Women's Basketball

The American Today: UConn Cruises in Win Over Notre Dame

The American went 5-2 during Saturday women's basketball action, including No. 3/3 UConn's win over No. 2/1 Notre Dame in the Jimmy V Classic.

No. 3/3 UConn 76, No. 2/1 Notre Dame 58

Morgan Tuck scored a career-high 25 points and Kiah Stokes added 18 rebounds to help No. 3/3 UConn beat No. 2/1 Notre Dame 76-58 in the Jimmy V Classic in South Bend, Ind. In the first meeting since the two teams played last April in the national championship game, the Huskies rallied from a 10-point first half deficit before Tuck and Stokes took over, keying a 22-4 run heading into the break and giving UConn control of the game.

Tulane 74, NR/RV Arkansas-Little Rock 58

Tulane picked up a 74-58 road win over NR/RV Arkansas-Little Rock (UALR) at the Jack Stephens Center, handing UALR its first loss of the season. The Green Wave were the first team this season to score 60+ points on a Trojans defense that ranked sixth in the country. Leslie Vorpahl tied her career high with a 22-point performance. The sophomore connected on 4-of-6 from 3-point range on Saturday, also tying a career high for made 3-pointers.

East Carolina 76, Ohio 68

Jada Payne, Jasmine Phillips and Shae Nelson each scored in double figures as East Carolina topped Ohio 76-68 and handed the Bobcats its first loss of the season. Payne finished with a game-high 22 points on 6-for-11 shooting overall, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range. Phillips scored 18 and grabbed eight rebounds and Nelson also shot 4-for-6 from three to finish with 14 points. The Pirates outscored the Bobcats 24-5 in bench points and 15-4 on second-chance baskets.

Tulsa 87, Valparaiso 63

Tulsa set a school record with 15 3-pointers, five players scored in double-digits and Ashley Clark had a double-double en route to an 87-63 win over Valparaiso at the Athletics Recreation Center. The Hurricane moved to 4-4 on the season while the Crusaders fell to 3-5 overall. Kadan Brady tallied a team-best 17 points while Hughes came in off the bench and tallied a career-high 16 points. Clark tallied 11 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. Tulsa's 3-point mark topped the old record of 11 made treys set three times against Boise State (2003), Nevada (2003) and Hawaii (2004). 

Memphis 62, Central Michigan 61

Taylor Williams tied up a rebound off a missed Central Michigan free-throw that would have forced overtime in a 62-61 Memphis win at Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The Tigers (4-4) held on for the win and evened their record to .500 despite watching a 21-point second half lead dwindle away. Ariel Hearn finished with 17 points to lead Memphis. Asia Fuqua-Bey added 16 points on 8-for-12 shooting, adding two assists, one block and a steal in 36 minutes.

FIU 66, UCF 57

UCF forced FIU to tally nearly as many turnovers (21) as made baskets (22), but couldn’t capitalize off the Panthers’ errors, dropping a 66-57 decision to FIU in Miami. Brittni Montgomery and Aliyah Gregory led the Knights in scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Andrea Hines contributed eight points, seven assists and six rebounds for UCF. The Knights held a 29-8 advantage in bench points and led 32-24 in points in the paint.

RV/RV Arizona State 77, SMU 42

Kiara Perry had a career-high 16 points, but SMU could not hang on as RV/RV Arizona State defeated the Mustangs 77-42 Saturday afternoon in Tempe, Ariz. The Sun Devils (6-1) opened the contest on an 11-0 run and prevented SMU (4-4) from scoring until 2:59 into the game. Arizona State didn’t let down in the second half and pulled away with a 21-1 start to the second period. Alicia Froling added 11 points join Perry as SMU’s double-digit scorers. Gabrielle Wilkins collected a season and game-high 10 rebounds.