Michael VoepelCloseMichael VoepelESPN Senior WriterMichael Voepel is a senior writer who covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball and other college sports. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.Follow on XCharlie CremeCloseCharlie CremeESPN.comCharlie Creme projects the women’s NCAA tournament bracket for ESPN.com.Nov 3, 2025, 11:30 PM ET
play3:48Beers, Baranczyk review No. 6 Sooners win over BelmontRaegan Beers and Jennie Baranczyk break down how Oklahoma was able to power through the Bruins’ tough guards and get the victory.
play1:13Baylor Bears vs. Duke Blue Devils – Game HighlightsWatch the Game Highlights from Baylor Bears vs. Duke Blue Devils
play0:18Mikayla Blakes makes a great defensive play for the stealMikayla Blakes makes a great defensive play for the steal
play1:23What to watch for ahead of the women’s college basketball seasonKendra Andrews previews the biggest storylines in women’s college basketball ahead of the start of the season.
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Grand Canyon Lopes – Game Highlights (1:11)Watch the Game Highlights from South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Grand Canyon Lopes (1:11)
Beers, Baranczyk review No. 6 Sooners win over BelmontRaegan Beers and Jennie Baranczyk break down how Oklahoma was able to power through the Bruins’ tough guards and get the victory.
Raegan Beers and Jennie Baranczyk break down how Oklahoma was able to power through the Bruins’ tough guards and get the victory.
Baylor Bears vs. Duke Blue Devils – Game HighlightsWatch the Game Highlights from Baylor Bears vs. Duke Blue Devils
Mikayla Blakes makes a great defensive play for the stealMikayla Blakes makes a great defensive play for the steal
What to watch for ahead of the women’s college basketball seasonKendra Andrews previews the biggest storylines in women’s college basketball ahead of the start of the season.
Kendra Andrews previews the biggest storylines in women’s college basketball ahead of the start of the season.
How did Latson and the South Carolina backcourt look?
Which Top 25 team most surprised you — good or bad?
How did Aaliyah Chavez look in her debut for Oklahoma?
How did Taliah Scott look in her return from injury and in her Baylor debut?
How close did Duke look to the team that won the ACC tournament and made the Elite Eight?
Does Toby Fournier look like she is ready to take the next step as a sophomore?
What’s the biggest thing you’re watching in UConn’s debut Tuesday?
That didn’t take long. A top-10 upset helped tip off the opening day of the 2025-26 women’s college basketball season. No. 7 Duke, an Elite Eight team last season, fell 58-52 to No. 16 Baylor in the opener of the Oui-Play doubleheader in Paris.
Then one of the brightest stars of last season’s freshman class, Mikayla Blakes, picked up where she left off, leading No. 19 Vanderbilt over California 75-65. Her 27-point effort in Oui-Play marked her 11th career game of 25 points or more, including two 50-plus-point outings last season.
As the rest of day played out, Ta’Niya Latson made her debut in Columbia, South Carolina, and last season’s Final Four participants South Carolina, Texas and UCLA all won in blowouts. Here’s a look at the first day, and what’s coming up for defending national champion UConn, which opens its season Tuesday vs. Louisville (ESPN, 5:30 p.m. ET).
Creme: The South Carolina backcourt might be the Gamecocks’ strength all season. It certainly was in Monday’s 94-54 win over Grand Canyon. Latson led the way with 20 points. An even better sign: The career 44.8% shooter did it on only 10 shots. With more talent around her in the backcourt — Tessa Johnson had 19 points and Raven Johnson had 11 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals — Latson played within the construct of the offense. Nothing was forced.
There might be games when Dawn Staley will want Latson to take over. She hasn’t had a backcourt scorer as talented as the Florida State transfer since at least Allisha Gray on the 2017 national championship team. Laston also had four assists and got to the free throw line eight times, two more good signs that her fit with the Gamecocks, who shot nearly 60% from the field, is a good one.
Beers, Baranczyk review No. 6 Sooners win over Belmont
Baylor Bears vs. Duke Blue Devils – Game Highlights
Watch the Game Highlights from Baylor Bears vs. Duke Blue Devils
Voepel: The No. 3-ranked recruit started her first college game, an 84-67 win over Belmont, in which senior center Raegan Beers led the way with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Chavez finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. She struggled from the field — 5-of-18 overall, 1-of-8 from 3-point range — but showed a lot of poise as the type of playmaking guard who should thrive in Oklahoma’s offense.
“She can put the ball where it needs to go,” Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “And I thought defensively she did some really good things.”
Creme: Chavez made only one 3-pointer, but it was a glimpse into her potential. As the first half was drawing to a close, Chavez took an outlet pass, put the ball on the floor and sprinted into the frontcourt. At full speed she was able to stop at the arc and launch a shot that settled into the net as the buzzer sounded. Chavez’s speed, balance and range were on full display in one trip down the court.
