Records fall in UConn victory

Azura Stevens scored 26 points to lead six UConn players in double figures and the No. 1 Huskies opened with a record-setting rout of No. 16 Saint Francis (Pa.) 140-52 in Storrs, Conn.

The tournament’s top seed set a record for points in a tournament game and alltime NCAA records for points in a period (55 in the first) and a half (94 in the first).

And UConn’s 88-point margin of victory was the second-biggest in tournament history. Baylor beat Texas Southern by 89 in the 2017 tournament.

The previous record for points in a tournament game was 121. The previous mark for points in a half was 80 and for a quarter was 45.

“I don’t think we were really aware, said Katie Lou Samuelson, who had 18 points and 10 assists. “We were aware of how quickly we were going up and down the court at that first media timeout.

“But, we were just getting a lot of opportunities and taking advantage of them whenever we could.”

Elsewhere

No. 9 Quinnipiac 86, Miami 72: Jen Fay led a balanced ninth-seeded Quinnipiac offense with 19 points and the Bobcats beat Miami in Storrs, Conn., eliminating the Hurricanes from the tournament for a second consecutive season.

Paula Strautmane added 15 points and Edel Thornton and Carly Fabbri each had 14 for Quinnipiac (285), which extended its winning streak to 23 games, a new school record.

Next up for Bobcats is a game against in-state neighbor UConn. It’s the first meeting between the schools in 20 years.

No. 5 Duke 72, No. 12 Belmont 58: Leaonna Odom scored a career-high 25 points, including nine in No. 5 Duke’s dominant third period, and the Blue Devils beat No. 12 Belmont in Athens, Ga.

Duke (23-8) led only 32-31 at halftime before outscoring Belmont 21-9 in the third period.

Kylie Smith led Belmont with 20 points.

No. 3 Ohio State 87, No. 14 George Washington 45: Stephanie Mavunga scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as third-seeded Ohio State routed George Washington 87-45 in Columbus, Ohio.

Alexa Hart had 12 points and Kelsey Mitchell added 11 points and seven rebounds as the Buckeyes (28-6) never trailed, took off in the second half and overwhelmed the Colonials (19-10), who had earned a tournament bid by winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

No. 11 Buffalo 102, No. 6 South Florida 79: Cierra Dillard scored a career-high 36 points and No. 11 seed Buffalo got its first women’s tournament victory as it defeated sixth-seeded South Florida in Tallahassee, Fla.

No. 3 Florida State 91, No. 14 Little Rock 49: Shakayla Thomas scored 26 points and Florida State defeated Little Rock in Tallahassee, Fla.

It is a tournament high for Thomas, eclipsing the 23 she scored against Western Illinois in the first round last year.

Thomas, a 5-foot-11 senior forward who was playing in her 12th NCAA Tournament game, was 11 of 15 from the field in 19 minutes. She scored Florida State’s first six points and had 16 in the first half as the host team was ahead 53-30 at halftime.

No. 11 Central Michigan 78, No. 6 LSU 69: Tinara Moore scored 25 points to help Central Michigan get its first tournament win, beating LSU in Columbus, Ohio.