No. 1 UConn beats No. 20 Louisville 79-66 in Armed Forces Classic

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Sarah Strong had 21 points and nine rebounds, and top-ranked UConn opened its title defense with a 79-66 win over No. 20 Louisville on Tuesday night.

This was the first time the Armed Forces Classic featured women’s basketball teams. The game was supposed to be played at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, but it was moved to the Naval Academy because of the government shutdown.

Azzi Fudd scored 20 points for UConn, which has not lost a season opener since 1995.

The Huskies (1-0) started fast in their first game after losing No. 1 WNBA draft pick Paige Bueckers. Fudd and KK Arnold made 3-pointers to give the Huskies an early 8-0 lead, and it was 14-1 after a fast-break basket by Arnold.

Laura Ziegler had 16 points and 18 rebounds for Louisville (0-1), which steadied itself a bit after entering the second quarter down 25-9. It was 44-23 at halftime, and the Cardinals went on a late 10-0 run to cut a 20-point deficit in half in the fourth. There wasn’t enough time to make UConn sweat it out too much, though.

NO. 5 LSU 108, HOUSTON CHRISTIAN 55

BATON ROGUE, La. (AP) — MiLaysia Fulwiley had 21 points and seven steals in her LSU debut to help the Tigers rout Houston Christian.

Fulwiley, a South Carolina junior guard transfer who was one of the most sought-after players in the portal, sparked LSU’s 10-0 run to close the first half when the Tigers had five steals in the final two minutes to build a 53-27 lead.

Returning starters Mikaylah Williams and Flau’Jae Johnson added 14 and 12 points, respectively, for LSU. ZaKiyah Johnson had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and fellow freshman Grace Knox added 10 points.

Grace Booth had a team-high 17 points for Houston Christian.

LSU head coach Kim Mulkey, now 23-3 in season openers, played more than 15 different lineup combinations. All 12 Tigers who played scored.

NO. 9 NC STATE 80, NO. 8 TENNESSEE 77

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Khamil Pierre made the go-ahead layup in the final minute and Zamareya Jones hit two key free throws with 1.9 seconds left to help N.C. State beat Tennessee in the season opener for both teams.

Pierre finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds in her first game with the Wolfpack (1-0) after transferring from Vanderbilt. Jones had nine of her 18 points in the final quarter to help N.C. State push through in a top-10 matchup.

Jones’ fourth quarter included a run of seven straight, including a tying 3-pointer with 3:21 left. Tilda Trygger added 19 points and eight rebounds, one being an offensive board that helped the Wolfpack burn late clock and set up Jones’ free throws.

Talaysia Cooper had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Vols (0-1), who had the ball with a final chance to extend the game. But Tennessee had trouble getting the ball inbounds near midcourt, leaving freshman Mia Pauldo to force a desperation heave that wasn’t close to end it.

NO. 13 MICHIGAN 100, CANISIUS 40

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Mila Holloway scored 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting, added eight assists and seven steals and Michigan opened the season with a win over Canisius.

Olivia Olson added 18 points and Ashley Sofilkanich, who transferred from Bucknell after being the Patriot League Player of the Year and surpassed 1,000 career points, and Te’Yala Delfosse both scored 14 for the Wolverines, who shot 52% and had 25 steals while forcing 45 turnovers.

Mary Copple had eight points to lead Canisius, which went 12 of 31 from the field (39%). Michigan had 13 field goals in the third quarter alone.

NO. 18 SOUTHERN CAL 87, NEW MEXICO STATE 48

LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA transfer Londynn Jones scored 16 points, touted freshman Jazzy Davidson added 14 points in her debut and Southern Cal opened the season with a rout of New Mexico State as star guard JuJu Watkins watched from the bench.

Watkins will miss the season while recovering from a torn ACL that occurred in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in March. With her signature bun sticking straight back instead of on top of her head, Watkins cheered and patted teammates encouragingly during timeouts.

Davidson started slowly, missing all three of her shots while committing three turnovers in eight minutes of the first quarter. She missed all seven of her 3-point attempts but made 6 of 7 free throws to go with five rebounds and four assists and she didn’t have another turnover.

The Aggies came out strongly, taking a 13-12 lead before the Trojans scored the final eight points to fuel a dominant run.

Lucia Yenes scored a career-high 27 points for the Aggies (0-1). Imani Warren added 11 while picking up four fouls. The rest of the team was a combined 5 of 22 from the field.

NO. 23 MICHIGAN STATE 125, MERCYHURST 39

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Theryn Hallock and Grace VanSlooten combined for 37 points on 16 of 21 shooting, Kennedy Blair had a double-double and Michigan State opened the season with a record-breaking win over Mercyhurst.

The Spartans set records for points in a game and margin of victory.

Hallock scored 19 points, VanSlooten 18 and Blair had 14, on 6-of-8 shooting, and 12 assists. Four other Spartans reached double figures. Rashunda Jones and reserve Amy Terrian both had 15, and backups Emma Shumate and Jalyn Brown had 14 and 13, respectively, off the bench.

Michigan State shot 62% with 13 3-pointers and had just three turnovers while turning 36 Mercyhurst turnovers into 62 points.

Lena Walz and Cici Hernandez both had nine points for Mercyhurst, under first year Erin Mills-Reid.

The Spartans scored the first nine points of the game and after the Lakers hit a 3-pointer reeled off 16 straight points. Mercyhurst knocked down another three and Michigan State finished the quarter with 11 straight points for a 36-6 lead.

NO. 24 RICHMOND 83, MOUNT ST. MARY’S 49

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Maggie Doogan, the reigning Atlantic-10 player of the year, had 28 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, leading Richmond to a victory over Mount St. Mary’s.

Coming off a 28-7 season that included the first NCAA Tournament win and a program-record 17-game winning streak, the Spiders got right back to business with a dominating win.

Rachel Ullstrom and freshman reserve Ava Persichetti both hit four 3-pointers and added 12 points for the Spiders, who went 15 of 38 behind the arc.

Berlynn Carlson scored 12 points for the Mountaineers, who were 3 of 17 from deep and had 17 turnovers.

The Spiders were 6 of 12 on 3-pointers — 1 of 6 inside the arc — and raced to a 20-6 lead after one quarter. The Mountaineers were 2 of 11 from the field with six turnovers.