NCAAW opening weekend scores: LSU, UCLA upset in season openers

The women's college basketball season is young, and we already have some upsets.

The Lady Tigers looked to be bolstered by the return of senior forward Sheila Boykin, who had missed the exhibition season returning from injury but 19 turnovers and 32.6% shooting led to the demise of Nikki Caldwell's team. All-SEC guard Danielle Ballard has been suspended indefinitely and missed today's game as well and it was very obvious for a team that struggled to create good shots. Rina Hill, a sophomore guard from Japan, has been manning the point but her game is built around passing the ball and setting players up. 6'1 sophomore forward Kaitlyn Pratt led UALR in scoring off the bench with 15 points on 5-6 shooting from the field (5-5 from the line) while adding three boards. The Trojans placed three other players in double figures as Alexius Dawn and All Sun Belt senior guard Taylor Gault added 12 apiece with Ka'Neisha Cobbins chipping in 10. LSU was led by sophomore Raigyne Moncrief's 15 points but no other Lady Tiger was able to scratch double digits as Hill was the second leading scorer with 8 points.

Caldwell's former team, the UCLA Bruins, now coached by Cori Close, took it's amazing freshman class on the road for a season-opening match up against a veteran James Madison team in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Even after losing all everything guard Kirby Buckholder last season, Kenny Brooks' squad attacked the young UCLA squad, forcing them into 26!!! turnovers on the afternoon. This game also seemed to drag on forever in what amounted to a foul fest, with the teams combining to shoot 82 free throws. Guard Precious Hall led JMU with 25 points while Lauren Okafor beasted her way to 16 points and 16 rebounds. Toia Giggetts added 16, Jazmon Gwathmey chipped in 15 with Destiny Jones coming off the bench to round of the double figure scorers with 10. UCLA was led by junior guard Nirra Fields 26 points but she turned the ball over 7 times. Freshman phenom Jordin Canada registered her first official double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while fellow rookie Lajahna Drummer hit 11-11 free throws to scratch for 15 and 9 boards off the bench.

OTHER COMPLETED GAMES

21 Oklahoma State 76 Loyola Marymount 65

10 Maryland 109 Mount St Marys 45

James Madison 91 UCLA 87

Northeastern 75 Boston U 74

UMBC 93 Eastern University 68

Clemson 80 UNC Greensboro 51

Penn State 71 Towson 64

Southern Mississippi 98 William Carey College 45

Lipscomb 80 Georgia Southern 74

Seton Hall 66 Rider 47

Eastern Michigan 127 KSU-Tuscarawas 40

Iona 72 Fordham 51

Marshall 61 Rhode Island 45

New Hampshire 61 NJIT 56

Miami 66 Oakland 53

Princeton 59 Pitt 43

Central Florida 94 Florida Atlantic 74

North Dakota State 74 Kent State 68

Ole Miss 92 Grambling 67

BEST PERFORMANCES

Dominique Johnson G Towson

32 points, 3 steals in 71-64 loss to Penn State

Samantha DeFreese F Northeastern

24 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks in 75-74 win over Boston U

Sasha Dailey G Eastern Michigan

31 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 9 steals, block (OFF THE BENCH!) in 127-40 win over KSU-Tuscarawara

Olivia Nash F Oakland

24 points, 14 rebounds, 2 steals in 66-53 loss to Miami

Tia Faleru F Ole Miss

23 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists in 92-67 win over Grambling

Lauren Okafor F James Madison

16 points, 16 rebounds, 1 block in 91-87 win over 23 UCLA