 25 points to lead the Hokies over the Wildcats in the season opener, in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Purdue transfer Kayana Taylor added 18 points for the Hokies, who have won 61 straight nonconference home games and eight straight season openers.
(25) TEXAS 131, NEW ORLEANS 36: Kydall Hunter hit seven 3-pointers in her collegiate debut and the Longhorns went on to rout the Privateers in the season opener for both teams, in Austin, Texas.
Aliyah Matharu added 18 points, Joanne Allen-Taylor had 15, DeYona Gaston 12 and Latasha Lattimore 11 for the Longhorns. Hunter was 7 of 8 behind the arc and 10 of 13 overall.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
VIRGINIA TECH 82, MAINE 47: David N’Guessan and Justyn Mutts both scored 15 points as the Hokies cruised to a win over the Black Bears in their season opener in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Nahiem Alleyne added 13 points and seven rebounds for Virginia Tech.
Byron Ireland and Kristians Feierbergs both scored nine points for Maine.
SOUTHERN MAINE 92, UNE 75: Jacobe Thomas had 26 points and eight rebounds as the Huskies (1-1) beat the Nor’easters (0-1) in Gorham.
Trevor Ward added 18 points and five assists, while Cody Hawes added 16 points, six assists and eight rebounds. Marcus Christopher had seven points and 13 rebounds.
Sam McElliott had 18 points, five assists and five rebounds for UNE. Ric Castillo added 12 points.
(3) KANSAS 87, MICHIGAN STATE 74: Ochai Agbaji scored a career-high 29 points and the Jayhawks beat the Spartans in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden on the opening night of college basketball.
Remy Martin added 15 points and David McCormack had 10 for the Jayhawks, who returned four starters from last season’s squad that lost to USC in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks were missing forward Jalen Wilson, who was suspended last week for the first three regular-season games after he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving last month.
(4) VILLANOVA 91, MOUNT SAINT MARY’S 51: Collin Gillespie scored 13 points in his first game since suffering a torn MCL in his left knee to help the Wildcats beat the Mountaineers in the season opener, in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
Justin Moore hit six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 27 points for the Big East favorite Wildcats. Brandon Slater and Jermaine Samuels each added 17.
(7) PURDUE 96, BELLARMINE 67: Sasha Stefanovic made 5 of 6 3-pointers and finished with 23 points to lead the Boilermakers past the Knights in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Zach Edey added 16 points, Isaiah Thompson had 15 points, Brandon Newman 14 and Jaden Ivey 11 for the Boilermakers.
C.J. Fleming and Dylan Penn each scored 14 points for Bellarmine.
(16) ARKANSAS 74, MERCER 61: JD Notae scored 30 points for the Razorbacks, who were forced to rally to beat the Bears in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Arkansas was down eight points at halftime — Notae and Pittsburgh transfer Au’Diese Toney combined for 23 of the 28 first-half points — but went on a 14-2 run to start the second half.
(17) OHIO STATE 67, AKRON 66: Zed Key hit a layup with less than a second left to give the Buckeyes a win over the Zips in the season opener for both teams, in Columbus, Ohio.
Ali Ali hit a step-back 3-pointer and a foul shot to put Akron up 66-65 with six seconds left in a game that was tied six times in the second half.
The Buckeyes inbounded the ball after a timeout, and freshman Malaki Branham got it inside to Key, who banked it in to seal the win.
(18) TENNESSEE 90, TENNESSEE-MARTIN 62: Kennedy Chandler and Santiago Vescovi each scored 20 points, leading the Volunteers to a season-opening win over the Skyhwaks in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Chandler shot 7 for 10 from the field and had four assists. Vescovi, a holdover from last season, tied a career high with six 3-pointers.
(19) NORTH CAROLINA 83, LOYALA MARYLAND 67: Caleb Love scored 22 points and the Tar Heels led the whole way in Hubert Davis’ coaching debut, beating the Greyhounds in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Brady Manek, a graduate transfer from Oklahoma, poured in 20 points as one of college basketball’s storied programs launched a new era.
Davis, a former North Carolina player, replaced the retired Roy Williams in April after spending seven seasons on Williams’ staff. Williams watched from a front-row seat near the tunnel where the Tar Heels run onto the court.
(22) AUBURN 77, MOREHEAD STATE 54: Wendell Green Jr. scored 19 points and fellow transfer K.D. Johnson added 12 points off the bench as the Tigers led the Eagles wire to wire in a win in the season opener in Auburn, Alabama.
Four players scored in double figures for Bruce Pearl’s new-look Tigers, who had four newcomers in their starting lineup. Tiger veterans Devan Cambridge and Jaylin Williams added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
(24) UCONN 99, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 48: Adama Sanogo scored 20 points and the Huskies opened the season with a win over the Blue Devils in Storrs, Connecticut.
R.J. Cole scored 15 points and Tyrese Martin added 14 for the Huskies, who led by 29-points at halftime.
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