East Carolina 105, USC Upstate 35 - Box Score
It was an absolute route inside Minges Coliseum Thursday night as the East Carolina women's basketball team defeat USC Upstate 105-35. All 13 active Pirates not only played but all 13 scored in the game.
 
The Pirates (2-0) built the fundamentals of their victory on the defensive end as they racked up 32 steals in the game, tied for the second-highest total in a game in program history, as part of a 46-turnover forced effort for the night. 46 turnovers in the most forced in a game since forcing 48 against Virginia Intermont in 2011. For her part, Danae McNeal led the charge with seven takeaways of her own, matching a career high and the 11th most in a game in program history.
 
McNeal was fantastic in the game as she wound up with 17 points, second on the team to Amiya Joyner's 18-point, eight-rebound outing. Joyner was a force, tallying four steals and a pair of blocks to go with her work on the offensive end.
 
Speaking of offense, it was an onslaught that ECU hasn't seen in a while. 105 points was the most since Nov. 11, 2016, and the first time over the century mark at all since Dec. 20, 2017, against Savannah State. Much has been made of the team's improved shooting entering the season and it showed on Thursday as seven different Pirates hit a three-point shot as the team shot 9-17 total on the game, a higher than 50-percent clip from deep.
 
Part of that offensive show was the stellar play of freshman Khia Miller and Karina Gordon who continue to play beyond their years with 14 and 11 points, respectively in the game while also contributing to the team's stifling defense.
 
When all was said and done, the 70-point win was the largest blowout since Nov. 13, 2011, when the Pirates defeated St. Andrews by a 79-point margin.

Rice 69, Abilene Christian 58 - Box Score
The Rice women's basketball team led wire-to-wire en route to a 69-58 victory on the road over Abilene Christian Thursday night at Moody Coliseum. The Owls move to 2-0 to open the season while ACU falls to 1-1.

Malia Fisher and Dominique Ennis led the way for Rice, both dropping 13 points, Fisher scoring hers on 6-of-7 shooting while adding six rebounds, a block and a steal, while Ennis added two rebounds and an assist. Jazzy Owens-Barnett finished with 12 points, two rebounds, a steal and an assist.

As a team, Rice shot 25-of-54 (46%) from the floor and 8-of-27 (30%) from three-point range. The Owls added an 11-of-16 (69%) display from the free throw line. Rice scored 22 points on 13 ACU turnovers.

North Texas 83, Grambling State 60 - Box Score
Senior Jaaucklyn Moore surpassed 1,000 career points in UNT's 83-60 win over Grambling State on Thursday inside The Super Pit.

A transfer from Incarnate Word, who is in her second season with the Mean Green, Moore needed 22 points to reach the milestone entering the contest. Seventeen first half points, including four 3-pointers inched her closer before she hit the mark on a breakaway layup in the third quarter.

Moore led all scorers in the game with 24 points and is the first UNT player to score more than 20 points in a game this season.

DesiRay Kernal added 18 points for the Mean Green in addition to 11 rebounds marking her first double-double at North Texas. The Texas A&M-Commerce transfer converted 13-of-16 free throws, which is the most made free throws in a game for UNT since Denetra Kellum's 14 in 2011.

Memphis 95, Alabama State 51 - Box Score
The University of Memphis women's basketball team picked up its first win of the season tonight after a 95-51 win over Alabama State. Head coach Alex Simmons picked up her first win at the helm of the Tigers and four players scored in double figures.

It was all Memphis (1-1) in the opening quarter after the Tigers took a 16-2 lead into the first media timeout behind nine points from Kai Carter. The Tiger lead would extend to as much as 19 after Destyne Jackson found Jana Sallman in the paint for a tough two points.

The Tigers took a 25-4 lead into the second quarter following a fast-break layup from Jackson as time expired.

Memphis continued its offensive onslaught into the second quarter and took a 29-point lead after a putback layup from Jackson and two made free throws from Ally Hollifield. It was Hollifield who gave the Tigers its largest lead of the half after a short jumper with seven seconds left. Memphis carried 45-12 lead into the break.

Alabama State went shot-for-shot with Memphis in the third quarter to make it a 65-29 game going into the final 10 minutes of play. It was all Memphis in the final minutes of the game; the Tigers posted 11 points in the final two minutes of the game off buckets from Sallman, Hollifield and Raven Sims as they cruised to the 95-51 win.

Madison Griggs and Raven Sims led the way with 18 and 16 points, respectively, while Kai Carter and Destyne Jackson chipped in 11 and 10 points. On the defensive end, the Tigers grabbed 49 rebounds while blocking six shots. Memphis also picked up 17 steals – the most since the 2015-16 season when the Tigers recorded 18 steals against Georgetown.

As a team, the Tigers shot 48-percent from the field while draining seven three-pointers – four of which came from Griggs. She is now 10 three-pointers from breaking the school record (men's and women's basketball) for career three-point field goals made, originally set by Rodney Carney back in 2006.

Georgetown 68, Temple 45 - Box Score
The Temple women's basketball team (1-1, 0-0) suffered its first loss of the season, falling to the Georgetown Hoyas (2-0, 0-0), 68-45. Georgetown was red hot from the field, shooting 53% including 45% from beyond the arc. Rayne Tucker and Tarriyonna Gary led Temple in scoring with 12 points each.

Mercer 70, Florida Atlantic 62 - Box Score
The Florida Atlantic Owls (0-1) fell in a hard-fought 70-62 battle against the Mercer Bears (1-1) to open up their 2023-24 season on Thursday at Hawkins Arena.

It didn't take long for Aniya Hubbard to get back to what she does best, scoring the Owls opening bucket off the tip just three seconds into the contest, 2-0. The Owls and Bears battled through an even 7-7 run over the first five minutes of play as the Owls held a 9-7 advantage at the opening media timeout. Florida Atlantic produced a 7-5 run to extend the Owls' lead to four after an and-1 from Jada Moore to make it 16-12 Florida Atlantic with just 2:49 remaining in the first, however, the Bears rallied over the final two minutes of play to take a 20-18 lead after the first.
 
Much like the first, Hubbard opened the scoring for the Owls, bringing the contest even at 20 on the layup. The Owls then went on a 13-6 run, capped off by a Devyn Scott 3-pointer, to hold a seven-point advantage with just over one minute remaining in the half, 33-26. Evie Van Der Woude scored her first bucket as an Owl at the 24-second mark to keep the Owls lead at six, 35-29, but the Bears scored on a 3-pointer with just a second remaining to cut the Owls' lead to just three at the break, 35-32.
 
The Owls and Bears battled back-and-forth to open the second half, leading to a 40-40 stalemate at the 5:20-minute mark of the third. Aniya Hubbard hit her second three of the contest and tallied a pair of free throws to put the Owls up by five, 45-40, with just under five remaining in the third. However, the Bears locked in over the final five minutes of the third, holding the Owls to just a pair of free throws as they produced a 17-2 run to take a 57-47 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
The Owls attempted to rally in the fourth, going on a 13-2 run to cut the Bears lead down to just two after a free throw from Scott, 64-62, with 1:36 to play. But that was as close as it got as the Owls fell in the 70-62 battle.