UConn wins Bueckers-Clark matchup
Baylor holds off Michigan in OT
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The game was billed as a marquee matchup of uber-talented freshmen Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark. While those two didn’t disappoint, it was Christyn Williams and UConn’s other upperclassmen who stepped up and helped the Huskies advance.
Williams scored 27 points and Bueckers added 18 to lead No. 1 UConn to a 92-72 win over fifthseeded Iowa on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
“The fact there was so much hype on those two kids. Part of it was unfair and comes with the territory,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.
“Like I told the team before the game, in all these matchups, it comes (down) to somebody else. … Our defense, as bad as it was at times, was really, really good when it had to be. Christyn Williams, Evina Westbrook and Olivia (Nelson-Ododa), our three juniors, were amazing, played the way you wanted your upperclassmen to play. It was not going to be easy on either Caitlin or Paige to play their normal game.”
Bueckers and Iowa’s Clark had taken the women’s basketball world by storm this season. Bueckers became the third freshman ever to earn All-America
honors.
Clark led the nation in scoring and came into the regional semifinals averaging 29 points in the tournament.
Evina Westbrook just missed the 18th triple-double in NCAA women’s tournament history, with 17 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for UConn (27-1). Nelson-Ododa added 11 rebounds and seven assists along with four points. Freshman Aaliyah Edwards added 18 points.
The game marked the return of Auriemma, who missed the opening two rounds while recovering from the coronavirus. Auriemma arrived in San Antonio on Wednesday.
BAYLOR 78, MICHIGAN 75, OT: NaLyssa Smith scored 24 points and Queen Egbo made two big plays in the final seconds of overtime, leading second-seeded Baylor to the victory.
Egbo gave Baylor a 78-75 lead with a foul shot with 19 seconds left. After Leigha Brown scored for Michigan, Egbo picked up an assist on Moon Ursin’s wideopen layup.
Akienreh Johnson missed a half-court try for sixth-seeded Michigan, and the Big Ten team was unable to get a last shot near the basket before time ran out.
Smith was 11 for 11 from the floor. Ursin had 20 points for Baylor (28-2).
Brown scored 23 for Michigan (16-6), which had never before advanced this far in the tournament.
Mercado Region INDIANA 73, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 70:
Ali Patberg scored 17 points to help Indiana reach the regional final for the first time in school history.
Indiana (21-5) had been in the Sweet 16 just once before, back in 1983 before the women’s NCAA Tournament became a 64-team field.
No. 4 seed Indiana led 70-60 with 2:51 left before top-seeded N.C. State scored eight straight points to get within two with 1:21 left. The Wolfpack (22-3) had a chance to tie it, but Elissa Cunane missed a contested layup with 30 seconds left.
Raina Perez made a jumper in the lane to get N.C. State back within two with 13.5 seconds left.
Patberg then hit one of two free throws to make it 73-70 and Cunane missed badly on a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer.
ARIZONA 74, TEXAS A&M 59: Aari McDonald scored 31 points to lead No. 3 Arizona to a win over No. 2 Texas A&M (253) and send the Wildcats to the regional final for the first time in program history. They’ll play Indiana.
Arizona (19-5) had only made one previous trip the regional semifinals, when coach Adia Barnes was a player in 1998. This time it rode its Pac-12 player of the year and 13 3-pointers to the school’s biggest victory yet. McDonald was 6-of-12 shooting from long range.