Bueckers returns as No. 7 Uconn routs St. John’s

HARTFORD, Conn. — Paige Bueckers scored eight points in 12 minutes Friday night, returning from a left knee injury that kept her out for more than two months and helping No. 7 Uconn to a 93-38 rout of St. John’s.

The reigning national player of the year had not played since Dec. 5, when she suffered a tibial plateau fracture and torn meniscus in her left knee during the final seconds of the Huskies’ win over Notre Dame.

Bueckers didn’t start this one, but checked in with 3:41 left in the first quarter to a standing ovation with the Huskies already leading 19-4.

The fans were on their feet again after Bueckers made a couple of juke moves and drained her first shot to beat the first-quarter buzzer. The Huskies led 30-8 after 10 minutes.freshman Azzi Fudd led the Huskies (21-5, 15-1 Big East) with 19 points. Aaliyah Edwards added 16 and Christyn Williams, Olivia Nelson-ododa, Caroline Ducharme each scored 13.

Camree Clegg and Kadaja Bailey each had nine points for St. John’s (11-17, 7-11), which had won four of its previous five games.

The Red Storm was never in this one. Uconn scored the game’s first 17 points, led 51-19 at the half and 7828 after three quarters.

No. 13 Maryland 67, No. 10 Indiana 64

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Katie Benzan made a floater with 11.8 seconds to play to put Maryland up by three and the No. 13 Terrapins held on for a 67-64 victory over No. 10 Indiana on Friday night when Nicole Cardano-hillary missed everything on a shot from the right wing.

Angel Reese scored 20 points with 16 rebounds for the Terps, who led almost the entire game and finally held off the slumping Hoosiers. Indiana (19-7, 11-5 Big Ten) lost for the fourth time in five games to close the regular season. Maryland (21-7, 13-4) had an eightgame winning streak snapped in a loss to Michigan last weekend, but the Terps rebounded despite the absence of guard Ashley Owusu, who was out with an illness.

Benzan handled much of the ball-handling in Owusu’s absence, and she finished with 10 points and six assists. Maryland led by four heading into the fourth quarter, and Indiana couldn’t get the lead lower than that until Cardano-hillary’s 3-pointer with 34.4 seconds to play — her first basket of the game after eight misses.

Grace Berger led Indiana with 16 points. Diamond Miller scored 16 points for Maryland.