NO. 2 UCONN VS. NO. 15 TOWSON

NCAA FIRST ROUND

Location: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs Tip: 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2). Records: Towson 20-12 overall; UConn 31-2. Last game: Towson beat Drexel 53-49 in the Colonial Athletic Association final March 16; UConn beat Central Florida 66-45 in the American Athletic Conference final March 11.

Probable starters: Towson, 6-3 F Nukiya Mayo (14.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.5 bpg), 5-8 G Kionna Jeter (17.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.6 spg), 5-11 G Ryan Holder (5.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg), 5-9 G Qierra Murray (8.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.5 apg), 6-4 C Maia Lee (3.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg). UConn, 6-1 F Megan Walker (12.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg), 6-3 G Katie Lou Samuelson (18.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.8 apg), 6-2 F Napheesa Collier (20.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.4 bpg), 5-5 G Crystal Dangerfield (13.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 6.1 apg, 1.6 spg), 5-11 G Christyn Williams (10.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg).

Noteworthy: Towson, located about 14 miles from Baltimore, was 9-21 last season under first-year coach Diane Richardson. The Tigers more than doubled their win total this season, earning Richardson — "Coach Rich," as junior guard Qierra Murray called her Thursday — the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the year honor. Still, however, Towson was the fourth seed headed into the CAA tournament and not at all the favorite to earn its first NCAA tournament berth. The Tigers defeated No. 5 Delaware 59-49 in the quarterfinals, No. 9 Hofstra 69-48 in the semis and No. 2 Drexel 53-49 in the final. "I am a big believer in setting goals and reaching goals ... we knew very much so that we could win the tournament because of the time and work we put in through the season and how hard they played," Richardson said. "We had a tough nonconference schedule that prepared us for that. They went in determined to do that because we planned that the entire season." Nukiya Mayo averaged 16.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game to earn CAA tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. It is the program's first winning season since 2011-12. "It was a lot of ups and downs last season," Towson senior center Maia Lee said. "But this year, we could just tell we had a lot more heart. We're together more on and off the court and it really correlated to the basketball court, which was very beneficial to us." ... Towson has five players on the roster who are 6-foot-3 or taller, including 6-5 freshman reserve center Janeen Camp, who leads the team with 52 blocked shots . ... At Delaware on Jan. 6, Towson had a season-high 63 rebounds, the most rebounds by a CAA team this season. The Tigers finished fifth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (17) and 16th in rebounds per game (42.79) . ... UConn and Towson met once previously, on Nov. 30, 2011, at the XL Center in Hartford, with UConn winning 92-31.