Huskies dominate the Hoyas
Bueckers’ 27 points leads Connecticut to Big East championship
Paige Bueckers scored 27 points and had five blocks to help No. 10 Connecticut beat Georgetown, 78-42, on Monday night to win its 22nd Big East tournament title.
It was the 29th title overall for the Huskies, who haven’t lost in a conference championship contest since 2013, when Notre Dame beat them for the Big East title.
UConn (29-5), which has been in 20 consecutive conference tournament championship games, has won all four titles since rejoining the Big East in 2020-21 after taking seven straight during its run in the American Athletic Conference.
Other women’s tournaments
Big 12: Audi Crooks had 25 points and fourth-seeded Iowa State (20-10) romped to an 85-68 victory against top-seeded and No. 19 Oklahoma ( 22-9) to head to the Big 12 tournament final. ... Madison Booker had 17 points, Shay Holle hit a goahead 3-pointer with just more than a minute to go and sixth-ranked Texas (294) beat No. 16 Kansas State (25-7), 71-64, to set up a rematch against Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament finale.
WCC: Eliza Hollingsworth had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Yvonne Ejim also had a double-double and No. 14 Gonzaga (30-2) defeated Pacific (18-14), 72-61, in the West Coast Conference tournament semifinals for the Bulldogs’ 24th straight win. The Bulldogs will face Portland in the title game.
Mountain West: Amarachi Kimpson scored 16 points, and No. 21 UNLV ( 28-2) routed ninth-seeded Fresno State (15-18), 83-35, in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament.
Sun Belt: Meredith Maier scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half, and Marshall (26-6) earned its second NCAA tournament berth with a 95-92 overtime win against James Madison (2311) in the Sun Belt Conference tournament title game.
Men’s tournaments
Sun Belt: Xavier Brown scored a career- high 21 points to go with 10 rebounds and No. 2 seed James Madison ( 31- 3) eased by No. 4 seed Arkansas State (18-16), 91-71, to claim the Sun Belt Conference tournament title and earn its first NCAA tournament bid since 2013.
Southern: Achor Achor had 25 points, nine rebounds and four blocks as Samford ( 29- 5) defeated East Tennessee State (1916), 76-69, to win the Southern Conference tournament title and head to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000.