UConn No. 1 seed, to play Highpoint / Sports
Huskies are a No. 1 seed for the 13 time in 14 tournaments
The UConn women’s basketball team will tip off the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 8 p.m. against High Point. The 11-time national champions will be the No. 1 seed in the River Walk Region.
It’s the 13th time in 14 tournaments the Huskies are a No. 1 seed. Last year’s tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.
High Point (22-6), the Big South champions, are making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach Geno Auriemma won’t be with the Huskies as he remains in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.
Associate head coach Chris Dailey is expected to take over in Auriemma’s absence. Dailey is 10-0 as interim head coach, including a 97-53 victory over Oklahoma last season when Auriemma was out following surgery to alleviate diverticulitis.
First round games will be held in three Texas cities, beginning Sunday: San Antonio; Austin and San Marcos. All subsequent games will be in San Antonio, culminating with the Final Four
at the Alamodome on April 2 and 4. The four corners of the bracket — Alamo, Hemisfair, Mercado and River Walk — are named after famous sites in San Antonio instead of geographic regions. Baylor, Tennessee and Kentucky are seeded second through fourth in UConn’s region. Stanford (Alamo), South Carolina (Hemisfair) and North Carolina St. (Mercado) are the other No. 1 seeds.
The Huskies, riding a 14-game win streak that includes a Big East Tournament title, are rounding into form at the right time. They blitzed past St. John’s, Villanova and Marquette March 6-8 at Mohegan Sun, outscoring them by a combined 234119.
UConn has made 12 consecutive Final Fours.