UConn women back in NCAA final again

INDIANAPOLIS —

Morgan Tuck scored 21 points and Breanna Stewart added 16 to help UConn rout Oregon State, 80-51, in record fashion Sunday night in the women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball Final Four.

The Huskies are one victory away from a fourth consecutive national championship fulfilling Stewart’s goal. A feat never accomplished before in women’s basketball.

If UConn does win on Tuesday night coach Geno Auriemma will have an 11th national championship moving him past vaunted UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden for the most all time.

The 29-point victory was the biggest margin of victory in women’s Final Four history, surpassing the 28-point win by Tennessee over Arkansas in 1998. It was UConn’s 74th consecutive victory, the secondlongest winning streak in NCAA and school history.

Stewart wasn’t much of a factor for the Huskies in the opening 20 minutes. The three-time AP player of the year picked up two quick fouls and didn’t score her first points until she hit a turnaround jumper with three minutes left in the half. That basket came in the middle of a 15-2 run to close the opening 20 minutes.

She quashed any thoughts of an Oregon State rally, scoring 14 points in the second half for UConn (37-0). Just as they had done in the previous 73 games, the Huskies won by double digits.

Next up will be either Syracuse or Washington. Either team will have a tall task in front of them to stop UConn’s historic run. The Huskies have never lost in an NCAA title game.

Tuck was a big reason why UConn was able to build its big lead. Oregon State had six-foot-six centre Ruth Hamblin, of Houston, B.C., guarding her for most of the first half.

UConn led 32-24 after Canada’s Jamie Weisner hit a three-pointer with 5:33 left in the half. Then the Huskies took over.

Kia Nurse of Hamilton had nine points and five assists in 31 minutes.