Stanford Turns Back Pepperdine Challenge

For nearly 30 minutes, Pepperdine gave No. 6-ranked Stanford all it could handle in the season opener for both women’s basketball teams Friday night, and then senior Nicole Powell took over.

With Spark Coach Michael Cooper and Charlotte Sting assistant coach Fred Williams of the WNBA sitting courtside, Powell finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and three steals to lead Stanford to a 69-61 victory at Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse.

Powell made 10 of 20 shots, including a variety of pull-up jumpers and post moves, to help Stanford shoot 57.7% in the second half.

“Our offense was mostly bad in the first half because we were settling for [perimeter] jump shots, especially me,” said Powell, a preseason All-American who averaged 18.8 points and 9.2 rebounds last season after missing the first nine games because of a back injury. “Then in the second half, we got more aggressive and penetrated more.”

For Pepperdine, which trailed, 43-41, with 10:05 remaining in the second half, Shannell Law led the way with 14 points and three assists.

Kelli Spencer added 13 points and Nicole Funn 12 for the Waves.

Lonnie White

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New Mexico 77, USC 75 -- The Lobos took a 34-25 halftime lead and held on for the victory at Albuquerque in a season opener for both teams.

Ebony Hoffman, who made eight of 14 shots, had a game-high 19 points for the Trojans. Julie Briody’s 18 points led New Mexico.

USC, which outrebounded New Mexico, 58-46, made only 14 of 29 free throws. The Lobos made 33 of 43 from the line.

In other top 25 women’s games:

At Durham, N.C., No. 4 Duke (1-1) broke the school record for margin of victory in defeating Elon (0-1), 108-26. The Duke mark had been 78 points set against Temple in 1998. Alana Beard’s 19 points, on nine-for-12 shooting, led the Blue Devils, who did not play any starter more than 27 minutes. “We were able to take out the frustrations tonight,” said Duke Coach Gail Goestenkors, referring to her team’s loss to No. 2 Texas in its season opener. Duke will face No. 5 Purdue on Sunday in the Jimmy V Women’s Classic at Raleigh, N.C. Elon is 0-1....

At Manhattan, Kan., No. 8 Kansas State (1-1), led by Kendra Wecker’s 19 points, defeated Western Illinois (0-1), 76-48.... At State College, Pa., Kelly Mazzante scored 22 points for No. 9 Penn State (1-0) in its 83-46 victory over No. 12 Louisiana State (1-2).... At Athens, Ga., No. 10 Georgia’s 87-48 victory over Georgia State was led by 6-foot-6 Kara Braxton’s 15 points and 12 rebounds.

At Nacogdoches, Texas, Amisha Carter’s 22 points led No. 11 Louisiana Tech to a 109-60 victory over Stephen F. Austin in a season opener for both teams.... At Chapel Hill, N.C., Camille Little had 19 points to lead No. 14 North Carolina to an 80-44 victory over St. Francis, Pa., in a season opener.... At Columbus, Ohio, No. 16 Ohio State shot 61% from the field in an 83-50 victory over Ohio in a season opener.... At South Bend, Ind., Jacqueline Batteast had 15 points to lead No. 20 Notre Dame (2-1) to a 74-57 victory over Valparaiso (0-3).... At Fort Worth, No. 23 Texas Christian forced 27 turnovers in an 86-44 season-opening victory over Texas State.... At Auburn, Ala., Le’Coe Willingham’s 21 points led No. 25 Auburn (2-1) to a 92-37 victory over Stetson (0-1).

From Associated Press