Huskies roll over Shockers
HARTFORD — The start was inauspicious. The finish, on the other hand, was quite familiar.
It took longer than usual for UConn to strike a rhythm Thursday against Wichita State. The Huskies were offkilter to begin their first game of the New Year, going 4 minutes and 46 seconds without a field goal before Megan Walker sank a 3pointer to restore some sense of normalcy inside the XL Center.
The Huskies didn’t dominant like they normally do in American Athletic Conference play, but they did gain another victory. The final: UConn 83, Wichita State 55. UConn was uncharacteristically cold from the floor early, misfiring on its first six shots and falling behind 101. It wasn’t long, though, before the Huskies (110) sorted out their issues. The Huskies used a 272 run spanning into the second quarter to gain control.
Wichita State — picked ninth out of 12 teams in the AAC preseason poll — was surprisingly pesky. The Shockers (86) fought back within 10, 6353, midway through the fourth quarter, but the Huskies held them off with help from sophomore Christyn Williams.
Williams scored 19 points, including seven straight after Walker fouled out with 6:20 remaining.
Walker finished with 21 points — 13 of those in the first quarter — while Crystal Dangerfield paced the Huskies with 22 points.
The Huskies improved to 1220 alltime in AAC play since the 201314 season, including 30 against Wichita State.
Wichita State didn’t make it easy on the Huskies, at least not early. However, the Huskies closed the first quarter on a 160 run to jump ahead 2212. Their lead grew to 4526 at halftime and 6139 after three quarters.
Mariah McCully led Wichita State with 16 points. Olivia NelsonOdoda contributed 13 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies.
Notable: Before the game, NelsonOdoda and Williams were presented with plaques for winning gold medals with USA Basketball at the 3x3 Pan American Games this summer.