UConn routs Albany to win 108th straight game
UCONN 116, ALBANY 55
STORRS, Conn. — Napheesa Collier and Gabby Williams didn’t play big roles for UConn on last season’s national championship team.
The Husky forwards sent a message during Saturday’s 116-55 firstround rout of Albany that they plan to lead the team in the quest for a fifth straight title.
Collier scored 24 points, Williams had 20 and each pulled down 10 rebounds to help the top seed to the program’s 108th straight win and 25th straight in the NCAA Tournament.
Kia Nurse, who missed the last four games of the regular season with an ankle injury, also scored 24 points. The junior guard when 6-for-7 from 3-point range for the Huskies (33-0), who haven’t lost in the first round since 1993.
“The rest of the team is going to feed off of what we do, whether that’s positive or negative,” Williams said. “So we have to make sure that if we’re going to say something we have to being doing it too. And we have to lead by example.”
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.
“That first three or four minutes of the second half I think kind of ended the game for all intents and purposes,’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said
Collier had 13 firstquarter points and hit a layup and foul shot that gave the Huskies their first double-digit lead at 23-12. UConn led 37-18 after 10 minutes, with 20 points coming in the paint. Collier had 18 points by halftime and Williams added 16 to extend the lead to 58-32.
The Huskies had 34 assists on their 43 baskets.
Crystal Dangerfield scored 16 points and added six assists for the Huskies and Katie Lou Samuelson had 15 points and a career-high nine assists.
“We just play and see what other teams are going to give us each game,” Sameulson said. “Pheese and Gabby were basically unstoppable in the paint and Kia stepped up really big for us, so we were just doing what we could to feed them.”
This was the 13th time since 1997 that UConn’s first-round margin of victory has exceeded the number of points put up by its opponent, but Tate said she didn’t feel the Huskies were running up the score.