No. 9 Penn St. 83, No. 12 LSU 46

No. 9 Penn St. 83, No. 12 LSU 46
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Kelly Mazzante scored 22 points and became Penn State's career scoring leader, leading the ninth-ranked Lady Lions to an 83-46 win over No. 12 LSU on Friday night.
Mazzante, who came into the game 15 points behind Susan Robinson, tied the record with a free throw with 12:45 left in the second half and eclipsed the mark 13 seconds later after being fouled.
Mazzante has 2,260 points career points. Robinson scored 2,253 points from 1989-92.
Those free throws were part of a 14-0 run -- Mazzante scored nine points in the outburst -- as the Lady Lions (1-0) took a 70-36 lead with 7:36 left.
LSU, which opened the season ranked ninth, lost its second straight, following a season-opening 76-67 setback at Oregon. The Lady Tigers shot 18-for-52 from the field.
Mazzante didn't score until the 13-minute mark of the first half, but by that point Penn State had opened an 18-5 lead. Tanisha Wright's pull-up jumper with 11 seconds left made it 48-26 at halftime.
A preseason All-American, Mazzante was the first freshman to lead the Big Ten in scoring, and she has led the conference in scoring every season since. She led the nation in scoring in her sophomore season, averaging 24.9 points.
Wright had 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Penn State. Jess Brungo scored 12, and Jess Strom 10.
Temeka Johnson led LSU with 18 points, and Seimone Augustus add 12.
No. 25 Auburn 92, Stetson 37
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Le'Coe Willingham was 9-of-11 from the field and scored 17 of her 21 points in the first half to help No. 25 Auburn rout Stetson 92-37 on Friday.
Natasha Brackett added 14 points and Marita Payne had 12 for the Tigers (2-1), who won the WNIT last season and are trying to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1999-00.
Kristy Brown led Stetson (0-1) with 14 points, and Renee Barnes added 11.
Willingham had six points as Auburn scored the game's first 14 points. Stetson finally broke through on a jumper by Brown, but the Tigers responded with a 28-3 run that put them ahead 42-5 with 8:03 to play in the first half. The Hatters trailed 55-16 at the half and never got any closer than 32 the rest of the way.
The Tigers shot 50.7 percent for the game, while holding Stetson to just 28.3 percent.
No. 10 Georgia 87, Georgia St. 48
By KEITH PARSONS
AP Sports Writer
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- Kara Braxton had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Christi Thomas added 12 points, leading No. 10 Georgia to a 87-48 victory over Georgia State on Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
The 6-foot-5 Thomas and the 6-6 Braxton dominated throughout against the shorter Lady Panthers, helping Georgia to 50-39 advantage in rebounds. Thomas also had seven blocks.
Braxton was suspended for the final eight games of last season for violating team rules, but she has worked her way back into coach Andy Landers' starting lineup.
Holly Coates had 11 points for Georgia State, which has reached the NCAA tournament the past three seasons after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament.
Patechia Hartman added 10 for the Panthers, who lost 89-50 last season to the Bulldogs.
When Thomas and Braxton went out the game, Georgia hardly lost a step. Rebecca Rowsey and Jessica Pierce took over inside, and guards Janese Hardrick, Sherill Baker, Cori Chambers and Alexis Kendrick kept the pressure up on the perimeter.
The Panthers finished with 16 turnovers.
The Bulldogs used a 13-4 run midway through the first half to take control, jumping to a 26-12 lead. Hardrick keyed the spurt with a four-point play, hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key while getting fouled, then adding a free throw.
The lead reached 20 for the first time on a putback by Braxton, one of her eight offensive rebounds, and a 15-8 run at the start of the second half made it 62-32. Georgia State couldn't recover.
Landers, entering his 25th season, substituted liberally in the second half. With only nine players dressed, everybody got at least 18 minutes.
No. 8 Kansas St. 76, W. Illinois 48
By STEVE BRISENDINE
AP Sports Writer
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Kendra Wecker scored 19 points and Nicole Ohlde added 17, leading No. 8 Kansas State to a 76-48 victory over Western Illinois on Friday night.
