The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Huskies march past UCLA, into Elite Eight
With 151st victory, seniors winningest class in history
BRIDGEPORT » The final seconds ticked off the clock and for once there was no fullcourt pressure for Saniya Chong to deal with, just a couple of dribbles before she became a part of the winningest class in women’s college basketball history.
The 151st game won by the Huskies since Chong and fellow senior Tierney Lawlor arrived in Storrs was not the runaway hit or one of those, ‘let’s name the final score’ type of affairs.
Fourth-seeded UCLA certainly made the four-time defending national champions work for the 86-71 victory before a sellout crowd of 8,830 at Webster Bank Arena on Saturday more than the final margin might indicate.
Chong was not the Huskies’ leader in points scored, rebounds or assists, but it could be said that she never had more of a say in the outcome of an NCAA Tournament game as she did on Saturday as UConn extended its NCAA basketball record winning streak to 110 games. It also gave head coach Geno Auriemma his NCAA Division I women’s basketball record-tying 112th tournament
victory.
“At times it seemed like she was the only person we could really trust with the ball,” UConn junior forward Gabby Williams said. “She was able to penetrate the zone, which is what you have to do against a team like that. She handled their full-court pressure. She just played really confidently.”
Napheesa Collier had 27 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots, while Williams had 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists. UConn (350) faces 10th-seeded Oregon on Monday at 7 p.m. with a chance to punch a ticket to its record 10th straight Final Four.
Katie Lou Samuelson chipped in with 15 points. Chong had 16 points, aided by a team-leading three 3-pointers, five assists three assists and one bloody lip after a collision with UCLA’s Jordin Canada.
“I left really good, I was out there just enjoying my time playing,” Chong said. “I had to go out there and do whatever my team needed of me and that was to handle the ball.”
Chong is part of a class that is 151-1 in the last four years. The 151 wins matched the NCAA Division I women’s basketball record set by Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson at UConn from 2012-16. Chong’s minutes in her first three seasons were limited, especially at this time of the year. Chong played a total of 40 minutes in games in the regionals or at the Final Four coming into Saturday but nearly matched that with 38 minutes against UCLA.
“I am out there contributing any way that I know I can,” Chong said. “Not just me but T (Lawlor), she has the number just like me and it has been a great ride and a lot of memories.”
The memories from Saturday’s regional semifinal had to do with handling the UCLA press with relative ease for the most part as well as going 4 for 4 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to keep the feisty Bruins at arm’s length.
“I felt like some of her success was my fault,” UCLA senior guard Kari Korver said. “There were times when I was trying to help and I shouldn’t have. She got open 3s. One time I was pressuring her, she got a wide-open layup. She did a great job, and I need to do a better job.”
Early on it was UCLA setting the tempo. The Bruins made their first four shots, three of them coming off assists from Jordin Canada, their speed demon of a point guard to take the early 9-2 lead.
When Kia Nurse drained a 3-pointer with 6:21 left in the first quarter, it started the ball rolling. The Huskies would make 14 of 16 shots to pull away.
“For a second, we kind of looked defeated,” Canada said. “That’s when they capitalized on their opportunities to score in transition and get offensive rebounds. I think it was just our lack of focus.”
The Huskies used a 17-2 run to go up by eight points late in the first quarter. Fittingly, Chong hit a 3-pointer and then assisted on Nurse’s 3 to cap the run. By the end of the first quarter UConn’s lead was nine, it grew to 19 on a Samuelson layup with 5:47 to play in the first half.
Canada had 20 points and 11 assists while Monique Billings had 17 points and 16 rebounds while Korver had five 3-pointers to finish with 15 points for the Bruins (25-9).
UConn will face 10thseeded Oregon which upset No. 3 seed Maryland 77-63 in the first semifinal. Freshmen Sabrina Ionescu (21 points, six rebounds and seven assists) and Ruthy Hebard (16 points, eight rebounds, three steals) led the way.
Maryland’s seniors Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Brionna Jones had 16 points each for Maryland.