No coach, no problem for UConn women
SAN ANTONIO — UConn did just fine without coach Geno Auriemma, with Paige Bueckers scoring 24 points to lead the top-seeded Huskies to a 102-59 victory over High Point in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
Auriemma is recovering from the coronavirus and missed the opener. Associate head coach Chris Dailey filled in for the Hall of Famer, who is also going to miss the second-round game against Syracuse on Tuesday.
Dailey is 11-0 filling in for Auriemma over their time together at UConn (25-1). The Huskies also were missing assistant coach
Shea Ralph, who left San Antonio after one of her relatives contracted COVID-19.
It didn’t make much of a difference as the Huskies cruised to their usual opening-round rout behind their star freshman.
Bueckers, the third player ever to make first-team All-America as a freshman, notched 13 points, five rebounds and three assists at the half as UConn led, 53-29. She had one of the best debuts for storied UConn in the tourney, also finishing with nine rebounds, six assists and four steals. Her 24 points passed the previous best mark by a freshman of 22 by Katie Lou Samuelson.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 22 points.
It wasn’t all good news for the Huskies. Freshman guard Nika Muhl stepped on the foot of Chyna McMichel, spraining her right ankle in the second quarter. She had to be helped off the court and her ankle was heavily wrapped.
She walked on crutches to the locker room at the half and was shown on TV with her head in her hands in front of the locker room. Muhl injured her left ankle in the Big East Tournament opener, but returned for the Huskies’ game the next night.
While there weren’t many highlights for the Panthers (22-7), who were playing in their first NCAA Tournament, they did take a 3-2 lead when Big South Player of the Year Skyler Curran hit a deep 3 from close to 10 feet behind the arc. UConn promptly answered with the next eight points and the rout was on.
STALEY WINS 500TH
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley notched her 500th career victory when Aliyah Boston and the top-seeded Gamecocks beat Mercer, 79-53, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
Boston scored 20 points with 18 rebounds for South Carolina (23-4), which grabbed the lead for good when it closed the first half with a 16-5 run. Victaria Saxton also scored 20 points in the Hemisfair Region game at the Alamodome.
The Gamecocks were national champs in 2017, when the Final Four was last played in Texas. They finished 32-1 last season, spent the final 10 weeks at No. 1 and Staley was the AP coach of the year, but didn’t get a chance to win another title because the NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the pandemic.
Amoria Neal-Tysor scored 15 points for Mercer (19-7). Jada Lewis added 14 points, and Shannon Titus finished with 12.
Staley is 328-102 in her 13 seasons at South Carolina, after going 172-80 in eight seasons at Temple. The SEC Tournament champion Gamecocks are in their ninth consecutive NCAA tourney, winning in the first round each time.