COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 17 points to lead South Carolina’s balanced offense, and the second-ranked Gamecocks used a big run in the third and fourth quarters to pull away for an 83-52 victory over Missouri in their SEC opener Thursday night.
Te-Hina Paopao and Ashlyn Watkins added 11 points apiece, and Tessa Johnson had 10, helping the Gamecocks (13-1, 1-0) beat the Tigers (11-5, 0-1) for the fourth straight time and win their eighth straight overall since a loss to UCLA on Nov. 24.
South Carolina, which has struggled in past years at Mizzou Arena, led 36-26 at the break and was still clinging to a 48-37 advantage after the Tigers’ Ashton Judd hit a 3-pointer with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. But after Paopao was fouled by Nyah Wilson at the other end, her two free throws started a 17-0 run that stretched into the fourth.
Judd led the Tigers with 15 points. Grace Slaughter finished with 13.
NO. 5 TEXAS 80, OKLAHOMA 73
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Freshman Jordan Lee scored 17 points off the bench and No. 5 Texas rallied to defeat No. 9 Oklahoma in the SEC opener for both teams.
Rori Harmon scored 16 points, Taylor Jones added 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting and Kyla Oldacre had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Longhorns (14-1), who won their seventh straight game. Lee played 33 minutes and was 6 for 11 from the field, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
Texas snapped a two-game losing streak against Oklahoma dating to last season, when the teams were Big 12 Conference foes.
Payton Verhulst scored 23 points and Liz Scott added 14 for Oklahoma (12-2). The Sooners squandered a 12-point lead in the second quarter, but kept it close, even without leading scorer Raegan Beers, who got in early foul trouble and scored 11 points in 17 minutes.
NO 6 LSU 98, ARKANSAS 64
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Flau’Jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow each finished with a double-double and No. 6 LSU routed Arkansas in the SEC opener for both teams.
Johnson had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Morrow added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Kailyn Gilbert scored 16 points and Mikaylah Williams had 14 for unbeaten LSU.
Jersey Wolfenbarger, a transfer from Arkansas, finished with eight points and five rebounds.
The Tigers (16-0) shot 50% (39 for 78) from the field and made 9 of 23 3-point attempts. They led Arkansas by as many as 49 points.
Izzy Higginbottom led the Razorbacks (7-9) with 27 points on 10-for-21 shooting. Carly Keats scored 18.
NO. 8 MARYLAND 78, RUTGERS 61
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Shyanne Sellers scored 22 points and Allie Kubek added 17 to help No. 8 Maryland stay unbeaten with a victory over Rutgers.
Kaylene Smikle scored 13 points for the Terrapins (13-0, 3-0 Big Ten), who led by 18 at halftime and weren’t threatened after that. Destiny Adams led the Scarlet Knights (8-6, 0-3) with 15 points before fouling out with 7:47 remaining.
Rutgers turned the ball over 24 times.
NO. 13 Georgia TECH 85, SYRACUSE 68
ATLANTA (AP) — Dani Carnegie scored 28 points and Zoesha Smith recorded a double-double and 13th ranked Georgia Tech beat Syracuse.
Carnegie finished 11-for-18 shooting — including 6 for 8 from 3-point range — and Smith scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Smith and Tonie Morgan each shot 6 for 13 and Morgan scored 15 points and distributed six assists. Despite a 2-for-9 shooting performance, Kara Dunn scored 14 points going 10 for 14 from the foul line.
Georgi Woolley scored 22 points for Syracuse and Kyra Wood 12 for the Orange.
NO. 13 GEORGIA TECH 85, SYRACUSE 68
Dani Carnegie scored 28 points and Zoesha Smith recorded a double-double and 13th ranked Georgia Tech beat Syracuse 85-68 on Thursday night.
Carnegie finished 11-for-18 shooting — including 6 for 8 from 3-point range — and Smith scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Smith and Tonie Morgan each shot 6 for 13 and Morgan scored 15 points and distributed six assists. Despite a 2-for-9 shooting performance, Kara Dunn scored 14 points going 10 for 14 from the foul line.
Georgi Woolley scored 22 points for Syracuse and Kyra Wood 12 for the Orange.
NO. 14 DUKE 86, BOSTON COLLEGE 59
BOSTON (AP) — Ashlon Jackson, Taina Mair and Reigan Richardson scored 14 points apiece on Thursday night to help No. 14 Duke beat Boston College.
Oluchi Okananwa added 12 points and Toby Fournier 11 for Duke (11-3, 2-0 ACC). Jackson, Mair and Jadyn Donovan — who finished with 10 rebounds and six points — each had three of the Blue Devils’ 14 steals.
Dontavia Waggoner led Boston College (10-6, 1-2) with 20 points.
NO. 15 TENNESSEE 91, TEXAS A&M 78
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Jewel Spear hit six 3-pointers and scored 20 points and No. 15 Tennessee used a strong first half to beat Texas A&M 91-78 in a Southeastern Conference opener.