Four players reached double figures for the Wildcats (1-1), who put away Western Illinois (0-1) with a 25-7 run in the second half.
Wecker started the decisive run with just over 14 minutes to go, hitting a 3-pointer for a 48-30 lead, then added a basket off a feed from Ohlde 18 seconds later to make it a 20-point game.
Freshman Twiggy McIntyre scored nine of her 12 points in the run, which she capped with a 3-pointer for a 70-37 lead with 6 1/2 minutes remaining. Her basket with 7:45 to go gave Kansas State its first 30-point lead, 65-34.
Laurie Koehn added 11 points for the Wildcats, who won their 10th home opener in the last 11 seasons.
Kansas State led 35-20 after a streaky first half in which the Wildcats went on a 22-2 run for a 24-7 lead -- and then scored just one field goal over the next 7 1/2 minutes.
But after Western Illinois closed to 27-20 on Orinta Kavaliauskaite's two free throws with 3:26 left before the break, the Westerwinds didn't score again until Tiffany Cornelius' basket 48 seconds into the second half made it 35-22.
Cornelius led the Westerwinds with 18 points -- but 11 of those came in the final 6:07 with the game well out of reach. Kansas State held her to four points in the first half.
A full-court press fueled the Wildcats' early run, as they grabbed 11 steals and forced 18 turnovers in the first half -- eight of those on consecutive possessions.
Western Illinois finished with 35 turnovers, which the Wildcats converted into 35 points, and Kansas State had 23 steals.
No. 20 Notre Dame 74, Valparaiso 57
By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Jacqueline Batteast had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 20 Notre Dame held Valparaiso to 29 percent shooting, beating the Crusaders 74-57 on Friday night.
Courtney LaVere added 11 points, Le'Tania Severe had 10, and 11 of the 12 Irish players who got in the game scored. Jenna Stangler and Mayella Kuikhoven scored 15 points each for Valparaiso.
Although Notre Dame (2-1) has won all 17 games it has played against Valparaiso (0-3), the Crusaders had played the Irish tough the past two seasons. Last season, the Irish held on for a 74-68 victory despite not making a basket the final 4:52. Two years ago, Notre Dame outscored the Crusaders 7-2 down the stretch to win 42-35.
Valparaiso wasn't able to remain competitive long Friday, though, because of a tough defense by Notre Dame and poor shooting. Midway through the second half, Valparaiso was 11-of-48 before making some shots against the Irish reserves.
LaVere and Teresa Borton had three blocked shots each for the Irish and Batteast had two as Notre Dame blocked 10 shots and had 12 steals, led by four from Severe.
The tough defense helped the Irish get their offense going. After making just 3-of-11 shots to start the game, the Irish hit 7-of-10 to open a 26-13 lead. The Irish, who led 32-23 at halftime, took a 64-39 lead, their biggest of the night, LaVere scored inside with 5:59 left.
Jeneka Joyce, who sat out all of last season with a myriad of leg injuries, played for the first time this season for the Irish. She didn't attempt a shot in the first half, but was 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the second half as the Irish hit 4-of-6 3-pointers in the second half. Megan Duffy also had nine points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Irish.
No. 4 Duke 108, Elon 26
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Alana Beard scored 19 points in No. 4 Duke's 108-26 victory over Elon on Friday night, the biggest winning margin in Blue Devils history.
Duke, coming off a season-opening loss to No. 2 Texas, broke the school margin record of 78 points set against Temple in 1998.
Monique Currie added 16 points, and Mistie Bass and Brittany Hunter had 15 apiece for Duke, which scored the first 15 points and had two 20-0 runs in the second half.
Beard was 9-for-12 from the field, and Lindsey Harding made all six of her shots to finish with 14 points.
None of the Duke starters played more than 27 minutes as the Blue Devils shot 58 percent (44-of-76) from the floor.
Holly Andrews had 11 points for Elon, which shot 25 percent (12-of-48) and 35 turnovers.