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ESPN Senior Writer- Michael 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.
That didn't take long. A top-10 upset helped tip off the opening day of the 2025-26 women's college basketball season. The No. 7 Duke Blue Devils, an Elite Eight team last season, fell 58-52 to the No. 16 Baylor Bears 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 the No. 19 Vanderbilt Commodores over the California Golden Bears 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 opening day played out, Ta'Niya Latson made her debut in Columbia, and last season's Final Four participants South Carolina, Texas and UCLA all won in blowouts. Here's a look at Day 1, and what's coming up for defending national champion UConn, which opens its season Tuesday vs. Louisville (ESPN, 5:30 p.m. ET).
How did Latson and the South Carolina backcourt look?
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.
Raegan Beers and Jennie Baranczyk break down how Oklahoma was able to power through the Bruins' tough guards and get the victory.
Which player were you most impressed with Monday?
Creme: Ava Heiden, Iowa Hawkeyes
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 non-existent. 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.
Voepel: Raegan Beers, Oklahoma Sooners
Belmont, which finished runner-up to Minnesota in the WBIT last season, is not the kind of mid-major you can take lightly in a season opener. The No. 6 Sooners beat Belmont by 17, but it was a close game until Oklahoma started to pull away with about 6 minutes left. They did it by feeding their go-to player inside, Beers, who scored six consecutive points to give the Sooners some breathing room. The senior's 29 points came on 13-of-17 shooting (76.5%). Last season, she shot 63.3% from the field. That's quite a comfort to have anchoring your offense.
Watch the Game Highlights from Baylor Bears vs. Duke Blue Devils
Which Top 25 team most surprised you -- good or bad?
Creme: Maryland Terrapins
Integrating 10 new players into the rotation, Maryland played team defense and moved the ball on offense like a team that had been together for much longer than one month of practice. The Terps beat Loyola Maryland 80-26, giving up the fewest points since Brenda Frese took over as coach in 2002-03. They made 10 3-pointers and assisted on 20 of 27 field goals without leading returning scorer Kaylene Smikle, who sat out with a leg injury, and with star transfer Yarden Garzon scoring just three points and committing six turnovers (she did lead Maryland with six assists). Junior Duke transfer Oluchi Okananwa, starting the first game of her career, led the way with 18 points.
Voepel: Baylor Bears
Baylor, which finished second in the Big 12 last season, brought back just 30.2% of its scoring and 32.7% of minutes played from 2024-25. Starting off with a top-10 team like Duke that is so ferocious on defense was a real test for the Bears. They have to take confidence from winning thanks in large part to their own defense coming through so well, as they outscored the Blue Devils 15-9 in the pivotal fourth quarter. All nine Big 12 teams in action Monday won, but Baylor's victory was the most impressive.
How did Aaliyah Chavez look in her debut for Oklahoma?
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 the 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.
How did Taliah Scott look in her return from injury and in her Baylor debut?
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.
How close did Duke look to the team that won the ACC tournament and made the Elite Eight?
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.
Does Toby Fournier look like she is ready to take the next step as a sophomore?
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.
While the production was there, the efficiency was not. A 52.6% shooter a season ago, Fournier was 5-of-15 from the field against Baylor and missed 5 of 11 free throw attempts. With Duke struggling to score, taking advantage of every opportunity is a must. That means Fournier shooting at a higher percentage. It's a lot to ask of any one player to be better than Fournier's performance on Monday, but with a challenging nonconference schedule and the ACC gauntlet, Duke will have to score more -- and Fournier is a big part of that.
Mikayla Blakes makes a great defensive play for the steal
What should we expect from Blakes this season?
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.
Kendra Andrews previews the biggest storylines in women's college basketball ahead of the start of the season.
What's the biggest thing you're watching in UConn's debut Tuesday?
Creme: What will the Huskies' rotations look like?
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.
Voepel: How Williams adjusts to a bigger role and spotlight.
Williams averaged 16.4 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 51.5% from the field in 91 games over three seasons at Wisconsin. But the Badgers are one of the least-successful power conference programs in women's hoops over the past two decades: Their only NCAA tournament appearance in the past 23 years came in 2010. So Williams hasn't had much publicity in her college career, which changes dramatically at UConn. We will begin to find out Tuesday how she will handle the scrutiny, how big her role will be, and how good a WNBA prospect she is.
Alexa Philippou: How Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd look to begin 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?