Defending women's national champs, No. 1 Gamecocks, rout ETSU 101-31

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Zia Cooke scored 17 points, Aliyah Boston had the 61st double-double of her career and defending national champion No. 1 South Carolina opened with a dominating 101-31 victory over East Tennessee State on Monday night.

Boston finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes.

The Gamecocks celebrated their 2022 NCAA Tournament title with championship rings and a banner unfurled in the arena rafters to the cheers of a boisterous, happy crowd at Colonial Life Arena.

South Carolina held its opponent to 4-of-28 shooting in the first two quarters. ETSU missed 15 straight shots during one stretch.

East Tennessee’s Jiselle Thomas, a first-year transfer from Temple, led East Tennessee with seven points on 2-of-20 shooting.

NO. 2 STANFORD 86, SAN DIEGO STATE 48

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Kiki Iriafen had a team-leading 16 points and six rebounds, sending Stanford past San Diego State to open the season.

Iriafen was one of four players who had double-digit points for the Cardinal, including Elena Bosgana (15 points), Cameron Brink (13) and Indya Nivar (13). Alex Crain and Meghan Fiso each had nine points for the Aztecs, who were held to 31.6% shooting (18 of 57) by the Cardinal defense.

NO. 4 IOWA 87, SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY 34

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Caitlin Clark scored 20 points as Iowa opened the season with a win over Southern.

Clark, a junior guard who was a unanimous Associated Press preseason All-American, shook off a couple of early injuries to finish with a 6 of 10 shooting night.

Iowa center Monika Czinano, back for a fifth season after leading the nation in field-goal percentage the last two seasons, scored 10 points on 3 of 4 shooting.

Amani McWain led Southern with eight points.

NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 87, CINCINNATI 68

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Hailey Van Lith scored 28 points to lead Louisville to a victory over Cincinnati in the season opener for both teams.

The Cardinals broke the game open with a 15-0 first-quarter run and led 46-25 in the final minute of the first half. The Cardinals shot 51.7% and outrebounded the Bearcats 39-27.

Sophomore Braylyn Milton led the Bearcats with a career-high 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Milton was perfect on five 3-point shots. Mya Jackson and A’riel Jackson added 12 points apiece.

NO. 8 IOWA STATE 87, CLEVELAND STATE 54

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Ashley Joens had 28 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and Iowa State opened the season with a victory against Cleveland State.

Joens, a preseason All-American, nearly recorded a double-double in the first half with 24 points and nine boards. She has 50 career double-doubles.

Stephanie Soares added 15 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for the Cyclones. Gabriella Smith led Cleveland State with 16 points and Brittni Moore added nine.

NO. 9 NOTRE DAME 88, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 48

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Olivia Miles had 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and six steals to help No. 9 Notre Dame rout Northern Illinois.

Transfer post players Kylee Watson (Oregon) and Lauren Ebo (Texas) made their Notre Dame debuts. Watson started and scored nine points, while Ebo added 10 points off the bench.

Janae Poisson led NIU in scoring with 14 points.

NO. 10 NC STATE 82, QUINNIPIAC 45

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jada Boyd scored 14 points as North Carolina State led wire-to-wire in a season-opening victory over Quinnipiac.

Boyd shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. The junior forward also had five rebounds, a block and two steals in just 20 minutes of play. Quinnipiac was led by Cur’Tiera Haywood’s eight points and five rebounds. Jackie Grisdale also had eight points for the Bobcats.

NO. 13 VIRGINIA TECH 101, MOUNT ST. MARY’S 45

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Cayla King made a school record nine 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points, All-American Elizabeth Kitley added 17 points and Virginia Tech rolled over Mount St. Mary in both teams’ season opener.

Virginia Tech never trailed thanks to King’s opening 3-pointer and after Mount St. Mary’s answered with a basket the Hokies reeled off 20 straight.

Michaela Harrison scored 15 points for Mount St. Mary’s, which shot 27% and was outrebounded 45-23.

