No. 1/1 UConn, No. 7/7 Louisville and Rutgers remained undefeated in conference action while Temple and USF improved to 2-1 in league play on a busy Saturday around the American Athletic Conference.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had a game-high 21 points leading UConn to a 90-49 win over Memphis at FedEx Forum. She paced four Huskies in double figures. Breanna Stewart had 17 points, Bria Hartley added 13 points and Stefanie Dolson pulled down her seventh double-double of the year (12 points, 10 rebounds) while scoring her 1,500th career point in the process. Ariel Hearn had a team-high 20 points for the Tigers including five 3-pointers. Pa’Sonna Hope fell just shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Six of the nine boards by Hope came off the offensive glass.
Louisville defeated Cincinnati 64-45 Saturday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center. Shoni Schimmel led all scorers with a game-high 21 points in a tough-shooting day for both teams. The Cardinals shot 32.8 percent from the field (20-for-61) while the Bearcats made 16-of-45 field-goals (.356). Asia Taylor had a team-high nine rebounds for Louisville. Kayla Cook and Jasmine Whitfield paced Cincinnati with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Jeanise Randolph led the squad defensively with 14 rebounds and a career-high six blocks.
Kahleah Copper scored a game-high 25 points leading Rutgers to a 68-47 win over Houston at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights trailed by one point at the break but outscored the Cougars 42-20 in the second half to take the win. Betnijah Laney had 17 rebounds and a career-high 15 boards for Rutgers while Syessence Davis dished out a game-high seven assists with no turnovers. Marissa Ashton led Houston with 19 points off the bench. Yasmeen Thompson had 12 points, 10 boards and four blocks while Te’onna Campbell led the team in rebounds with 11.
Temple picked up a 75-54 win over UCF Saturday afternoon at McGonigle Hall. Tyonna Williams led the Owls with 19 points. Shi-Heria Shipp had 13 points and 10 rebounds while Monaye Merritt passed out nine assists for a new career-high. The Knights got a team-high 13 points from Zykira Lewis. The Owl defense limited UCF leading scorer Briahanna Jackson to 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting from the field.
Akil Simpson scored her 1,000th career-point in SMU’s loss to USF at Moody Coliseum. She became the 21st Mustang to reach the 1,000 point club but SMU dropped its first home game of the year with the 76-62 loss. Keena Mays had a game-high 26 points for the Mustangs. Courtney Williams paced four USF players in double-digit scoring with 14 points. Akila McDonald had 11 points and 11 rebounds while Shalethia Stringfield added 12 points and six assists off the bench, including a perfect 8-for-8 outing at the charity stripe.
Conference play resumes on Tuesday, Jan. 7 with four games around the league. Two games will air live on The American Digital Network -- Temple at USF ( 7 p.m. ET) and Memphis at SMU (8 p.m. ET).