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College basketball is back, and these players put together some of the best performances in the season’s opening week. Here is NCAA.com’s first starting five of the 2024-25 season.
Destiny Adams, Rutgers
Rutgers senior forward Destiny Adams led the Scarlet Knights to a 3-0 start to the season, totaling 80 points, 45 rebounds, six blocks, five steals and five assists in wins over Manhattan (85-79), Cornell (72-61) and NJIT (94-84).
The Manchester, New Jersey native posted a career-best 36 points and 22-rebound double-double against the NJIT Highlanders on Sunday. She became the first player in program history with 30-plus points and 20-plus rebounds in a regular season game in over 12 seasons. Adams’ 36 points ties a Jersey Mike’s Arena record that was previously set by Arella Guirantes in 2020. She is also tied for eighth for the most points in a single game in program history, along with Guirantes and Caroline DeRoose (1994). The performance marks her 10th career double-double and second in three games.
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Adams also had 30 points and 15 rebounds in the win over Cornell on Nov. 7, making her the first Scarlet Knight since Sue Wicks (1988) to net back-to-back 30-plus point games and just the third in program history. Dating back to last season, Adams has reached double digit points in 20 consecutive contests.
Over the three season-opening games, Adams went 25-33 (.758) from the free throw line.
Rutgers will complete its four-game homestand to start the season against Iona on Nov. 15.
Raegan Beers, Oklahoma
Oklahoma center Raegan Beers led No. 9 Oklahoma to two season-opening wins last week, including a 44-point victory over Virginia (95-51) and a 32-point win (76-44) over Southern.
Beers posted back-to-back double-doubles, averaging 23.5 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game. The junior transfer from Oregon State shot 70.4% from the field and 50.0% from deep, becoming the first Sooner since Courtney Paris to record consecutive 20-point, 14-rebound games and surpassing 1,000 career points in the win over Virginia. She had 26 points and 14 rebounds in the 95-51 home win over the Cavaliers on Nov. 8.
Entering week two of the 2024-25 season, Beers is the only Southeastern Conference player ranked in the league’s top five in points and rebounds per game with multiple games played.
Beers and the Sooners rose to No. 9 in Monday’s AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll, the program’s highest ranking since a No. 4 finish in 2009. Oklahoma’s active streak of 10 straight poll appearances is its ninth-longest ever.
Oklahoma returns to action on Nov. 13 at home against Western Carolina (3-0).
Jillian Hayes, Cincinnati
Cincinnati forward Jillian Hayes averaged a double-double across two wins, recording 20.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game while shooting 61.5% from the field. She was one of two Big 12 Conference players to record multiple double-doubles during the first week of the season, tied for the most among all players nationally.
The fifth-year forward posted her 25th career double-double against Delaware State on Sunday, scoring a career-high 30 points to go along with 11 rebounds while shooting 70.6% from the field (12-17 FG) in the 83-46 victory. She became the first Bearcat to post a 30-point game since IImar’I Thomas did so on March 8, 2021, and is one of four Big 12 players to reach the 30-point mark this season.
Hayes added an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double in Cincinnati’s 66-54 season-opening win at UIC on Nov. 4. The Bearcats return to the court on Nov. 13 at home versus Davidson.
Emma Ronsiek, Colorado State
Colorado State won a pair of games over San Franciso and Oregon State as Emma Ronsiek averaged 22.0 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds to lead the way.
Ronsiek, who transferred to the Rams after playing four seasons at Creighton, scored a game-high 18 points as Colorado State scored a come-from-behind 52-47 season-opening over San Francisco on Nov. 4.
In Friday’s matchup against Oregon State — a team that played in the Elite Eight a season ago — the Mountain West Conference Co-Preseason Player of the Year led all scorers with 26 points on an impressive 10-of-17 shooting from the floor and 6-of-11 from deep. Ronsiek also chipped in six assists with zero turnovers, playing all 40 minutes in Colorado State’s 65-59 victory.
Through the first week of the season, Ronsiek is tied for or leads the Mountain West in total points (44), points per game (22.0), assist/turnover ratio (9.00) and minutes per game (40.0). Additionally, the Sioux Falls, S.D., native is second in assists per game (4.5) and tied for second in 3-point field goals per game (4.0).
Ronsiek and the Rams look to improve on their 2-0 start to the season when they next play at BYU on Nov. 13.
Sarah Strong, UConn
UConn scored a pair of season-opening wins as Sarah Strong, the No. 1-ranked recruit in the 2024 freshman class, started her collegiate career by averaging 15.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.0 steals per game while shooting 65.0 percent.
The Big East Conference preseason Freshman of the Year, Strong posted a game-high 17 points and six steals while adding four rebounds and three assists in the season opening 86-32 win over Boston University on Nov. 7. In an 86-49 win over South Florida on Nov. 10, the Durham, N.C., native notched 13 points, a game-high seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. She had nine of her 13 points in the second half of the win over the Bulls.
The Huskies next travel to Greensboro, N.C., to face No. 15 North Carolina (2-0) this Friday, Nov. 15. In that game, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma will be attempting to tie former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer’s college basketball all-time record of 1,216 wins.