Women’s Top 25 capsules: Despite injury, top-ranked UConn routs No. 15 Maryland 97-72

Kia Nurse scored 21 points to lead six UConn players in double figures as the top-ranked Huskies routed No. 15 Maryland 97-72 on Sunday in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Huskies improved to 3-0, with every win coming by at least 25 points against Top 25 competition.

Gabby Williams had an unorthodox triple-double for the Huskies: The senior had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 turnovers. She also had five steals.

Two other Huskies had double-doubles. Duke transfer Azura Stevens had 18 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-foot-6 forward made her first start for UConn in place of All-American Katie Lou Samuelson, who sprained her left foot in Friday night’s game against Cal.

Kaila Charles had 29 points and 12 rebounds to lead Maryland (2-20).

(4) South Carolina 94, Wofford 60: A’ja Wilson kept her double-double streak going with 16 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Gamecocks (4-0) to a win over the Terriers (1-2) in Columbia, South Carolina.

It looked early like the senior All-American might have her first game this season without at least 10 points and 10 boards, but she and the Gamecocks shook off a slow start.

Da’ja Green scored 21 points to lead Wofford.

(5) Louisville 74, (10) Oregon 61: Asia Durr scored 26 points and the Cardinals (5-0) dominated early with defense, beating the Ducks (3-1) in the preseason women’s NIT final in Louisville, Kentucky.

Durr had 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first quarter, but then she drew her second foul in the first minute of the second. She sat for 8:54, and yet the Cardinals built their lead to as much as 42-24.

Louisville forced 14 turnovers and got 13 points from their reserves in taking a 16-point lead at halftime.

Oregon drew within 64-53 midway through the fourth quarter, but never got closer.

(6) Notre Dame 72, (18) Oregon State 67: Jackie Young had a career-high 21 points and eight rebounds as the Fighting Irish (3-0) rallied in the second half to defeat the Beavers (2-1) in Corvallis, Oregon.

Arike Ogunbowale added 15 points for the Irish.

Mikayla Pivec had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Oregon State. Marie Gulich added 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Young had two straight layups that the Irish ahead 70-65 with one minute left. Gulich responded with a layin for the Beavers.

Notre Dame missed its next shot, but Jessica Shepard scrambled on the floor to help the Irish secure the rebound.

(7) Mississippi State 91, Southern Miss 56: Roshunda Johnson scored a career-high 29 points as the Bulldogs (3-0) beat the Golden Eagles (3-1) in Starkville, Mississippi.

The Bulldogs also got a double-double from Teaira McCowan with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Victoria Vivians had 15 points and Blair Schaefer finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Johnson made 11 of 20 shots from the field, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range.

Southern Miss was led by Megan Brown, who had 11 points. Shonte Hailes added 10.

(9) Ohio State 85, Washington 76: Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points to lead the Buckeyes (4-1) to a victory over the Huskies (1-2) in Columbus, Ohio.

Stephanie Mavunga added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes struggled on the glass for much of the game, which kept the Huskies within striking distance. Washington trailed by as few as three points on two occasions in the fourth quarter, but Ohio State eventually capitalized on its size advantage in the final minutes.

Kierra Collier and Khayla Rooks each scored 15 points to lead Washington.

Villanova 64, (11) Duke 55: Kelly Jekot scored a career-best 23 points, hitting seven 3-pointers, to help the Wildcats (3-0) upset the Blue Devils (2-1) in Villanova, Pennsylvania.

The Wildcats trailed 30-22 early in the third quarter before heating up from the outside. They scored the next 14 points, including a four-point play by Alex Louin that gave Villanova a 33-30 lead– it’s first of the game. Jekot hit consecutive 3-pointers sandwiched around a layup by Rebecca Greenwell to extend the advantage. Three more 3-pointers by the Wildcats to close the period gave them a 48-36 lead. Duke could only get within eight the rest of the way.

Lexie Brown had 16 points for the Blue Devils.

