UConn rolls past Iowa, 92-72

SAN ANTONIO — The game was billed as a marquee matchup of uber-talented freshmen Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark. While those two didn’t disappoint, it was Christyn Williams and UConn’s other upperclassmen who stepped up and helped the Huskies advance.

Williams scored 27 points and Bueckers added 18 to lead No. 1 UConn to a 92-72 win over fifth-seeded Iowa on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

“The fact there was so much hype on those two kids. part of it was unfair and comes with the territory,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “Like

I told the team before the game, in all these matchups, it comes (down) to somebody else. ... Our defense as bad as it was at times, was really, really good when it had to be. Christyn Williams, Evina Westbrook and Olivia (Nelson-Ododa), our three juniors were amazing. played the way you wanted your upperclassmen to play. It was not going to be easy on either Caitlyn or Paige to play their normal game.”

Bueckers and Iowa’s Clark had taken the women’s basketball world by storm this season. Bueckers became the third freshman ever to earn All-America honors. Clark led the nation in scoring and came into the regional semifinals averaging 29 points in the tournament.

“I was super excited for this game, just because of the spotlight on it,” said Bueckers, who also had nine rebounds and eight assists. “And I know everybody hyped it up to be Caitlin versus Paige, but I was so excited for our team because I knew that people were going to come and notice and watch our whole team play.”

Evina Westbrook just missed the 18th triple-double in NCAA women’s tournament history, with 17 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists for UConn, which raised its record to 27-1. Nelson-Ododa added 11 rebounds and seven assists to go with four points. Freshman Aaliyah Edwards added 18 points.