Defense Lifts UCLA Women

Sophomore guard Nikki Blue and a strong effort on defense led UCLA to a 61-51 victory over Nevada Las Vegas in the Bruins’ season opener Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.

Blue had 16 points, six assists and six steals, and the Bruin defense forced 31 UNLV turnovers in the game.

After the Runnin’ Rebels (1-1) took a 42-41 lead with 9:07 left in the game, the Bruins went on a 10-2 run to gain a 51-44 lead with five minutes left. UNLV was limited to one field goal in the last nine minutes.

Kamecka Simmons had 13 points for UNLV. UCLA, which got 13 points from sophomore Lisa Willis and 11 points from freshman Noelle Quinn, will play at No. 2-ranked Texas on Tuesday.

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No. 1 Connecticut 95, Western Michigan 46 -- Diana Taurasi had 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the Huskies’ opener at Storrs, Conn. Western Michigan (0-2) was outscored, 54-6, in the paint.

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No. 2 Texas 69, North Carolina St. 56 -- Jamie Carey made seven consecutive baskets in the second half and finished with 23 points for the Longhorns (2-0) in the Jimmy V Classic at Raleigh, N.C. Texas led the Wolfpack (1-1), 31-22, at halftime.

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No. 3 Tennessee 83, Tennessee Chattanooga 52 -- Shyra Ely had 20 points in the Lady Vols’ season-opening victory over the Mocs (1-1) at Knoxville, Tenn.

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No. 4 Duke 93, No. 5 Purdue 63 -- Alana Beard sat out nearly 10 minutes because of foul trouble but ended up with 20 points for the Blue Devils (2-1) as they beat the Boilermakers (1-1) in the Jimmy V Classic at Raleigh, N.C.

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No. 6 Stanford 79, Fordham 53 -- Nicole Powell had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead the Cardinal (2-0) over Fordham (1-1) at Palo Alto, Calif.

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In other women’s top 25 games:

At Lubbock, Texas, No. 7 Texas Tech (4-0) held an opponent under 50 points for the fourth consecutive time in a 73-45 victory over No. 15 Rutgers (3-1) the Women’s Preseason NIT title game.... At Minneapolis, No. 13 Minnesota (2-0) defeated No. 16 Colorado (3-1), 95-61.... At Chapel Hill, N.C., No. 14 North Carolina (2-0) scored a 92-45 victory over Hofstra (0-1).... At Columbus, Ohio, Jessica Davenport had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lift No. 16 Ohio State (2-0) to a 71-56 victory over Florida A&M; (0-1).

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MEN

Ashanti Cook sank two free throws with 1.1 seconds left as Georgetown (2-0) rallied from a 13-0 deficit for a 79-78 victory over Penn State (0-1) at State College, Pa.... Richard Chaney scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half as Utah (3-0) came back to defeat Stony Brook (1-1) at Stony Brook, N.Y.... Rice (3-0), led by Michael Harris’ 15 points, beat Washington State (2-1), 64-49, in the championship of the Top of the World Classic at Fairbanks, Alaska.