Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
UConn shatters records in opening-round victory
CONNECTICUT 140, SAINT FRANCIS (PA.) 52
STORRS, Conn. — The Connecticut women’s team was in an online group chat watching the UMBC men upset top-seeded Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The players assured each other that they weren’t going to let anything similar happened to them. All upset hopes ended in the first few minutes of this game.
Azura Stevens scored 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead six UConn players in double figures and the Huskies opened their NCAA Tournament with a record-setting 140-52 rout of Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday.
“I don’t think [the UMBC] game put extra pressure on us, but watching a No. 1 go down kind of motivated us to kind of come out from the start to be ready to go,” Stevens said.
The women’s top seed set a record for points in a tournament game and all-time NCAA records for points in a quarter (55 in the first) and a half (94 in the first). And UConn’s 88-point margin of victory was the second-biggest in tournament history. Baylor beat Texas Southern by 89 in the 2017 tournament.
The previous record for points in a tournament game was 121. The previous mark for points in a half was 80 and for a quarter was 45.
“I don’t think we were really aware, said Katie Lou Samuelson, who had 18 points and 10 assists. “We were aware of how quickly we were going up and down the court at that first media timeout. But, we were just getting a lot of opportunities and taking advantage of them whenever we could.”
Kia Nurse finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Napheesa Collier had 25 points and nine assists.
UConn (33-0) shot 65 percent from the floor, 73.6 percent in the first half, and outscored the No. 16 seed 9610 in the paint.
Haley Thomas had 12 points and Caitlyn Kroll 11 for Saint Francis, which finishes the season 24-10. Jessica Kovatch, who came in as the nation’s second leading scorer at just under
25 points per game, finished with nine, all in the second half.
Saint Francis Coach Joe Haigh said his game plan was to outscore the Huskies, to run and gun, while leaving UConn’s post players open for mid-range jump shots. His team averaged nearly 81 points a game coming into Saturday. The strategy didn’t work.
“There was only one chance that we would have had to come close in this game and that was going to be to shoot a million threes and hope that they go in,”
Haigh said. “So, we shot a million threes and we didn’t make them.”
The Red Flash attempted 57 shots from behind the arc, making just 10 of them.
GEORGIA 68, MERCER 63
ATHENS, Ga. — Caliya Robinson had 23 points and 16 rebounds, Mackenzie Engram added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Georgia held off Mercer.
Que Morrison finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for the fourth-seeded Lady Bulldogs (26-6), who advanced to face Duke on Monday night.
Kahlia Lawrence scored 23 points and KeKe Calloway had 15 for No. 13 seed Mercer (30-3). The Bears had won a school-record 27 consecutive, the nation’s third-longest active streak.
DUKE 72, BELMONT 58
ATHENS, Ga. — Leaonna Odom scored a career-high 25 points, including nine in Duke’s dominant third period, and the Blue Devils beat Belmont in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Duke (23-8) led only 32-31 at halftime before outscoring Belmont 21-9 in the third period.
Kylie Smith led Belmont with 20 points.
BUFFALO 102, SOUTH FLORIDA 79
Cierra Dillard scored a career-high 36 points and Buffalo got its first women’s NCAA Tournament victory as it defeated South Florida.
It is the first time in an NCAA Tournament game that a Mid-American Conference team has gone over 100 points. It is also the first time since 1995 that Buffalo has scored more than 100 points.
Buffalo, which is making its second NCAA appearance, trailed 29-18 midway through the second quarter but went on a 20-7 run the remainder of the quarter to take a 43-38 lead at halftime. Wilkins had eight points during the run and Stephanie Reid added six.
QUINNIPIAC 86, MIAMI 72
STORRS, Conn. — Jen Fay led a balanced ninth-seeded Quinnipiac offense with 19 points and the Bobcats beat Miami, eliminating the Hurricanes from the women’s NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season.
Paula Strautmane added 15 points and Edel Thornton and Carly Fabbri each had 14 for Quinnipiac (28-5), which extended its winning streak to 23 games, a new school record.
Erykah Davenport led all scorers with 21 points for Miami. Emese Hof scored 16 and Endia Banks added 15 points in the losing effort.