Khamil Pierre scored 21 points and her final basket put No. 9 North Carolina State into the lead with 46 seconds left in an 80-77 neutral-site victory against No. 8 Tennessee in Tuesday’s season opener in Greensboro, N.C.
After four lead changes in a two-and-a-half-minute span, Pierre scored in transition to give the Wolfpack a 78-77 lead. Zamareya Jones made two free throws with two seconds remaining to finalize the score.
NC State’s Tilda Trygger had 14 of her 19 points in the first half, Jones finished with 18 points and Zoe Brooks added 13. The Wolfpack trailed by 10 points in the second quarter but closed the gap to 44-40 by halftime.
Talaysia Cooper scored 17 of her 23 points in the first half for Tennessee, which also received 15 points from Janiah Barker and 13 points from reserve Jaida Civil. On Sunday, Tennessee dismissed starting senior guard Ruby Whitehorn from the team following an arrest.
No. 1 UConn 79, No. 20 Louisville 66
Sarah Strong poured in 21 points and Azzi Fudd racked up 20 points as defending national champion UConn rolled at Annapolis, Md.
The Huskies established a 25-9 first-quarter lead and expanded it to 44-23 by halftime, so their 4-for-26 shooting on 3-pointers for the game didn’t cost them.
Laura Ziegler’s 16 points and Skylar Jones’ 13 points led Louisville, which shot 34.4% from the field and collected only 12 offensive rebounds.
The game was originally scheduled to be held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, but the site was changed due to the U.S. government shutdown.
No. 24 Richmond 83, Mount St. Mary’s 49
Maggie Doogan’s 28 points and 13 rebounds carried the host Spiders at Richmond, Va.
Doogan went 10-for-16 from the field, including two 3-pointers. Rachel Ullstrom and reserve Ava Persichetti each scored 12 points for Richmond, which led 36-17 at halftime. The Spiders hit 15 three-pointers, nearly outscoring the Mountaineers from beyond the arc alone.
Reserve Berlynn Carlson’s 12 points were tops for Mount St. Mary’s, which shot 19-for-53 from the field and committed 17 turnovers.
–Field Level Media
