The Day

UConn routs USF to wrap up seventh unbeaten AAC season

- By PAT EATON-ROBB

Hartford — Megan Walker scored 23 points and No. 5 UConn completed its seventh consecutiv­e undefeated American Athletic Conference regular season with an 80-39 rout of South Florida on Monday night.

Crystal Dangerfiel­d, Christyn Williams and Aubrey Griffin each added 13 points for the Huskies (26-3, 16- 0), who improved to 136-0 against AAC opponents, including all six conference tournament­s. They open play in this season's tournament on Saturday, in the familiar position as the top seed.

Sydni Harvey had 16 points for South Florida (18-12, 10-6), which had won three straight.

The Huskies never trailed South Florida and put the game away early, jumping out to a 22-4 lead behind 10 first-quarter points from Walker.

A three-point play by Crystal Dangerfiel­d highlighte­d a 19-0 run in the second quarter and gave the Huskies their first 30-plus-point lead at 42-10. A 3-pointer by Anna Marurat put the Huskies up 53-14 at the half.

The Bulls had more turnovers (15) than points before intermissi­on and ended the half with just four baskets on 30 shots.

UConn has never lost to South Florida, improving to 31-0 in the teams' final scheduled meeting. UConn is moving to the Big East next season.

The Huskies moved back into the Top 5 on Monday and were listed as a potential No. 2 seed in a preview of the women's NCAA tournament field. According to the reveal, they would play in the Portland regional with top-seeded Oregon.

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