No. 18 TCU rallies to beat No. 3 Notre Dame 76-68

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Hailey Van Lith scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half while teammate Sedona Prince added 20 points and 20 rebounds to help No. 17 TCU beat third-ranked Notre Dame 76-68 Friday in the Cayman Islands Classic.

Prince added eight blocks for the Horned Frogs (7-0), who matched their highest ranked win ever, equaling a 2008 victory over California.

Madison Connor added 18 for TCU, including a pair of 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in the fourth.

Hannah Hidalgo led Notre Dame (5-1) with 27 points. She came into the game averaging 24.8 points — fourth best in the country.

TCU trailed by as many as 14 in the third quarter, but outscored the Fighting Irish 31-12 in the fourth. The Horned Frogs shot a blistering 61% from the field in the final frame, including a 44% clip (4-of-9) from beyond the arc.

NO. 1 UCLA 97, UT MARTIN 37

HONOLULU (AP) — Lauren Betts scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Gabriela Jaquez added 17 points to help No. 1 UCLA rout Tennessee-Martin on the opening day of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown.

The Bruins (6-0) never trailed and shot 53% from the field to rout the Skyhawks (1-5), who were limited to 24% shooting.

Betts, a 6-foot-7 junior center, recorded her fourth double-double in as many games and her fifth of the season. Londynn Jones and Timea Gardiner scored 11 points apiece and Janiah Barker added 10 for UCLA. Barker also tallied seven rebounds and five assists.

Jaquez made all eight of her shot attempts.

Anaya Brown scored seven points for UT Martin.

UCLA, which moved up to No. 1 in the poll for the first time on Monday, outrebounded UT Martin 47-29. The Bruins also dominated points in the paint (48-10); bench points (54-16 and fastbreak points (23-2).

UCLA led at halftime 44-20.

NO. 5 TEXAS 90, NEW MEXICO STATE 50

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Madison Booker scored 21 points and Taylor Jones added 20 as fifth-ranked Texas pulled away from New Mexico State in the first round of the Gulf Coast Showcase women’s basketball tournament.

With former Texas coach Jody Conradt coach looking on, Texas went on a 12-0 run to take a 19-8 lead. Helped by another 9-0 run and a Booker 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Longhorns went up 41-25 at halftime.

Texas came in forcing almost 29 turnovers a game. While the Aggies handled the Longhorns’ press for the most part, they had difficulties running their half-court offense. Texas turned 25 Aggies turnovers into 37 points.

Texas isn’t particularly long without 6-foot-9 Abbie Boutilier, who’s recovering from a stress fracture, but New Mexico State had just one starter taller than 6-foot.

Molly Kaiser led New Mexico State with 14 points and Sylena Peterson added 11.

NO. 6 SOUTHERN CAL 104, SAINT LOUIS 65

PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — JuJu Watkins scored a season-best 34 points despite four fouls, Kiki Iriafen added a career-high 30 and No. 6 Southern California pulled away in the second half to beat Saint Louis in the Acrisure Holiday Invitational.

Watkins was 7 of 9 from the free throw line and had six rebounds. Iriafen made all 12 of her free throws and grabbed 12 rebounds. Talia Von Oelhoffen added 13 points for the Trojans (6-1).

Saint Louis shot 48% in the second quarter while holding the Trojans to 40% and their bench outscored USC’s reserves, 10-5, to trail 42-37 at halftime.

But USC roared back in the third, outscoring the Billikens 37-8. Watkins had seven points in an 18-0 run.

The Billikens (3-5) were led by Mia Bergstrom with 19 points.

NO. 11 OHIO STATE 87, UTAH STATE 51

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Ajae Petty and Chance Gray each had 17 points and No. 11 Ohio State scored 21 straight points in the second quarter to pull away from Utah State for a victory at the Daytona Beach Classic.

Petty made three field goals in Ohio State’s game-opening 11-0 run. Taylor Thierry added six points in the second-quarter run, and Gray and Jaloni Cambridge each scored five. Utah State was just 2 of 14 from the field in the second quarter to trail 45-18 at the break.

The Ohio State defense forced Utah State into 36 turnovers after Old Dominion committed 28 against the Buckeyes on Thursday. The Buckeyes have forced at least 20 turnovers in all seven games this season.

Cambridge had 13 points and a team-high five steals, and Elsa Lemmila scored 11 for Ohio State (7-0). Thierry, who became the 39th player in program history to score 1,000 career points on Thursday, was held to eight points but grabbed eight rebounds.

Mia Tarver scored 12 points and Taliyah Logwood added 11 for Utah State (1-6).

NO. 12 WEST VIRGINIA 89, HIGH POINT 54

ESTERO, Fla. (AP) — JJ Quinerly scored 18 of her 22 points in the first half and West Virginia made easy work of High Point, beating the Panthers in an opening-round game of the eight-team Gulf Coast Showcase.

Reserve Jordan Thomas scored 18 points and Jordan Harrison had 13 for West Virginia.

Aaliyah Collins scored 11 points for High Point.

The 12th-ranked Mountaineers (7-0) advance to face Boise State (7-0) on Saturday. The Broncos beat Illinois State 79-76 on Friday.

Quinerly started the game with three layups and a pair of free throws in a little more than three-and-a-half minutes to help West Virginia to a 9-0 lead. Her point total in that stretch topped High Point’s overall point total for the quarter as West Virginia led 22-7 after the first.

West Virginia used an 8-2 run to start the second quarter to get its first 20-plus point lead of the game with another Quinerly layup and two free throws, a Jordan Thomas layup and a Celia Riviere jumper for a 30-9 lead.

The Mountaineers moved their record to 3-0 against the Panthers.

NO. 16 NORTH CAROLINA 119, NC CENTRAL 49

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Alyssa Ustby scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Maria Gakdeng added another double-double and No. 16 North Carolina routed winless North Carolina Central.

Ustby was 10-of-13 shooting and Gakdeng scored 10 points to go with 11 rebounds. Trayanna Crisp added 13 points for North Carolina (7-1), which shot 46 of 81 (57%) from the floor and made 11 of 30 (37%) from long range. Lexi Donarski and Indya Nivar chipped in 11 points and Ciera Toomey had 10 for the Tar Heels.

Shakiria Foster scored 18 points to lead North Carolina Central (0-9).

North Carolina opened on a 19-5 run and built a 34-12 lead heading into the second quarter. Crisp scored 11 points and Donarski added eight first-quarter points. The Tar Heels stretched the advantage to 65-25 at the break with Ustby, Gakdeng, Donarski and Crisp each finishing the first half scoring in double figures.

NO. 22 IOWA 68, BYU 48

CANCUN, MEXICO (AP) — Hannah Stuelke had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 22 Iowa to a victory over BYU at the Cancun Challenge.

The Hawkeyes led just 25-19 at halftime before posting 43 points in the second half.

Addison O’Grady scored four points and the Hawkeyes added two 3-pointers in a 10-3 run early in the third quarter, building a 35-22 lead with six minutes remaining in the period. Iowa went on to score 20 points in the quarter and took a 45-30 lead to the fourth.

O’Grady scored 12 points and Aaliyah Guyton had 11 for Iowa (8-0). Sydney Affolter had seven points, 10 rebounds, four assists and five steals.

Kemery Congdon had 13 points and Amari Whiting 11 for the Cougars (6-2).

The Hawkeyes led 16-10 after one quarter and maintained that six-point lead in the second quarter despite managing only nine points. Iowa led 25-19 at halftime with Stuelke leading the way with 11 points.

Lucy Olsen, Iowa’s leading scorer at 17.3 points per game, missed her second straight game with a large gash on her knee.