She did struggle — and so did the Sooners, who couldn’t put away the Bruins until the final minutes — but Chavez’s potential and how well she fits the Oklahoma style of play were evident.
Creme: Baylor has lacked a true go-to scorer the past two seasons and Scott, a transfer from Auburn, is expected to change that. If Monday was any indication, she’s off to a good start. Not only did Scott lead the Bears in scoring, she delivered when Baylor needed her most — in crunch time of a close game. Scott scored half of her 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Bears surged ahead, and her free throw shooting (8-of-10 for the game) prevented a Blue Devils comeback in the final minutes.
If Scott can stay healthy, which was her biggest issue at Arkansas and Auburn, the Bears have one of the top scorers in the Big 12 and a player to turn to for a big shot in crucial moments.
Voepel: Baylor coach Nicki Collen said coming into this season that she expected Scott to make a major impact right away, and she did Monday. Collen calls Scott “a professional scorer,” comparing her to Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams and former WNBA player Renee Montgomery.
Collen said Scott can consistently find the “slivers of space” to attack and get to the rim, but she also can hit pull-up jump shots and 3-pointers. As Charlie said, injuries have been Scott’s biggest concern. In 20 games as a freshman at Arkansas, she averaged 22.1 points, then played just three games last season at Auburn before going out with a wrist injury.
Points were at a premium against Duke, which is to be expected. The Bears shot 31.7% from the field, the Blue Devils 29%. Someone needed to come up big offensively to decide the game, and it was Scott.
Voepel: Maybe closer than the Blue Devils wanted to look offensively, considering their scoring struggles in the Birmingham 2 Regional were repeated Monday. In March, they scored 47 points in beating North Carolina in the Sweet 16, then 50 in a loss to South Carolina in the Elite Eight.
On the positive side, despite some personnel changes this season, the Duke defense looked a lot like last season. That will continue to be a huge strength for Duke, which held opponents to 56.5 PPG last season, including 48.0 in the postseason (three ACC tournament and four NCAA tournament games). But the need to improve offensively will have to be addressed.
Creme: If Duke can get 16 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks out of Fournier every game, Lawson would probably sign up for that. Fournier averaged 13.2 PPG and 5.3 RPG last season. But if Duke’s offensive struggles continue, the Blue Devils might need even more from the 6-foot-2 sophomore.
Mikayla Blakes makes a great defensive play for the steal
Mikayla Blakes makes a great defensive play for the steal
Voepel: More of the same. After averaging 23.3 PPG in her first season at Vanderbilt, she had an outstanding summer, leading Team USA to the AmeriCup title in Chile. On Monday, the Commodores trailed Cal by two points at halftime, but then took over the game by outscoring the Bears 24-9 in the third quarter.
Blakes was 9-of-27 from the field and 7-of-10 from the line in 40 minutes. She led Vanderbilt in minutes played last season, averaging 32.2. With forward Khamil Pierre, Vandy’s second-leading scorer last season, having transferred to NC State, even more is on Blakes’ shoulders this season.
What to watch for ahead of the women’s college basketball season
It will be intriguing to see how Geno Auriemma uses all of his depth: a talented freshman class led by Blanca Quiñonez, impact transfers Serah Williams and Kayleigh Heckel, stars Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd and a group of experienced role players.
How often will Jana El Alfy or Ice Brady join Strong and Williams to form a big lineup? KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade got the starts in the backcourt alongside Fudd in the Huskies’ two exhibition games. How will the minutes distribution between those two and Heckel work? What role does Quiñonez fill? What impact can Caroline Ducharme have after missing the majority of the past two seasons?
These questions won’t be completely answered against the Cardinals, but what happens on Tuesday will begin to shape the rest of the season.
The way Strong started her collegiate career last season suggested she could end up being one of the greatest ever to come through Storrs. What does Year 2 look like for her? Fudd, the Huskies’ other All-America candidate, enters this campaign as the reigning Final Four Most Outstanding Player, but can she put together her most dominant — and consistent — season yet in her final act at UConn?
Most of Heiden’s freshman season was spent in the background. Her playing time (9.7 MPG) and production (5.0 PPG) ranged from inconsistent to nonexistent. Then she notched three straight double-figure scoring performances across the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, realizing some of the potential that made her a top-40 recruit. On Monday against Southern, the momentum hit another gear. Her 21 points and 14 rebounds led the Hawkeyes and were career highs. Iowa struggled early, but Heiden’s nine points in a 22-10 second quarter gave the Hawkeyes the cushion they needed en route to a comfortable 86-51 win.