Baylor’s title defense opens with 37-0 blitz

WACO — NaLyssa Smith and preseason AP All-America post Lauren Cox had double-doubles for No. 2 Baylor and the defending national champion Lady Bears opened the season with a 97-29 win over New Hampshire on Tuesday night.

Smith had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Lady Bears, while Cox had 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting with 10 rebounds. Erin DeGrate, a transfer from Texas Tech who previously played for Louisville, had 18 points in her Baylor debut, and Queen Egbo had 14 points.

The Lady Bears got their championship rings and raised a third national title banner in a pregame ceremony, then scored the game’s first 37 points.

Baylor led 51-3 at halftime, the fewest points scored in a half by a Lady Bears opponent but not the lowest for a Division I team. Western Kentucky had a 56-2 halftime lead over Lipscomb three seasons ago, a game the Hilltoppers won 87-35.

New Hampshire missed its first 18 shots and didn’t score until Maggie Ahearn’s bounce pass to Caroline Soucy for a layup with 6:15 left in the second quarter.

TEXAS A&M 78, LITTLE ROCK 35

Ciera Johnson had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and the No. 6 Aggies overwhelmed the Trojans at College Station.

Texas A&M shot 48 percent (31 of 65) from the field compared to 28 percent (16 of 57) for Little

Rock.

SEC preseason player of the year Chennedy Carter had 10 points at the half and finished with 16 on 7-of-17 shooting for the Aggies.

RICE 71, NICHOLLS 47

Nancy Mulkey scored 12 points and blocked four shots to lead the Owls to victory at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Erica Oguwmike, the reigning Conference USA player of the year, was held to three points on 1-of-6 shooting but did contribute 11 rebounds.

GEORGIA TECH 69, HOUSTON 38

The Cougars were outscored 26-1 in the second quarter in losing at Atlanta.

UH trailed by just one, 16-15, before the decisive second period.

Tatyana Hill scored 10 points and was the only UH player to shoot better than 50 percent (4 of 7) as the Cougars made only 31.3 percent of their shots.

HOUSTON BAPTIST 67 LSU-SHREVEPORT 44

Senior Lauren Calver scored 14 ponts and freshmen Tima Jefferson and Kennedy Wilson added 13 and 11, respectively, in the collegiate debuts as the Huskies won at Sharp Gym.

TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 75 ST. THOMAS 55

The Celts lost on the road despite 16 points by Sheridan Hopkins.