Paige Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards each recorded a double-double and No. 3 seed UConn pounced on No. 14 seed Jackson State early to cruise to an 86-64 victory in Portland 3 Regional action in Storrs, Conn., on Saturday in the first round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
Bueckers scored the Huskies’ first five points and finished the first quarter with eight points and three rebounds on the way to game highs of 28 points and 11 rebounds. She also matched Nika Muhl and the Tigers’ Keshuna Luckett with a game-high seven assists.
Edwards complemented Bueckers with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Ashlynn Shade finished with 26 points.
UConn (30-5) raced out to a 14-point lead by the end of the first quarter, then pushed the lead to as many as 24 points in the second quarter. The advantage grew to 27 points in the third, a period in which Shade erupted for 14 points.
Jackson State (26-7), which came into Saturday’s contest on a 21-game winning streak, struggled offensively against the Huskies’ defense. The Tigers shot 21-for-64 from the floor, including 6-for-27 from 3-point distance. Ti’lan Boler led Jackson State with 25 points.
No. 1 Southern California 87, No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 55
Freshman standout JuJu Watkins broke the Trojans’ single-season scoring record, netting 23 points in a victory over the Islanders in Los Angeles.
Watkins came into the game needing five points to surpass the legendary Cheryl Miller for the record, and she did so in the first quarter. Miller had scored 814 points in a single season, and Watkins now has 833 for Southern California (27-5).
Two Trojans each hit more 3-pointers than Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-9) did as a team (2-for-15 from deep). McKenzie Forbes and Kayla Padilla each went 3-for-7 from beyond the arc, and Forbes matched Watkins with a game-high 23 points. The win sends Southern California into the second round, where it will face Kansas on Monday.
Mireia Aguado went 6-for-8 from the floor en route to a team-high 15 points for the Islanders. Alecia Westbrook added 12 points.
No. 6 Syracuse 74, No. 11 Arizona 69
Dyaisha Fair erupted for 13 points in the final 2:43 to cap a 32-point performance as the Orange defeated the Wildcats in Storrs, Conn.
Fair accounted for all of Syracuse’s points during a game-ending 13-3 run that allowed the Orange (24-7) to climb out of a five-point hole. While Fair exploded on offense, the Syracuse defense held Arizona (18-16) in check, with Helena Pueyo’s 3-pointer providing the Wildcats’ only points over the final 3:15 of the game.
Skylar Jones led Arizona with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists. Jada Williams and Pueyo each added 14 points for the Wildcats, who led for 33:28 but still couldn’t pull out the win.
Alyssa Latham chipped in 10 points for the Orange, who forced 21 turnovers that translated to 26 points. Syracuse overcame 17 giveaways of their own.
No. 8 Kansas 81, No. 9 Michigan 72 (OT)
Zakiyah Franklin had 22 points to lead four Jayhawks scorers with at least 14 and Kansas rallied from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to oust the Wolverines in Los Angeles.
Kansas (20-12) fell behind 60-50 with 6:01 remaining in regulation when Chyra Evans scored two of her nine points on a layup for Michigan, but the Jayhawks responded with a furious 17-7 run to close the fourth quarter.
They carried the momentum into overtime, scoring the extra period’s first five points to build a lead they never relinquished. Wyvette Mayberry and S’Mya Nichols each supplied 15 points for Kansas, which also got 14 from Taiyanna Jackson.
The Wolverines (20-14) got 18 points from Cameron Williams before she fouled out 91 seconds into overtime. Laila Phelia scored 16 points, and Lauren Hansen added 13 in the loss.
–Field Level Media