UConn rolls in tourney opener

Napheesa Collier and Kia Nurse each scored 24 points as top-seeded UConn routed Albany 116-55 on Saturday for the program’s 108th straight winand 25th straight in the NCAA Tournament.

Napheesa Collier and Kia Nurse each scored 24 points as topseeded UConn routed Albany 116-55 on Saturday for the program’s 108th straight win and 25th straight in the NCAA Tournament.

Gabby Williams added 20 points for UConn. She and Collier each pulled down 10 rebounds for the Huskies (33-0), who are going for their fifth consecutive NCAA title. They haven’t lost in the first round since 1993.

Imani Tate had 19 points and Jessica Fequiere scored 16 to lead Albany, which ends the season at 21-12.

The Great Danes, who upset Florida in the opening round of last year’s tournament, were never really in this game

UConn opened each of the first three quarters with 9-0 runs. The Huskies hit 62 percent of their shots and outscored Albany 52-18 in the paint.

Syracuse 85, Iowa State 65

Brittney Sykes scored 28 points and Alexis Peterson added 25 to lead eighth-seeded Syracuse to a win over Iowa State.

Freshman Gabby Cooper added a season-high 24 points, all from 3-point range, for the Orange (2210), who will face top-seeded UConn on Monday in a rematch of last year’s national championship game.

Oregon 71, Temple 70

Ruthy Hebard hit a jumper with 5.5 seconds remaining to lift Oregon past Temple.

Hebard finished with 23 points and Sabrina Ionescu added 16 points to help the 10th-seeded Ducks (21-13) win a wild game that had three lead changes in the final 30 seconds and advance to Monday night’s second round.

Alliya Butts scored 28 points and Feyonda Fitzgerald added 16 for the seventh-seeded Owls (24-8). Fitzgerald put Temple up 70-69 with a jumper with 14.3 seconds remaining.

Oregon called a timeout and worked the ball in to Hebard, who hit the go-ahead jumper from the edge of the lane.

Fitzgerald then raced coast-to-coast but Hebard got a piece of her last-gasp layup attempt at the buzzer.

UCLA 83, Boise State 56

Monique Billings scored 19 points and Jordin Canada had 15 points and 16 assists to help fourth-seeded UCLA roll to a win over Boise State.

The Bruins (24-8) opened the game with a 15-0 run and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way.

UCLA used a balanced scoring attack, with four players finishing in doublefigures. Kennedy Burke and Nicole Kornet each added 14 points for the Bruins.

The victory snapped a 10game winning streak for Boise State (25-8).

Guard Brooke Pahukoa 13 points for Boise State, but the Broncos’ leading scorer hit only one of 11 3-point attempts. Riley Lupfer matched her with 13 points.

UCLA shot 58.2 percent for the game, to Boise State’s 30.0 percent.

Lexington Region Stanford 72, New Mexico State 64

Alanna Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Karlie Samuelson hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, and No. 2 seed Stanford survived a spirited upset bid to beat No. 15 seed New Mexico State.

Playing nearly 1,800 miles from home due to a scheduling conflict at Maples Pavilion, the Cardinal (29-5) looked lost most of the afternoon, trailing the Aggies (24-7) by as many as nine early on.

Kansas State 67, Drake 54

Breanna Lewis had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Kindred Wesemann added 16 points and seventh-seeded Kansas State beat No. 10 seed Drake.

The Wildcats (23-10) took the lead in the game’s opening minutes and never relinquished it, even though the Bulldogs (28-5) never made things easy. That allowed Kansas State to ease into a matchup with No. 2 seed Stanford on Monday night for a spot in the Sweet 16.

Stockton Region Quinnipiac 68, Marquette 65

Jennifer Fay scored 20 points and 12th-seeded Quinnipiac held on in a frantic final minute to upset fifthseeded Marquette.

Paula Strautmane scored seven of her 15 points in the fourth quarter for the Bobcats (28-6), who opened on an 18-4 run and were up 52-33 midway through the third quarter before Marquette roared back and got within two.

Miami 65, Florida Gulf Coast 60

Keyona Hayes scored 16 points, including the goahead basket inside with 1.5 seconds remaining, and fourth-seeded Miami rallied to beat 13th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast.

Hayes added 10 rebounds for the Hurricanes (24-8), who wasted a 13-point lead and found themselves trailing twice in the final 2 minutes before rallying.