Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw was already prepared that 6-foot-8 Baylor phenom Brittney Griner would probably have her way inside against the Irish.
Griner did just that, scoring 32 points with 14 rebounds and six blocked shots. The problem was she wasn’t alone for the top-rankedBears (4-0).
Point guard Odyssey Sims had one of her best overall games with 25 points and six steals and Destiny Williams also had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds for Baylor in a 94-81 victory over Notre Dame in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the preseason WNIT championship game Sunday in Waco, Texas.
“The game was particularly disappointing because defensively we really played poorly,” McGraw said. “We tried a couple of different looks on (Griner), but it didn’t really matter. … I was disappointed with the way we guarded the other players.”
Notre Dame (3-1) had a pair of 25-point scorers in the same game for the first time since 2000. Natalie Novosel scored a career-high 28 points and Skylar Diggins, like Griner a preseason AP All-America pick, had 27.
At Virginia 69, No. 3 Tennessee 64 (OT): Chelsea Shine scored 18 points, including a key basket in overtime, and the Cavaliers (4-0) stunned the turnover-prone Volunteers (2-1).
MEN’S HIGHLIGHTS
At No. 1 North Carolina 101, Mississippi Valley State 75: John Henson had 18 points and 14 rebounds to help the Tar Heels (3-0) beat the Delta Devils (0-3).
Harrison Barnes also had 18 points for the Tar Heels (3-0), who had little trouble winning their home opener in a ragged game.
No. 2 Kentucky 62, Old Dominion 52: Senior Darius Miller came off the bench to score 13 points and lead a young Wildcats team past the Monarchs (3-2) to win the Hall of Fame Tip-off Classic in Connecticut.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist also scored 13 points and fellow freshman Anthony Davis added 11 points for Kentucky (4-0).
At No. 4 UConn 87, Coppin State 70: Shabazz Napier recorded the ninth triple-double in Huskies’ history with former star Kemba Walker — the last UConn player to do it — watching from the stands.
Napier had 22 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds, and Jeremy Lamb scored 25 points for the Huskies (4-0).
No. 16 Alabama 65, Purdue 56: Trevor Releford scored 20 points and the Crimson Tide went on a big second-half run to win the Puerto Rico Tip-Off title. The Crimson Tide start 5-0 for the first time since 2006.
The point guard added five assists and four rebounds, and Alabama used a 19-4 burst midway through the second period.
Robbie Hummel led Purdue (4-1) with 17 points and Kelsey Barlow added 11.
At Oregon 86, Southeast Missouri State 61: E.J. Singler scored 21 points to lead the Ducks past the Redhawks.
Garrett Sim scored 14 and Jeremy Jacob added 10 points for the Ducks (2-1), who put the game away with a 32-1 run that spanned the first and second halves.
Tyler Stone led the Redhawks (1-3) with 20 points.
Freshman guard Jabari Brown, the most-heralded recruit so far in Dana Altman’s two years as the Oregon coach, left the program. The 6-foot-5 Brown, from Oakland, started the first two games this season.
ELSEWHERE
Bob Knight and Eddie Sutton, coaching rivals and longtime friends, led an eight-member class inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo. Knight and Sutton were joined at the Sprint Center along with three-time Naismith Award winner Ralph Sampson of Virginia, former Michigan star Cazzie Russell, North Carolina standout James Worthy and St. John’s star Chris Mullin.
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