The Lady Vols hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter to take a 22-15 lead and took command with a 14-0 run in the middle of the second quarter to make it 48-26 at halftime.
Ruby Whitehorn started the critical run with a jumper that made it 28-20 barely two minutes into the second quarter. Six different players scored baskets in the spurt with Whitehorn getting two. Talaysia Cooper’s jumper made it 40-20 at the 4:18 mark.
The Aggies only missed two shots in their 4-minute, 19-second drought but had five turnovers. They finished with 25 turnovers — the 10th Tennessee opponent to have at least 20 — and the Lady Vols turned those into 34 points. Tennessee had 19 turnovers for 27 A&M points.
Cooper had 16 points for the Lady Vols (13-0), Whitehorn added 15 and Zee Spearman 14. Tennessee was 10 of 23 behind the arc and shot 47% overall.
Aicha Coulibaly scored 20 points for the Aggies (7-6), Sahara Jones had 17 and Janae Kent 10.
Tennessee shot 54% in the first half while A&M shot 44% and was just 3 of 9 from the foul line.
NO. 16 KENTUCKY 91, Mississippi State 69
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Dazia Lawrence scored 28 points, Georgia Amoore added 24 and No. 16 Kentucky opened the Southeastern Conference season with a school-record 18 3-pointers and a win over Mississippi State.
The Wildcats (12-1, 1-0) went 18 of 33 (54.5%) behind the arc with Lawrence hitting 7 of 11 and Amoore making 7 of 10. Amelia Hassett added three 3s and finished with 14 points.
Teonni Key had 10 points and 13 rebounds. Clara Strack had 11 rebounds and five blocks and with Key blocking four shots it marked the seventh time they had at least nine. Kentucky has already surpassed 100 blocks; the school record is 181.
The previous record for 3s in a game was 16.
Jerkaila Jordan scored 17 points for the Bulldogs (13-2, 0-1) and Quanirah Montague and Eniya Russell each scored 13.
NO. 19 ALABAMA 79, FLORIDA 69
TUSCALOOSA. Ala. (AP) — Zaay Green had 27 points and six assists to help No. 19 Alabama beat Florida for its 13th straight home victory.
Alabama (14-1), which won an SEC opener for the first time since the 2021-22 season, is off to its best start in program history, having only lost to now-No. 20 California.
Alabama was without leading scorer Sarah Ashlee Barker, averaging 16.1 points per game, for most of the game after she suffered an injury with eight minutes to go in the second quarter. She was helped off the floor by the athletic staff and did not return.
Diana Collins added 12 points and Aaliyah Nye had 10 for Alabama. Essence Cody grabbed 11 rebounds to go with nine points. Green was 12 of 22 from the field, while her teammate went 20 of 41.
Liv McGill scored 18 points and Ra Shaya Kyle recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds for Florida (9-6, 0-1). Jeriah Warren and Alexia Mobley each scored 12.
CLEMSON 69, NO. 20 CALIFORNIA 58
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Loyal McQueen scored 18 points, Mia Moore added 14 and Clemson defeated No. 20 California.
The Tigers had the 15th lead change in the midst of a 7-0 run in the third quarter with Anya Poole’s three-point play making it 47-42. Moore then scored the first seven points of a 12-0 run to close the quarter for a 61-46 lead entering the fourth.
The Golden Bears had a 7-0 run early in the fourth but could cut the deficit to single figures.
Tessa Miller added 11 points for the Tigers (9-5, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Raven Thompson had 10 off the bench.
Clemson scored 23 points off 15 Cal turnovers and only had 10 giveaways for five points.
Ioanna Krimili had 18 points for the Golden Bears (13-2, 1-1) Ugonne Onyiah added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Marta Suarez had 12 points.
NO. 25 OLE MISS 85, AUBURN 58
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — KK Deans scored 20 points and made four 3-pointers, Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 11 of her 19 points at the free-throw line and No. 25 Mississippi beat Auburn to begin SEC play.
Ole Miss built a double-digit lead a little more than six minutes into the game during a 12-0 run. The Rebels led 26-10 at the end of the first quarter and 45-20 at the break after Auburn went scoreless for the final four minutes of the first half.
Tameiya Sadler gave Ole Miss its largest lead of the game at 64-34 with 2:01 left in the third.
The Rebels scored 37 points off 29 Auburn turnovers. Freshman Sira Thienou had a team-high seven steals to go with 12 points and Todd-Williams added five steals. The program record for steals is 12, set by Armintie Price against Illinois in the 2006-07 season.
Sadler finished with 10 points for Mississippi (10-3), which won its fourth consecutive SEC opener.
DeYona Gaston led Auburn (9-5) with 30 points after making eight field goals and 14 free throws. Mar’shaun Bostic added 11 points.
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