(12) West Virginia 87, North Florida 59: Teana Muldrow and Katrina Pardee scored 20 points apiece to lift the Mountaineers (3-0) past the Ospreys (2-2) in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Naomi Davenport added 15 points and Kristina King had 14 for West Virginia, which shot 52.5 percent from the field and dominated the boards 47-22 to extend its nonconference home game winbing streak to 35. Chania Ray had 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Tiffany Tolbert had 19 points for North Florida.

(14) Stanford 57, Cal State Bakersfield 34: Alexa Romano scored a career-high 13 points, and the Cardinal (2-2) beat the Roadrunners (1-3) in Stanford, California.

Romano had a 3-pointer as the Cardinal scored the first nine points to the game and led 21-11 at the end of the first quarter. Anna Wilson knocked to three 3-pointers in the second quarter and the Roadrunners missed all 11 of their field goal attempts and Stanford stretched the lead to 36-16.

Bakersfield never really warmed up, finishing 12 of 50 from the field, including 4 of 19 from distance, and 6 of 12 from the foul line. Daije Harris had 10 points for the Roadrunners.

(16) Marquette 83, Loyola-Maryland 63: Allazia Blockton scored 19 points and Erika Davenport added 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Golden Eagles (1-1) to a victory over the Greyhounds (1-3) in Milwaukee.

Danielle King had 13 points and seven assists, Isabelle Spingola 13 points and Lauren Van Kleunen 12 points and seven rebounds for Marquette in its home opener after a season-opening one-point loss to New Mexico.

Sophomore Stephanie Karcz scored a career-best 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Loyola-Maryland.

(17) Florida State 96, Grambling State 53: Imani Wright made a career-high six 3-pointers and scored 22 points in her homecoming game and the Seminoles (4-0) beat the Tigers (1-3) in Grambling, Louisiana, in their first away game against a SWAC opponent.

Both of Wright’s parents (Bridgette Forte-Thomas and Larry Wright) played basketball at Grambling State. Larry Wright had a 12-year pro career (1976-88) that included winning the 1978 NBA championship with the Washington Bullets.

Shakayla Thomas scored 18 points for her 81st double-figure game for Florida State. Deja McKinney scored 17 points for Grambling.

(20) California 89, Brown 79: Kristine Anigwe had 28 points and a career-high 25 rebounds and the Golden Bears (2-1) survived Brown’s (2-1) school-record onslaught of 3-pointers in Providence, Rhode Island.

Shayna Mehta scored a career-best 33 points, hitting a Brown record nine 3-pointers. The team made 16 of 41 attempts.

Cal had 58 rebounds to Brown’s 31. Penina Davidson had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Golden Bears.

(23) Missouri 69, Missouri State 59: Sophie Cunningham scored 26 points with 10-for-14 shooting to lead the Tigers (3-1) to a win over the Lady Bears (1-2) in Springfield, Missouri.

Amber Smith added 17 points, tying a career best, and Cierra Porter hauled in 12 rebounds for Missouri, which shot 53 percent from the field to win its third straight.

Missouri pulled away with an 8-0 burst in the fourth quarter to make it 66-56 with just over two minutes to play. Cunningham had a pair of free throws to spark the run and capped it with a jumper.

Liza Fruendt quickly trimmed the gap to 66-59 with a 3-pointer but Missouri State was held scoreless over the final 2:05.

Fruendt led Missouri State with 29 points, including five 3-pointers.

(25) Kentucky 73, Washington State 68: Maci Morris scored 20 points, Makenzie Cann had a double-double and the Wildcats (3-0) scored the last seven points of the game to defeat the Cougars (1-3) in Pullman.

Morris had 17 points in the second half, including the clinching free throws with seven seconds left. Cann had 15 points, including two free throws with 54 seconds left, and 10 rebounds for her first double-double. Taylor Murray had 13 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Wildcats.

Borislava Hristova had a season-high 25 points for the Cougars and Molina scored 13.