South Carolina comes back to dodge Gonzaga upset bid

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- After a scoreless opening half, Destanni Henderson took over for No. 1 South Carolina to lift them to a comeback win over No. 21 Gonzaga.

Henderson scored a career-high 23 points and Zia Cooke added 16 for the Gamecocks in a 79-72 win over the Zags. Henderson earned tournament MVP honors as she scored 19 points and had nine rebounds in the opening round win over South Dakota.

"I don't feel like I played my very best in the first half," Henderson said. "I pushed myself the second half and found some easy baskets. I just had to adjust to how the game was going. I couldn't get myself deep in foul trouble, and once I recognized that it got easier for my offense to be more aggressive without fouling."

She sat most of the second quarter after she picked up her second foul. In the third and fourth quarters, she was 6 for 12 from the floor and 10 for 13 from the free-throw line.

After Jill Townsend's three-pointer for Gonzaga gave the Bulldogs a 62-60 lead with six minutes to play, South Carolina (3-0) got the lead back up to eight in the final 90 seconds. The Bulldogs hit nine three-pointers, including one by Cierra Walker with 54 seconds to play to cut it to 74-70.

South Carolina outscored the Bulldogs 17-8 in the final five minutes.

It was the second consecutive game that South Carolina was challenged. The Gamecock defeated South Dakota by 10 on Saturday.

"I don't think a whole lot of teams would come out of here undefeated with the talent that was here," South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley said. "Those were challenging opponents. Challenging. Some people won't play teams like this because you're susceptible to losing. It was good that this core group of players found their edge."

Jenn Wirth scored 16 points, two shy of her career high, to lead Gonzaga (0-1). Townsend added 14 for the Bulldogs.

"We hate losing, but we'll be able to use this moving forward," Wirth said. "It's a tough first game to come out and play the No. 1 team in the country.

NO. 5 LOUISVILLE 101,

EASTERN KENTUCKY 58

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Hailey Van Lith scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Louisville to a victory in its home opener.

The Cardinals (2-0) used a 16-2 run to start the second quarter, take a 35-14 lead with 5:17 left in the half and put the game away. Senior guard Dana Evans also scored 20.

Amerah Steele's 11 points led the Colonels (0-2).

NO. 6 MISSISSIPPI STATE 88,

JACKSON STATE 58

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Preseason All-SEC player Rickea Jackson scored 19 points as Mississippi State opened up the Nikki McCray-Penson era with a victory over Jackson State.

The Bulldogs played the Tigers in a game that was scheduled late in the week unexpectedly. They were slated to play in the Women's Hall of Fame Challenge in Connecticut before participant UConn shut down team activities for two weeks due to covid-19 concerns.

NO. 7 ARIZONA 76,

NORTHERN ARIZONA 63

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Cate Reese scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Aari McDonald added 18 points and Arizona opened its season with a victory.

McDonald, a preseason AP All-America selection, scored 10 or more points for a 67th consecutive game, which is the nation's longest active streak.

She also finished with 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 6 steals.

Northern Arizona (1-1) was playing its second game after beating UNLV 79-75 in the opener.

NO. 8 N.C. STATE 108,

N.C. CENTRAL 70

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Elissa Cunane hit all six of her shots and her 17 points led North Carolina State in a rout of North Carolina Central.

The Wolfpack (2-0) shot 68.3% from the floor in a final tune-up before a game at top-ranked South Carolina.

Necole Hope's 17 points led N.C. Central (1-1).

NO. 11 KENTUCKY 70,

BELMONT 50

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Dre'una Edwards scored a career-high 27 points, matched her career best with 15 rebounds and Kentucky pulled away for a win.

Edwards was 11-of-19 shooting with a pair of three-pointers.

It was Edwards' turn to step up as the Wildcats (2-0) played their second-consecutive game without All-American Rhyne Howard and starting forward Tatyana Wyatt.

Madison Treece led Belmont (0-1) with 14 points.

NO. 20 OHIO STATE 82,

DUQUESNE 47

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jacy Sheldon scored 20 points and Ohio State overwhelmed Duquesne in the season opener for both teams.

The Buckeyes broke it open in the second quarter when they outscored the Dukes 19-7 and held Duquesne to 2-of-15 shooting from the floor.

NO. 22 NOTRE DAME 88,

MIAMI (Ohio) 68

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Destinee Walker scored 24 points, Maddy Westbeld added 19 and Notre Dame gave new Coach Niele Ivey her first victory.

Ivey took over for Hall of Famer Muffet McGraw, who retired with 939 career wins. Ivey's Fighting Irish (1-1) gave her the lead for good just over three minutes into the game, extended it to 15 points at halftime and kept it in double figures the rest of the way.

Peyton Scott scored 18 points, Katie Davidson had 16 along with 10 rebounds and Kelly McLaughlin scored 10 points for the RedHawks.

NO. 23 SYRACUSE 50,

STONY BROOK 39

STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- Tiana Mangakahia's return from a battle with breast cancer was impressive as she had 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists to lead Syracuse past Stony Brook.

She grabbed the rebound when Stony Brook misfired on its first possession, drove down the court and found Amaya Finklea-Guity for the first points of the game. A few minutes later she made a steal and drove down the court to make it 4-0.

Mangakahia, who missed all of last season after undergoing chemotherapy and then a double mastectomy in November, had not played a competitive game in 615 days.

WAKE FOREST 68,

NO. 24 MISSOURI STATE 59

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Ivana Raca scored 10 of her 23 points in the third quarter when Wake Forest pulled away and went on to beat Missouri State at the Gulf Coast Showcase.

Raca had a pair of three-pointers in the third quarter, and her two free throws and a layup by Gina Conti to end the period extended Wake Forest's lead to 53-40. Raca also had nine rebounds and five assists.

The Lady Bears got within six with just over a minute left in the game but Wake Forest made 7 of 8 from the line to secure the win.

Missouri State (2-1), which beat No. 12 Maryland in its previous game, was led by Abby Hipp with 16 points.

Upcoming Events