No. 7 Southern California blew an 18-point lead but survived a rocky finish to defeat No. 4 UConn 72-70 on Saturday in Hartford, Conn.
JuJu Watkins poured in 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including six points in the final four-plus minutes as USC (8-4) regained the lead and didn’t let go again.
Watkins, who added six rebounds, five assists and three blocks, began the day third in scoring in Division I at 24.7 points per game. Teammate Kiki Iriafen added 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong each scored 22 points for UConn (10-2), which trailed 47-29 one minute into the third quarter. However, Bueckers scored nine points in the third as the Huskies closed within six heading to the fourth.
South Florida 65, No. 9 Duke 56
The Bulls built a big lead early and held off the Blue Devils in a nonconference matchup at Tampa.
South Florida’s Sammie Puisis scored 14 of her team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter. After Taina Mair hit a 3-pointer to pull Duke (10-3) within three in the first minute of the fourth, L’or Mputu answered with a layup.
Puisis then scored the Bulls’ next nine points during an 11-4 run and the lead was back to 10. Her 3-pointer with 2:32 to play made it a 12-point game, and the Blue Devils never got closer than seven again.
Mputu finished with 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting and added 11 rebounds. Vittoria Blasigh and Carla Brito netted 10 points apiece for South Florida (7-6). Toby Fournier paced Duke with 11 points, and Mair had nine.
No. 12 TCU 92, UCF 52
Madison Connor scored 20 of her 24 points in the first half as the visiting Horned Frogs blew out the short-handed Knights in the Big 12 Conference opener for each team in Orlando, Fla.
Sedona Prince added 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and chipped in seven rebounds and four blocks for TCU (12-1, 1-0 Big 12). Hailey Van Lith contributed 14 points and seven assists.
The Knights (7-4, 0-1) were without their top two scorers, Kaitlin Peterson (sixth in the nation at 22.4 points per game) and Hannah Gusters (16.4 ppg). Emely Rodriguez led UCF with 17 points and Nevaeh Brown added 11, though they combined to shoot 11 of 34 from the field.
Colorado 65, No. 14 West Virginia 60
Lior Garzon scored 12 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter, including nine straight for the Buffaloes, who erased an 16-point deficit and knocked off the Mountaineers to open Big 12 Conference play in Boulder, Colo.
Frida Formann led Colorado (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-8 success from 3-point range. Jade Masogayo added 18 points and seven rebounds. The Buffaloes hit 9 of 11 shots from the field in the fourth quarter to finish the game at 54.3 percent from the floor.
Jordan Harrison netted 18 points and JJ Quinerly had 16 for West Virginia (10-2, 0-1), which shot just 39.2 percent from the floor and 6 of 23 from long range.
No. 17 Georgia Tech 72, No. 23 Nebraska 61
Dani Carnegie scored 20 points and Kara Dunn finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and four steals as the Yellow Jackets defeated the visiting Cornhuskers in Atlanta to remain unbeaten.
Chazadi Wright added 15 points, Tonie Morgan chipped in 10 and Carnegie contributed eight rebounds for Georgia Tech (13-0), which prevailed despite shooting only 38.7 percent from the field and going 6-of-24 on 3-pointers.
Alexis Markowski topped Nebraska (10-2) with 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting, but her teammates went 15-of-48 from the floor. The Cornhuskers shot 34.3 percent overall and made just 6 of 23 tries from deep.
No. 18 Tennessee 102, Tulsa 61
Sara Puckett led five scorers in double figures with 17 points as the Lady Volunteers clobbered the Golden Hurricane in the West Palm Beach Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Puckett, who entered the game averaging 7.1 points, netted 12 in the second quarter as Tennessee (11-0) outscored Tulsa 41-11. Jewel Spear finished with 16 points, Zee Spearman 15 and Ruby Whitehorn and Talaysia Cooper 13 apiece.
Delanie Crawford notched 17 points, Mady Cartwright added 12 and Jade Clack 11 for Tulsa (6-6).
No. 19 North Carolina 90, Norfolk State 47
The Tar Heels built a double-digit lead less than five minutes into the game and easily defeated the Spartans in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Lanie Grant led six scorers in double figures with 15 points for North Carolina (12-2). Grace Townsend followed with 14, Maria Gakdeng had 11 with seven rebounds and Lexi Donarski scored 11 points, including nine on three 3-pointers as the Tar Heels leaped ahead 29-8 by the end of the first quarter.
Diamond Johnson netted 19 points but went only 8-for-22 from the floor for Norfolk State (11-4), which had a four-game winning streak snapped. Anjanae Richardson added 11 points but had six of the Spartans’ 24 turnovers.
No. 24 Cal, 69, Fordham 53
Ioanna Krimili finished with 19 points and Ugonne Onyiah had 15 on 6-of-6 shooting as the Golden Bears built an early lead and kept the Rams at arm’s length most of the game in Berkeley, Calif.
Krimili had eight points in the first quarter, including five points during an 11-0 run. Cal (12-1) led by 12 after the first quarter, saw Fordham draw within three points with under four minutes left in the second, then gradually pulled away again.
Taylor Donaldson scored a season-high 24 points on 10-of-24 shooting for Fordham (6-4), but none of her teammates netted more than eight points. The Rams shot 32.2 percent from the floor and had a four-game winning streak snapped.
No. 25 Ole Miss 78, Mississippi Valley State 44
The Rebels grabbed an early lead over the Devilettes and kept adding on, winning their third straight game and improving to 6-0 this season at their home arena in Oxford, Miss.
Sira Thienou led Ole Miss (8-3) with 18 points, including seven in the first quarter as the Rebels built a 17-10 lead. She added seven rebounds and four steals. Madison Scott and Starr Jacobs scored 13 points apiece, with Scott chipping in 10 rebounds and six assists. Kennedy Todd-Williams and Kharyssa Richardson contributed 12 points apiece.
D’Yanna Maxey topped Mississippi Valley State (1-10) with 10 points, and Jaeda Murphy added nine.
–Field Level Media