NO. 15 OKLAHOMA 105, ORAL ROBERTS 94

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Madi Williams scored 19 points, Skylar Vann added 18 and Oklahoma opened the season with a win over Oral Roberts.

The Sooners finished at 47.6% shooting after hitting 60% of their shots in the first half.

Oral Roberts outscored Oklahoma 24-6 in the final 5:18 to get the margin down to 11. Tirzah Moore scored 25 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.

NO. 16 LSU 125, BELLARMINE 50

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Angel Reese scored 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds in her debut with LSU and the Tigers coasted past Bellarmine in the season opener.

The transfer from Maryland, where she was an All-American, had 14 points in the first quarter when the Tigers took a 31-8 lead and went on to a school record for points in a game.

West Virginia transfer Jasmine Carson added 17 points and Alexis Morris 16 for LSU, which returned only one starter (Morris) and five players from Kim Mulkey’s first team, which had the greatest turnaround by a first-year coach in Southeastern Conference history.

Hayley Harrison scored 19 points for the Knights.

NO. 17 MARYLAND 88, GEORGE MASON 51

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Abby Meyers scored 19 points in her debut for Maryland as the retooled Terrapins defeated George Mason.

Meyers, an AP honorable mention All-American at Princeton and one of nine new Terrapins, made 5 of 6 from 3-point range.

Taylor Jameson scored 15 points for George Mason, which was 5 of 22 from 3-point range and had 18 turnovers.

NO. 18 BAYLOR 88, LAMAR 50

WACO, Texas (AP) —Jaden Owens had a career-high 12 assists to go with 11 points for her first career double-double and Baylor pulled away for a season-opening win over Lamar.

Missouri transfer Aijha Blackwell and freshman Bella Fontleroy both added 17 points for the Bears, who used a 7-0 run early in the second quarter and a 9-0 late to go up 47-31 at halftime.

Lamar shot 32% in the second half and finished just 3 of 12 behind the 3-point line. Akasha Davis led the Cardinals with 13 points and eight rebounds.

NO. 20 OREGON 100, NORTHWESTERN 57

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Freshman Grace VanSlooten scored 20 points and Oregon downed Northwestern for the Ducks’ 10th straight season-opening win, and ninth straight under coach Kelly Graves.

Jennah Isai added 17 for the Ducks, who went 20-12 overall last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament but lost in the first round to Belmont.

Caileigh Walsh had 15 points and six rebounds for Northwestern, which went 17-12 last season.

NO. 21 CREIGHTON 73, NO. 23 SOUTH DAKTA STATE 64

BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — Lauren Jensen scored 17 of her 30 points in the fourth quarter and Creighton pulled away from South Dakota State in the only Top 25 matchup on the opening day of the season.

Creighton, the surprise team of the NCAA Tournament last year when they beat No. 8 Iowa and No. 10 Iowa State, made 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Myah Selland scored 22 points to lead South Dakota State, which won the WNIT last season.

NO. 22 NEBRASKA 100, OMAHA 36

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Isabelle Bourne had 21 points and nine rebounds, leading Nebraska to the runaway victory in its season opener.

Allison Weidner added 19 points and nine rebounds, and South Dakota transfer Maddy Krull had 18 points with four 3-pointers. Alexis Markowski had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Cornhuskers.

Elena Pilakouta had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks.

NO. 24 PRINCETON 67, TEMPLE 49

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — Kaitlyn Chen scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Ellie Mitchell added 12 points and 15 boards, and Princeton defeated Temple to spoil the debut of Owls coach Diane Richardson.

Princeton won its 16th straight regular-season game dating to last season. Prior to the game, the Tigers honored its 2021-22 campaign with a banner unveiling and ring ceremony. The Tigers pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the NCAA Tournament, upending Kentucky in the first round.

Jasha Clinton scored 15 points and Tiarra East had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Temple, which was just 18-of-62 shooting.