The women's basketball season officially tipped off on Friday as seven of nine teams in action picked up wins.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis knocked down a career-high 10 3-pointers on the way to 30 points, while Breanna Stewart added 15 points and a career-best seven assists in UConn's 102-43 rout win over UC Davis Friday night at The Pavilion. The Huskies improved to 26-4 in regular-season openers under 30th-year coach Auriemma and own a 19-game winning streak in openers.
Mosqueda-Lewis matched the school record for most treys in a game, set by Maya Moore in 2009 vs. Syracuse. The Huskies' 18 total 3s tied the school record set in that same game.The Huskies hit 11 of 16 first-half 3s for 69 percent, then seven more over the final 20 minutes.
UC Davis drew 4,712 fans to The Pavilion, a record for a women's basketball game. It topped 4,675 against Chico State in 1999.
UCF 94, Florida Atlantic 74
Zykira Lewis' first basket came 1:43 into the UCF women's basketball team's season-opener on Friday morning. Her last one found the bottom of the net with 4:14 to go in the game. And in between she managed to net 41 points - the second-best scoring output in program history to lift the Knights (1-0) to a 94-74 win over Florida Atlantic at CFE Arena.
The sophomore also tied several school marks in her the record setting game - she tied the UCF record for 3-pointers in a game (8); tied for second among best 3-point field goal percentage performances (8-of-10) and tied for eighth for most field goals made in a game (14).
UCF's 94 points marked the team's best day on the court since 1998. Nyala Shuler came in off the bench and put up 12 points and seven rebounds for the Knights, while senior Andrea Hines dished out a career-best 10 assists.
East Carolina 83, Fairfield 68
Making her debut with the Pirates, junior DeVaughn Gray tied the program record with seven 3-pointers made and redshirt junior Jada Payne recorded a double-double, as East Carolina (ECU) won its third straight season-opener with an 83-68 victory over Fairfield at the Thomas M. Ryan Center.
Gray shot 9-of-13 overall and 7-of-8 from 3-point range to lead all scorers with 25 points. The seven treys tied Misty Horne (1998 vs. Norfolk State) and Justine Allpress (1996 vs. Hampton) for the most in a game in program history. Payne scored 21 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for her eighth career double-double.
ECU finished the day shooting 32-of-74 (.432) overall from the field and 12-of-22 (.545) from deep, while making 7-of-10 free throws. The 12 combined threes were tied for second in program history and marked the most in a single game since the Pirates hit 13 against Southern Miss during the 2010-11 campaign.
Tulane 87, Mississippi Valley State 47
Tulane (1-0) rolled to an 87-47 victory over Mississippi Valley State (0-1) Friday evening at Devlin Fieldhouse. The Green Wave's 87 points were the most in an opener since Nov. 10, 2000, when Tulane defeated Grambling 92-64. In addition, Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton is now 17-4 in season openers, with a perfect 12-0 mark at home.
Tulane totaled 47 bench points in tonight's victory, spreading the wealth amongst 11 different players. Kolby Morgan had a team-high 16 points on 7-11 shooting, while Jamie Kaplan and Danielle Blagg also registered double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Houston 46, North Texas 42
Houston defeated North Texas on the road, 46-42, on Friday night at The Super Pit. The win gives new head coach Ronald Hughey a victory in his first official game leading the UH program.
The Cougars (1-0) held North Texas (0-1) to 27.1% shooting and won the battle of the glass, 48-32.
Houston also held the Mean Green to just one field goal in the final 11:44 of the first half. The Cougars went on a 17-4 run over that stretch, highlighted by a pair of Alecia Smith three-pointers, to take a 12-point lead into the break that they would not relinquish. Smith and Tyler Gilbert paced the Cougars with 10 points each, and Gilbert finished one rebound shy of her first career double-double, with nine. Jessieka Palmer added seven boards and a career-best four assists.
Temple 75, La Salle 72
Sophomore Feyonda Fitzgerald knocked down a career-high 29 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 34 seconds remaining, as Temple defeated La Salle, 75-72, in the season opener for both teams at the Liacouras Center.
Erica Covile went 7-13 from the field and added 17 points and three blocks for the Owls, while Safiya Martin pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for Temple.
La Salle surged late, taking a 70-65 lead on a lay-up with 3:41 to play in regulation. Temple was able to cut the advantage to 70-69 on bucket from Fitzgerald, buta La Salle jumper at 2:42 make it 72-69. A pair of free throws from Tyonna Williams cut the lead to 72-71 and Fitzgerald's jumper with 34 ticks on the clock put Temple ahead for good.
Memphis 79, Missouri State 63
Missouri State converted three straight Memphis turnovers to points to cut what had been a 10-point lead to three at 63-60 with 3:51 left in the game when sophomore guard Taylor Williams drained a corner three and was fouled to help Memphis seize back the momentum in a 79-63 season-opening win over Missouri State (0-1), Friday evening at Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Williams finished with a career-high 16 points in the non-conference win.
In total, four Tigers scored double-digit points in the win, led by Mooriah Rowser's 21 points. Williams and Ariel Hearn each added 16 points and Brianna Wright added a double-double of 11 points and 16 rebounds in the win.
It is the first double-double of Wright's Tiger career and was Rowser's fourth 20-point night of her career.
Northern Iowa 69, Tulsa 66
Mariah Turner tallied her second career double-double with a personal-best 24 points, as well as 11 rebounds, and Kadan Brady added 11 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Tulsa women’s basketball team dropped a 69-66 decision to Northern Iowa on Friday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. TU fell to 0-1 on the season, while UNI moved to 1-0 overall.
Along with Turner and Brady, Ashley Clark added nine points, Teanna Reid tallied eight points and Kelsee Grovey added seven points. Brady also pulled down eight rebounds, had a team-best five assists, and her and Reid had three steals.
Tulsa outshot the Panthers from the field with a 44-percent clip, including 31-percent behind the arc, and 56-percent from the free-throw line. UNI was 40.3-percent from the field, 45-percent from three-point range and 42-percent from the charity stripe.
Northern Colorado 57, SMU 44
Destynee Hives-McCray posted a team-high 13 points and added seven rebounds, but SMU fell to Northern Colorado, 57-44, in the season-opener on Friday night at Moody Coliseum.
Freshman Alicia Froling nearly posted a double-double in her first-career collegiate game. The Queensland, Australia, native finished with nine points and nine boards. Sophomore Kiara Perry added nine points and eight rebounds for the Mustangs.
SMU made a late push with just over six minutes remaining in regulation. Freshman Aurmani DeGar’s three-pointer ignited a 15-3 rally that brought the Mustangs within eight, but Northern Colorado would held on for the 57-44 victory.