NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY

NO. 3 UCONN VS. NO. 14 JACKSON STATE

When: Saturday at 1 p.m.

Where: Gampel Pavilion

Records: UConn (29-5, 18-0 Big East) Jackson State (26-6, 18-0 SWAC)

TV: ABC

Radio: UConn Sports Network, WAVZ-New Haven (1300 AM), WGCH- Greenwich (1490 AM), WATR-Waterbury (1320 AM), WICH-Norwich (1310 AM, 94.5 FM), WILI-Willimantic (1400 AM, 95.3 FM), Fox Sports 97.9 FM Hartford, SiriusXM-983, SXM App 973

KEEP AN EYE ON

Dancing days: Let the dance begin!

No. 3 seed UConn opens the NCAA Tournament Saturday at Gampel Pavilion, hosting No. 14 Jackson

State a first round game at 1 p.m. (ABC).

The winner will advance to Monday’s second round in Storrs, and will play the winner of No. 6 Syracuse-No. 11 Arizona.

The Huskies are looking to return to the Final Four after last year’s upset loss in the Sweet 16.

While UConn is again shorthanded and down to just eight available players for the tournament due to injuries, it does boast an All-American duo in Paige Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards.

Bueckers has come back after missing all last season with an ACL injury to play the best basketball of her career. She was named an USBWA and an AP First Team All-American and is averaging a career-high 21.3 points per game.

Edwards has continued her dominance from last season as UConn’s lone experienced forward this year. She’s become the Huskies’ most dominant weapon and also averaging career highs in points (17.8) and rebounds (9.3) per game (9.3). The senior forward was named a Second Team All-American by the USBWA and is expected to return to the court this weekend after breaking her nose in the Big East Tournament.

The Huskies won the Big East Tournament by an average of 33 points per game yet are playing with a slim margin of error.

With limited depth, UConn can’t afford to get into foul trouble. Also, four of its eight players are freshmen making their NCAA Tournament debuts. The team is also down to just two available forwards since Amari DeBerry (concussion) is unavailable for the rest of the year. Scouting the Tigers: Jackson State played 13 players in its SWAC Tournament championship win. Twelve of its 16 players have played in 20 games or more this season, giving the Tigers the ability to sub in and out freely and not get into foul trouble.

Six-foot-6 fifth-year forward Angel Jackson leads in the post with 6-5 center Laila Walker coming off the bench. Jackson, a transfer from USC, is a two-time SWAC Defensive Player of the Year and is No. 3 in the nation with 95 blocks this season.

And it’s not just Jackson. The Tigers’ all-around team defense is also strong as they ride a 21-game win streak.

Jackson State ranks within the top 15 of Division I teams in multiple team stats. The Tigers are No. 2 in nation in field goal percent defense (limiting opponents to 33.6 percent), No. 2 in free throws attempted (24.84 per game), No. 7 in 3-point field goal percent defense (26.0), No. 9 in offensive rebounds per game (16.0), No. 11 in rebounds per game (43.44) and No. 15 in blocks per game (5.2).

The 2024 Big Dance marks Jackson State’s third NCAA Tournament appearance within the last four years after making it to the first round of the WNIT last year.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, in five of their six total NCAA Tournament appearances they’ve faced some of the best to ever coach the sport. Jackson State lost to a Pat Summit-lead Tennessee in 1982 in its first March Madness appearance. In 2008, it lost to a Van Chancellor-led LSU. And most recently, Kim Mulkey has spoiled the Tigers’ seasons by defeating them in 2021 (101-52) during her last year at Baylor and again in 2022 (83-77) during her first season coaching LSU.

Now, they’re meeting Geno Auriemma.

First things first: Saturday will mark the first ever meeting between the schools. Jackson State has never advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, meanwhile the Huskies haven’t lost in the first round since 1993 (fell to No. 11 Louisville 74-71).