DIGEST UConn advances
Christyn Williams (Central Arkansas Christian) scored 27 points and Paige Bueckers added 18 to lead No. 1 UConn to a 92-72 victory over fifth-seeded Iowa on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
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 (Central Arkansas Christian) 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. [They] 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.”
Westbrook just missed the 18th triple-double in women’s NCAA Tournament history, with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists for UConn, which raised its record to 27-1. Nelson-Ododa added 11 rebounds and 7 assists to go with 4 points. Freshman Aaliyah Edwards added 18 points.
“I kind of knew that they were going to be extra aggressive, especially on [Williams] and Paige, so that kind of makes it easier on the rest of us with them being a big focus,” Westbrook said.
Clark, shadowed on defense by Williams on almost every possession, finished with 21 points — below her nearly 27 point a game average. She was just 7 for 21 from the floor.
“I thought we played a great team basketball game,” Williams said. “I think we were working on all cylinders today. So, I don’t want to get all the credit, because this was a total team effort.”
The game marked the return of Auriemma, who missed the opening two rounds while recovering from the coronavirus. Auriemma arrived in San Antonio on Wednesday.
Associate head coach Chris Dailey, who guided the team through the opening two wins, moved back to her customary seat at his side where she’s
been for their entire time at UConn.
Williams missed five of her first seven shots before getting going on offense. She made six in a row in the second quarter to give UConn a 49-35 halftime lead. The junior wing had 14 of her points in the period.
Iowa (20-10), behind Clark, was able to get within nine twice in the fourth quarter, but Bueckers answered with a three-pointer each time and Iowa could get no closer.
“This season was truly special, and I think for this team it’s only up from here. I know a lot of girls dream about going to all those blue bloods but I think playing for your home state is really something special and creating something is really special and that’s my goal here,” Clark said. “Obviously I still have three years left to do a lot of special things.”
BAYLOR 78, MICHIGAN 75, OT
Baylor cruised through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, looking very much like the defending champions.
NaLyssa Smith and the Lady Bears had to work Saturday.
It took a stellar shooting performance by Smith and two big plays by Queen Egbo in the final seconds of overtime to earn a victory over Michigan in the Sweet 16.
“If it doesn’t show today that we want to win the whole thing, I don’t know what to tell you all. This team just gave it their all today,” said Smith, who scored 24 points on 11-of-11 shooting.
Egbo helped Baylor close it out. She gave Baylor a 76-73 lead with a foul shot with 19 seconds left, and then fired a quick pass to Moon Ursin for a wideopen layup.
Baylor didn’t get to defend its 2019 championship when the coronavirus pandemic wiped out last year’s tournament.
Baylor has won 20 consecutive games, including romps in the first two rounds. But Michigan (16-6), which had never before advanced this far in the tournament, dug out of a 12-point deficit in the second quarter and traded shots late in a determined bid to go even further.
Leigha Brown scored 23 points, helping Michigan push Baylor into the first overtime game in the Sweet 16 since Tennessee’s victory over Gonzaga in 2015. Naz Hillmon had 16 points and seven rebounds.
“Winning whether it was overtime, double overtime, regulation, winning is all that matters,” said Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey, who has won three national championships.
Brown’s layup got Michigan within one with 17 seconds left. After calling timeout, Baylor was able to run off several seconds before Egbo fired the rifle pass to Ursin for probably the easiest basket of the game. Ursin scored 20 points.
Baylor still had to watch as Akienreh Johnson’s half-court try for Michigan barely missed, and the Wolverines were unable to get another shot up before time ran out.
“I actually thought we had them for a period of time there,” Michigan Coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “We persevered through a tremendous amount this season and had an opportunity to beat the national champions tonight.”
Michigan never led in regulation. Hillmon tied it at 63-63 with 15 seconds left, converting a lob pass from Hailey Brown that barely floated over the arms of a Baylor defender.
Ursin then missed short on a shot to win with 3 seconds left, sending the game into overtime.
Michigan briefly led on Johnson’s jumper early in overtime, and the teams traded baskets to tie or change leads six times in the extra period. Dijonai Carrington’s steal and layup put Baylor ahead 75-73. Carrington finished with 19 points.
“We dug deep. We don’t rely on any one person. Obviously ‘Lyssa’s our goto player but everyone had to step up today,” Carrington said. “We’re going to dig deep for one another.”