Women’s Top 25 roundup: Taliah Scott’s nuclear 4Q helps No. 16 Baylor drop No. 7 Duke

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Taliah Scott’s 24 points, five rebounds and three assists helped the No. 16 Baylor Lady Bears score a 58-52 upset over the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils with a dominant stretch in the fourth quarter in the season opener for both teams in the Oui-Play Paris 2025 opener Monday in Paris, France.

Scott connected on a long 3 from the left wing to close Duke’s lead to one late in the third quarter. With the game tied in the fourth, she picked a pass in the open court and sailed in for a right-handed finish to break a 43-all tie. That was the start of a 60-second barrage from Scott, who sprinted in for a running left-handed layup and a stop-and-pop jumper on the left baseline to prop Baylor up 49-43 ahead of the eight-minute mark.

Toby Fournier had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Duke, which led 33-29 at half. The Blue Devils missed 17 of 21 field-goal attempts — and scored nine points — in the decisive fourth quarter.

Scott, a redshirt sophomore who transferred from Auburn (three games last season) and previously played at Arkansas (20 games in 2023-24), now has 16 career games with 20-plus points in 24 total games.

No. 2 South Carolina 94, Grand Canyon 54

Ta’Niya Latson scored 20 points to lead five double-figure scorers for the Gamecocks in a rout of the Lopes in Columbia, S.C.

Tessa Johnson added 19 points, Joyce Edwards scored 13, Madina Okot had 12 and Raven Johnson had 11. South Carolina raced to a 60-31 halftime lead and finished with a 32-2 advantage in fastbreak points.

Ale’jah Douglas scored 16, Chloe Mann had 15 and Anisa Jeffries added 11 for Grand Canyon.

No. 3 UCLA 77, San Diego State 53

Player of the Year preseason favorite Lauren Betts kicked off her season with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting in 26 minutes, and the Bruins made quick work of the Aztecs on a neutral court in Anaheim, Calif.

Gabriela Jaquez added 15 points and 11 rebounds, Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 12 points and Kiki Rice had 10 for UCLA. All three of those players finished with five assists as the Bruins assisted on 21 of their 32 made baskets and piled up 48 points in the paint.

Kaelyn Hamilton was San Diego State’s top scorer with 11 points off the bench. Nat Martinez and Nala Williams scored 10 apiece.

No. 4 Texas 123, Incarnate Word 51

Jordan Lee scored 21 points, Madison Booker added 18 and the Longhorns shot 65.4% to demolish the Cardinals in Austin, Texas.

Kyla Oldacre scored 17 and Aaliyah Crump, Breya Cunningham and Bryanna Preston had 16 apiece for Texas, which outscored Incarnate Word 33-8 in the first quarter and had 97 points entering the fourth quarter.

Destiny Whitaker scored 14 and Gwendlyn McGrew had 12 to lead the Cardinals, who had 25 turnovers that led to 36 Texas points.

No. 6 Oklahoma 84, Belmont 67

Raegan Beers and Sahara Williams had double-doubles and the Sooners pulled away from the Bruins for a victory in Norman, Okla.

Beers finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds, Williams had 11 points and 14 rebounds and the Sooners led just 58-54 after three quarters, but outscored the Bruins 26-13 in the fourth. Aaliyah Chavez scored 16 points and Payton Verhulst added 11 points and nine rebounds.

Jailyn Banks scored 16 points, Sanaa Tripp had 13 and Hilary Fuller added 12 for Belmont, which stayed in the game by making 10 of 34 3-points tries while Oklahoma made just 3 of 23.

No. 10 Maryland 80, Loyola (MD) 26

Oluchi Okananwa scored 18 points and Saylor Poffenbarger added 11 as the Terrapins dominated the outmanned Greyhounds in College Park, Md.

Maryland took command by outscoring Loyola 20-4 in the second quarter and had a 30-6 advantage in the third.

Kimmie Hicks had eight points as the leading scorer for the Lions, who were held to 9-of-45 shooting (20%) while Maryland went 27-for-53 (50.9%).

No. 11 North Carolina 90, N.C. Central 42

Nyla Brooks scored 15 points and three teammates chipped in 13 apiece for the Tar Heels in a dominant opening victory over the Eagles in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Brooks made 3 of her 6 3-point attempts and Ciera Toomey collected 11 rebounds and four blocks. She scored 13 points as did Indya Nivar and Elina Aarnisalo. Nyla Harris added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Heels, who limited N.C. Central to 26.3% shooting. Aysia Hinton made three treys for a team-high nine points.

North Carolina opened a 20-point lead less than 13 minutes into the game on Aarnisalo’s bucket for a 35-15 lead with 7:19 on the clock in the second quarter. Ten players scored for the Tar Heels.

No. 12 Ole Miss 87, Norfolk State 46

Christeen Iwuala tallied 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting to lead five players in double figures and Ole Miss capitalized on 22 turnovers in a lopsided win over the Spartans in Oxford, Miss.

Jasha Clinton, who spent three years at Temple and played at Hampton last season, had a game-high 16 points for Norfolk State.

No. 14 Iowa State 85, St. Thomas (Minnesota) 36

Junior center Audi Crooks scored 20 points in 25 minutes and the Cyclones cruised to victory in Ames, Iowa, over the Tommies out of the Summit League.

Crooks made 6 of 7 free throws and Iowa State made 16 of 19 at the line. Addy Brown had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Cyclones.

Alyssa Sand had 17 of St. Thomas’ 36 points. The Tommies were on the wrong end of a 19-0 run in the second quarter and trailed 65-24 through three quarters.

No. 19 Vanderbilt 74, Cal 65

Sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes poured in 27 points, as the Commodores used a big third quarter to knock off the Golden Bears in Paris.

Blakes, the 2024-25 National Freshman of the Year (23.3 ppg), needed 27 field goal attempts to amass 27 points, but converted 7 of 10 free throws in a game in which neither team shot over 40% from the floor. Reserve junior forward Aiyana Mitchell posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Freshman guard Taylor Barnes led Cal with 17 points and 5 assists in her debut. 6-foot-5 center Sakima Walker added 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Golden Bears.

No. 21 Iowa 86, Southern 51

Ava Heiden had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes past the Jaguars in Iowa City.

Hannah Stuelke added 20 points and nine rebounds and Emely Rodriguez scored 13 for Iowa, which finished strong with a 25-12 scoring edge in the fourth quarter.

Zaria Hurston scored 14 points to lead Southern, which trailed just 15-14 after the first quarter before Iowa pulled away.

No. 22 Oklahoma State 109, New Orleans 48

Micah Gray scored 24 points, Praise Egharevba had a double-double and the Cowgirls used a balanced effort to overwhelm the Privateers in Stillwater, Okla.

Egharevba had 10 points and 12 rebounds, Haleigh Timmer scored 18 points, Lena Girardi had 15, Stailee Heard 14 and Amari Whiting 11.

Shanihya Brown was the only player to score in double figures for New Orleans, finishing with 11 points.

No. 24 Kentucky 75, Morehead State 59

Tonie Morgan scored 16 points and Jordan Obi and Clara Strack posted matching 15-point, 15-rebound double-doubles to lead the Wildcats past the Eagles in Lexington, Ky.

Amelia Hassett scored 10 points with eight rebounds as Kentucky had advantages of 54-33 in rebounding, 22-3 in second-chance points and 38-20 in points in the paint.

Marie Sepp led Morehead with 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, Violet McNece scored 15 and Laura Toffali had 11.

–Field Level Media