Huskies advance to final, improve to 100-0 in AAC
By The Associated Press
Azura Stevens scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead top-ranked Connecticut to a 75-21 rout of Cincinnatiin the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Uncasville, Conn.
Napheesa Collier added 13 points for the Huskies (31-0), who have won 100 games against AAC opponents without a loss since the league began play in 2013.
Connecticut led from the start and used a 38-0 run that stretched from the first quarter into the third to put the game away.
Andeija Puckett had five points for overmatched Cincinnati(19-12).
The Huskies played without All-American forward Gabby Williams, who tweaked a hip injury in the quarterfinals against Tulane.
The Huskies led, 9-5, after a 3-pointer by Cincinnati’s Nikira Goings with 4:39 left in the first quarter. Those would be the last points the Bearcats would score until a little more than a minute and a half into thesecond half.
Connecticut scored the final eight points of the first quarter and outscored Cincinnati, 26-0, in the second to take a43-5 halftime lead.
Metro Atlantic
Jen Fay scored 12 of her 23 points in the third quarter and top-seed Quinnipiac (275) won its 22nd game in a row with a 67-58 victory against Marist (20-13) in Albany, N.Y. to claim the conference title.
Green Bay
Jessica Lindstrom scored 17 points and set a program Division I record with 1,000 career rebounds as No. 22 Green Bay (28-3) reached the Horizon League championship game for the eighth consecutive season with a 66-45 victory against Youngstown State (16-15) in Detroit.
Metro Atlantic men
Roland Griffin scored a career-high 29 points as Iona (20-13) beat Fairfield (17-16), 83-71 in Albany, N.Y. to capture the conference tournament title for the third consecutive year and earn a bid tothe NCAA tournament.
Texas Tech
Coach Chris Beard was rewarded with a new $19 million contract after leading the Red Raiders to 23 wins in the regular season and their best finish in the Big 12 Conference.