NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY

UCONN VS. DUKE

When: Saturday, 8 p.m.

Where: Moda Center in Portland, Ore.

Records: UConn (31-5, 18-0 Big East) Duke (22-11, 11-7 ACC)

TV: ESPN

Radio: UConn Sports Network, The River 105.9-Hartford, WAVZ-New Haven (1300 AM), WGCH- Greenwich (1490 AM), WATR-Waterbury (1320 AM), WICHNorwich (1310 AM, 94.5 FM), WILI-Willimantic (1400 AM, 95.3 FM), SiriusXM-983, SXM App 973

KEEP AN EYE ON

Taking the next step: The UConn women’s basketball team is back where it all ended last season.

The Huskies are back in the Pacific Northwest. This time playing in Portland, Ore. instead of Seattle for the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.

No. 3 seeded UConn faces No. 7 Duke in Saturday’s Sweet 16 at the Moda Center for the chance to advance to Monday’s Elite Eight. Saturday’s winner will face the winner of No. 1 USC-No. 5 Baylor on Monday.

Last year’s upset against Ohio State the Sweet 16 snapped UConn’s streak of 14 straight appearances in the Final Four and was the program’s earliest exit in the NCAA Tournament since 2005.

This year, the Huskies are looking to avenge that loss — especially now that Paige Bueckers is back and playing better than ever.

Bueckers, now playing in a point-forward role, is averaging a career-high 21.5 points per game and is second on the team with 5.1 rebounds per game. The Big East Player of the Year and the conference tournament’s Most Outstanding Player is a top-four finalist for the National Player of the Year. Bueckers won the award as a freshman in 2021.

How they got here: UConn defeated No. 6 Syracuse 7264 in Monday’s second round in Storrs to advance to its 30th-straight Sweet 16. The Huskies opened the tournament with a 86-64 win over No. 14 Jackon State in last weekend’s first round.

Duke earned its way to the Sweet 16 after upsetting No. 2 Ohio State 75-63 in the second round. The Blue Devils beat No. 10 Richmond 72-61 in the first round.

This is the Blue Devils’ first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 2018, but its first under fourth-year coach Kara Lawson. Duke has not advanced to the Elite Eight since 2013.

Scouting the Blue Devils: Duke finished seventh in the Atlantic Coast Conference and lost in the conference tournament’s quarterfinals to NC State.

The Blue Devils showed they can compete with some of the nation’s best this season. Duke held tight to thenNo. 6 Stanford back on Nov. 19, pushing the game into overtime before ultimately losing 82-79. On Dec. 3, it lost to top-ranked South Carolina 77-61. In conference play, the Blue Devils defeated then-No. 14 Virginia Tech 63-46, then-No. 17 Syracuse 58-45 and then-No. 6 NC State 6958.

Like UConn, Duke’s roster is guard heavy. Junior guard Reigan Richardson leads with 12.4 points per game while freshman guard Oluchi Okananwa leads with 6.2 rebounds per game. Senior center Kennedy Brown (8.3 points, 5.5. rebounds per game) is Duke’s tallest player at 6-foot-6. She’s followed by Yale grad transfer Camilla Emsbo at 6-5.

Some history: UConn leads the teams’ all-time series 13-3. Saturday will be their fourth meeting in the NCAA Tournament with UConn also winning that series 2-1. The last time Duke and UConn met in March Maddess was in the Sweet 16 of the 2018 tournament with the Huskies winning 72-59.