TOP 25 ROUNDUP Women's college basketball
No. 1 Duke 108, East Carolina 46
DURHAM, N.C. -- With a showdown against Tennessee looming this weekend, top-ranked Duke got 24 points from Alana Beard and opened the season with a victory over East Carolina. Duke plays No. 2 Tennessee on Sunday in the inaugural Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic in Raleigh. North Carolina State plays No. 4 UConn in the other game. Beard, who led six Blue Devils in double figures, scored 17 points in the first half. Mistie Bass finished with 13 points, Jessica Foley 12, Brooke Smith 11, and Iciss Tillis and Sheanna Mosch 10 apiece.
No. 3 Louisiana St. 78, Arizona 71, OT
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Freshman guard Seimone Augustus scored six of her 27 points in overtime, and third-ranked Louisiana State beat Arizona in the season-opener for both. Shawntinice Polk paced Arizona with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Augustus, who had 15 first-half points on 7-of-10 shooting, hit a jumper and then a fadeaway shot from the corner to give LSU a 71-69 lead with two minutes remaining in overtime. Then she set up Doneeka Hodges on a two-on-one break to give the Tigers a 73-69 bulge.
No. 5 Stanford 64, Rutgers 60
STANFORD, Calif. -- Azella Perryman scored five of her 15 points in the final three minutes, and fifth-ranked Stanford held off Rutgers as began the season. Sebnem Kimyacioglu and Kelley Suminski had 12 points apiece as Stanford opened at home for just the fourth time in 11 years. T'Nae Thiel had 10 points and nine rebounds. Chelsea Newton and Cappie Pondexter scored 14 points each as Rutgers fell to 21-8 in season openers. Mauri Horton added 11 points.
No. 6 Connecticut 85, Wright State 39
STORRS, Conn. -- Sixth-ranked Connecticut followed its perfect season with a less-than-perfect start, but got 18 points from freshman Nicole Wolff and beat Wright State. Diana Taurasi, the lone starter from the last season's 39-0 national championship squad, finished with 15 points and seven assists. The Huskies opened the game with three straight turnovers and finished with 25. They relied on 5-of-5 free-throw shooting and a 3-pointer from Wolff to scratch out a 10-6 lead in the first 6 minutes.
No. 7 Purdue 82, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 59
MILWAUKEE -- Shereka Wright led Purdue with 15 points, and the seventh-ranked Boilermakers beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee while resting their starters for much of the second half of their opener. Wright played a total of 14 minutes, and none of the Boilermakers played more than 16. Maria Viall led the Panthers with 21 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor. She also blocked six shots. The Panthers fell victim to Purdue's man-to-man defense in the first half, when Wisconsin-Milwaukee was hit with 13 turnovers, including nine steals -- five of them by Boilermakers guard Erica Valek.
No. 8 Georgia 79, Chattanooga 58
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Christi Thomas had 23 points and eight rebounds as No. 8 Georgia defeated Chattanooga in the season opener for both teams. Thomas and Kara Braxton combined for 10 points in a 14-2 run early in the second half that put the Lady Dogs ahead 55-37. Chattanooga never got closer than 14 points thereafter. Georgia, whose quickness forced the Lady Mocs into 23 turnovers, led 71-43 midway through the second half. The Lady Dogs hit 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Mary Beth Lycett hit all three of hers and finished with 17 points. Braxton added 11.
No. 13 North Carolina 68, Davidson 46
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Candace Sutton had 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks to lead No. 13 North Carolina to a win over Davidson in the season-opener. Freshman forward La'Tangela Atkinson had 13 points, including going 7-for-8 at the free-throw line. Coretta Brown had 11 points and reserve Carrie Davis added a career-high nine in 14 minutes for the Tar Heels. Courtney Laird and Robyn Flewelling led Davidson with 10 points apiece. Bethany Schott grabbed 10 rebounds as the Wildcats won off the boards 44-43.
No. 14 Penn St. 96, Fairfield 50
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Kelly Mazzante scored 25 points, and 14th-ranked Penn State easily controlled the backboards in a win over Fairfield. Jessica Brungo added 17 points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range for Penn State. She also led the Lady Lions (4-0) with nine boards as the winners finished with a 47-32 rebounding edge. Schrene Isidora led Fairfield (0-1) with 23 points, and Cathy Dash added 11.
No. 20 Mississippi St. 76, No. 18 Cincinnati 70
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- LaToya Thomas had 36 points 10 rebounds for No. 20 Mississippi State, which piled up a huge advantage on the boards and beat No. 18 Cincinnati. Mississippi State (3-1), which also got 17 points from Tan White, recovered from a preseason WNIT tournament loss to Penn State. The Lady Bulldogs had a 38-20 edge in rebounding. Valerie King led Cincinnati (0-1) with 27 points. Debbie Merrill added 22.
No. 21. G. Washington 96, Howard 45
WASHINGTON -- Ugo Oha had career highs of 25 points and 17 rebounds as No. 21 George Washington defeated Howard in the season opener for both teams. The Colonials scored their most points in nearly two seasons and the 51-point margin of victory was their greatest since Nov. 27, 1993. Coach Joe McKeown won his 294th game at George Washington -- the most for any women's coach in Atlantic 10 history.
No. 23 Oklahoma 65, Tulsa 61
TULSA, Okla. -- Theresa Schuknecht scored 14 points to help lead No. 23 Oklahoma to a victory over Tulsa in the Bertha Teague Classic. Caton Hill added 13 points, including 9-of-10 from the free throw line, and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Sooners (1-1). Chelsi Welch also had 13 points. Allison Curtin led Tulsa (1-2) with 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Alyssa Shriver added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Tulsa scored the first nine points of the game and kept Oklahoma off balance for much of the half.
-- Associated Press