Chapel Hill, N.C. -- Rashanda McCants scored 20 of her 27 points in the second half to rally No. 4 North Carolina to a 73-67 win over No. 23 Xavier on Wednesday night in the women's Preseason NIT.

McCants brought the Tar Heels (4-0) back from a five-point second half deficit. Cetera DeGraffenreid added 15 points and Italee Lucas scored 13 for UNC.

McCants' second-half performance spoiled an extraordinary effort from Xavier center Ta'Shia Phillips, who scored 23 points and grabbed 25 rebounds in the loss.

- No. 13 Vanderbilt 80, Eastern Kentucky 38: At Nashville, Tenn., Christina Wirth scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, to help Vanderbilt beat Eastern Kentucky.

The Commodores (3-0) opened the game with a 14-0 run, including six points by Hannah Tuomi, and led by at least 11 the rest of the way. She finished with 12 points.

- No. 15 Notre Dame 96, Evansville 61: At South Bend, Ind., Ashley Barlow scored 19 points and Notre Dame forced 31 turnovers to beat Evansville.

Becca Bruszewski added a career-high 18 points in the home opener for the Irish (2-0).

Ashley Austin, Anaris Sickles and Ashlee Barrett each scored 10 points to lead Evansville (1-1).

- No. 17 Ohio State 78, Syracuse 71: At Columbus, Ohio, Jantel Lavender had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Samantha Prahalis added 17 points and Brittany Johnson scored 15 to lead Ohio State over Syracuse.

The Buckeyes (3-0) led 34-28 at the half and never relinquished the lead in the second half.

- No. 20 Auburn 71, Georgia Southern 45: At Statesboro, Ga., Alli Smalley scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half to help Auburn rout Georgia Southern.

DeWanna Bonner added 11 points and freshman Chantel Hilliard had 10 for the Tigers (3-0).

Big 12

- No. 2 Oklahoma 85, Middle Tennessee 65: At Norman, Okla., Ashley Paris scored 21 points, Amanda Thompson added 20, and Oklahoma got acclimated to its highest ranking in school history with a win against Middle Tennessee.

The Sooners (2-0) took control with a 13-0 run midway through the first half and led by double digits throughout the second half.

Courtney Paris got off to a slow start but had enough points and rebounds in the second half alone to rack up her 94th consecutive double-double.

Alysha Clark led Middle Tennessee (1-1) with 31 points and 16 rebounds.

- Illinois 65, Missouri 55: At Champaign, Ill., Lacey Simpson scored 18 points and Jenna Smith added 16 points and nine rebounds as Illinois improved to 3-0 with a win over Missouri.

Alyssa Hollins had 16 points to lead Missouri (0-2).