NCAAW: Duke vs. Baylor, plus Mikayla Blakes, highlights opening day

The 2025-26 NCAA women’s basketball season tips off today at 11 a.m. ET, when teams from across the country will hit the hardwood for their first official action.

Opening day’s most interesting matchup, however, will not take place in the United States, but in Paris, when No. 7 Duke and No. 16 Baylor meet at 12 p.m. ET (ESPN) before Vanderbilt faces Cal at 2:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU) in the third-annual Aflac Oui-Play event at Adidas Arena.

In 2023, the standalone Oui-Play opener served as statement for South Carolina, when they romped over Notre Dame and earned their first win in what would become an undefeated and national-championship winning season. Last year, UCLA’s run to the program’s first Final Four began in Paris, when the Bruins bettered Louisville. In the first game of the 2024 Oui-Play doubleheader, USC had a tougher time with a spunky Ole Miss squad, presaging the work the Trojans had to do before becoming Big Ten regular-season champions.

This season, the Blue Devils hope a win in Paris will launch the team to their first national championship game in 20 years. (Our resident Maryland superfan, Zack Ward, will be happy to remind Duke what happened when they reached the final stage of the Big Dance in 2006.) Coming off a season that saw them win the ACC Tournament and reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2013, expectations are high for head coach Kara Lawson’s team.

And for the Blue Devils to reach them, Duke needs a star leap from sophomore forward Toby Fournier.

Last year, the ACC Rookie of the Year led the team in scoring (13.2 points per game), despite coming off the bench in every game and averaging just over 20 minutes per contest. She scored efficiently, making almost 53 percent of her attempts, while also hitting almost 43 percent from behind the arc, albeit on only 14 total attempts. Although Duke remains a balanced team, despite the backcourt departures of Reigan Richardson (graduation) and Oluchi Okananwa (transfer), Fournier should command an expand role with a higher volume of shots.

Can she become the “ball-dominant star who is matchup nightmare for opponents” that Beckett Harrison suggests the Blue Devils need to become a true title threat? Paris is the first proving ground, when the Canadian can show that she can be the superstar for the squad coached by the new boss of Team USA.

For Baylor, an upset of Duke would indicate that the team is done lurking in women’s college basketball’s second tier. Since Nicki Collen took over in Waco in ahead of the 2021-22 season, the Bears have consistently been a very good, yet not great, team. They mostly beat the opponents they’re supposed be beat, but always seem to suffer a disappointing loss or two. The furthest the Bears have advanced in the NCAA Tournament under Collen is to the Sweet 16 in 2024.

Does 2025-26 set up as a difference-making season for Baylor? For that to happen, Taliah Scott has to have a get-back-on-track season. A scoring superstar as a freshman at Arkansas, Scott was limited to just three appearances for Auburn as a sophomore. She certainly should have the opportunity to remind everyone of what she can do, as all four of the Bears’ top backcourt players from last season graduated. Scott’s performance in Baylor’s exhibition game against West Texas A&M was encouraging; she exploded for a 14-point third quarter on her way to 18 total points.

Despite the potential star power on both sides, it will not be surprising if this game is a bit ugly. Along with the lack of cohesion and chemistry that usually characterizes early-season action, both Lawson and Collen will have their teams well prepared, especially on the defensive side of the ball. That could lead to more than few messy stretches for both offenses.

The second game, however, could be an offensive showcase—at least for Mikayla Blakes. Expectations are sky-high for the sophomore guard, especially after she provided a preview of what she has in store for the season when she dropped 40 points in Vanderbilt’s exhibition blowout of Memphis. Look for Blakes to show off a scoring bag deeper than a Louis Vuitton against a Cal team projected to finish No. 12 in the ACC.

A South Carolina reunion—and (likely) rout

Stateside, the day’s most intriguing matchup will take place in Columbia, SC at 7 p.m. ET (SECN+), where the No. 2-ranked Gamecocks begin the season against Grand Canyon, now coached by former South Carolina assistant Winston Gandy.

During his two seasons on the South Carolina sideline, did Gandy stash away some secrets that will allow the Antelopes to at least slow down Dawn Staley’s squad?

GCU went undefeated in the WAC last season, winning the regular-season and conference tournament titles before earning an NCAA Tournament berth. But in addition to a new head coach, as former head coach Molly Miller jumped to Arizona State, Grand Canyon also is in a new conference, going from the WAC to the Mountain West. Putting up a fight against the best team in the SEC would prove that the Lopes are more than ready for the challenge of the Mountain West.

Most likely, South Carolina will have Colonial Life Arena rocking as they run all over overmatched GCU. Last Thursday, the Gamecocks rang up 91 points on No. 11 North Carolina in an exhibition game in Atlanta. Newcomer Ta’Niya Latson did what she’s expected to do, tying for the team high with 19 points. Tessa Johnson also teased a potential third-year leap, matching Latson with 19 points of her own.

Aaliyah Chavez will make her college debut when No. 6 Oklahoma hosts Belmont at 5:30 p.m. ET (SECN+). That’s a matchup that might not be a complete cakewalk for the Sooners, as the Bruins are consistently one of the nation’s most solid mid-majors; they are favored to win the MVC after advancing to the WNIT title game last season. In the Sooners’ very-uncompetitive exhibition matchup against Oklahoma Christian, Chavez had 15 points, four boards and two assists in 20 minutes.

Sienna Betts, however, will not make her collegiate debut, as the UCLA freshman suffered a lower-leg injury when the No. 3 Bruins scrimmaged UC Riverside in mid-October. So, San Diego State will not have to battle the Betts-Betts sister tandem in the season opener, which tips off at 10 p.m. ET in Anaheim (B1G+). According to head coach Cori Close, the younger Bettts is considered “day-to-day,” suggesting she should take the court in Blue and Gold alongside her older sister soon.

For now, Lauren likely will provide plenty of problems for the Aztecs by herself.