The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Huskies rout Syracuse, advance to Sweet 16
Junior guard hits nine 3-pointers as UConn marches into Sweet 16
STORRS » Just in case the opportunity to win a rematch of the 2016 national championship game and advance to the regionals in the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament for a 24th season in a row wasn’t motivation enough for top-seeded UConn, a little bit a must-see television only strengthened the Huskies’ resolve.
The UConn players watched as top seeds Notre Dame and South Carolina barely staved off upset bids in their second-round games. The Huskies were determined not to leave anything to chance and thanks to a record-setting shooting performance by junior Kia Nurse, the mission was most certainly accomplished.
Nurse tied the NCAA women’s Division I tournament record by making nine 3-pointers to power the Huskies to a 94-64 win over Syracuse before a crowd of 8,274 at Gampel Pavilion.
“Those first three quarters, I thought we were about as good as we could be in a lot of the areas that you need to be good in,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “They were spectacular in every sense of the word. They had me shaking my head a couple of times.”
Nurse finished with 29 points,
making 9 of 12 shots from 3-point range to go with six assists in 34 minutes. Nurse has made 19 of her last 24 3-pointers in the NCAA tournament dating back to last year’s tournament. Gabby Williams and Katie Lou Samuelson added 23 points each as the Huskies advanced to the regionals for the 24th straight year which is three shy of the tournament record set by Tennessee from 1982-2008.
“We saw other games and how they have gone and that is not something we wanted,” Nurse said. “We wanted to focus on throwing the first punch, really dominating and imposing our will and I think we did that.” Yes they did. As impressive as Nurse’s shooting display was, the Huskies also happened to have assists on 30 of its 31 baskets through three quarters including a run of 26 straight hoops coming off assists.
All six Huskies to play at least 20 minutes had at least three assists. For all the talk leading into the game about Syracuse having the best backcourt in the country, Chong and Nurse happened to combine for 13 assists and three turnovers.
“It is tough to find kids who can pass the ball, it really is and he (Auriemma) has five players who can move the ball and make great decisions,” Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman said. “They can score from all five spots on the floor so it is tough to guard them.”
Napheesa Collier chipped in with 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots as UConn, winners of an NCAA record 109 games in a row, improved to 34-0.
The Huskies set a program record for assists in consecutive games after having 34 in the firstround win over Albany breaking a mark set earlier this season with 63 in games against Tulsa and Cincinnati. Chong not only led UConn in assists but she was part of the fourth class in UConn history to go four seasons without losing a game at Gampel Pavilion.
UConn gave Syracuse senior point guard Alexis Peterson a variety of different looks with four of the five starters getting the call to guard her at different times in the opening minutes Peterson did get it going with 10 quick points in the second quarter but by that times the Huskies were already up 42-15.
Peterson finished with 25 points for Syracuse (22-11), Brittney Sykes had 15 points and Briana Day added 13 points and six rebounds.
This is the eighth time UConn will enter the regionals undefeated while it has been accomplished once each by Texas in 1986, Louisiana Tech in 1990, Tennessee in 1998, Baylor in 2012 and Notre Dame in 2014.
It was the 26th straight NCAA tournament win for Auriemma. As a point of reference, only seven coaches who lead their teams into the second round in this year’s tournament have at least 26 total NCAA tournament victories.