UConn women rout 14-seed Jackson State 86-64 in March Madness

STORRS — When third-seeded UConn girls’s basketball drew No. 14 Jackson State as its first-round opponent within the NCAA Event, longtime coach Geno Auriemma was nervous in regards to the matchup.

However on his seventieth birthday, Auriemma’s Huskies (30-5) cruised by means of the primary spherical with an 86-64 rout of the Tigers (26-7) at Gampel Pavilion on Saturday. UConn advances to the second spherical for the thirty first straight season, the place it should host the winner of Saturday’s first-round sport between 6-seed Syracuse and 11-seed Arizona on Monday.

“I’m thrilled that this one’s out of the best way and it’s over with,” Auriemma stated. “Taking part in a crew like Jackson State, they compete actually, actually, actually onerous, and so they appear to get energized. much more the extra you rating … They by no means really feel like, ‘We’re out of it. We should always simply pack it in.’ I used to be actually impressed with them. I feel they’re exceptionally properly coached.”

The following step guarantees to be slightly more difficult because the Huskies will meet No. 6 seed Syracuse on Monday evening in Gampel at a time to be introduced. The Orange obtained previous No. 11 Arizona 74-69 following the Huskies’ win.

The Huskies dominated from the start, opening up a 22-8 lead within the first quarter behind a 17-0 run. Bueckers was virtually unstoppable within the first half, capturing 70% from the sector and 2-for-4 from 3-point vary to enter the halftime locker room with 19 factors plus 4 rebounds and three assists.

In her first NCAA Event sport since tearing her ACL in August 2022, Bueckers logged her first postseason double-double with 28 factors on 11-for-19 capturing plus 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. It was her fourth consecutive efficiency with not less than 27 factors and sixth in UConn’s final seven.

Auriemma stated he sat Bueckers down after apply on Friday to speak in regards to the match, and the senior famous person already knew what he was going to say.

“I stated, ‘What do you suppose I’m gonna speak to you about?’ and she or he stated ‘That I’ve to take management of the match, and do it within the greatest ones and ensure that I’m every part my crew wants me to be. So she form of stated it for me,” Auriemma stated. “Being within the match coming off of damage after which being within the match lacking a complete 12 months, these are her final two experiences, and I do know that this was an enormous, large deal for her. She’s a forgotten entity within the nation, and I feel perhaps she reminded everyone that’s she’s nonetheless fairly good.”

Aaliyah Edwards additionally made a triumphant return to the courtroom after sitting out a lot of the Large East Event with a damaged nostril suffered within the semifinal. The senior began barely sluggish with simply 4 factors within the first quarter, however she shot 4-for-7 for 10 factors within the second to complete the half.

Edwards, who wore a masks to guard the nostril damage on Saturday, did slightly little bit of every part for UConn, recording her seventeenth double-double of the season with 20 factors and 10 rebounds whereas including two assists, two blocks and a steal. She shot 61.5% from the sector and went 4-for-4 on the free throw line.

“Aaliyah, we weren’t positive how she was going to react with the masks again on and whether or not or not she was going to have the ability to really feel comfy with all of the contact that was going to occur,” Auriemma stated. “Once I noticed how bodily she was rebounding the ball, and outdoors of her space, that’s once I knew we had been going to be okay. Paige was being aggressive, Aaliyah was being assertive … and people two issues are form of what drives us.”

Alongside the All-American seniors, freshman Ashlynn Shade had a spectacular NCAA Event debut with a career-high 26 factors, fueled by a career-high 5 3-pointers on 11 makes an attempt. She powered UConn’s third-quarter effort and logged 17 of her factors through the second half. The rookie additionally added two steals, one among which was a steal-and-score within the first quarter that gave her her first factors of the sport — and a free throw try after she drew the defensive foul, too.

“Positively after that play I felt like I used to be settled in,” Shade stated. “I used to be simply going to let the sport come to me. I wasn’t going to overthink it, which I usually do generally, however no, in the present day I used to be like after that play I felt like I used to be lastly able to go. It was simply thrilling to attain on that, that being my first bucket of the sport actually will get you concerned.”

Jackson State mounted a comeback try out of halftime, however it solely managed to chop UConn’s lead from a game-high 27 factors to 22 by the beginning of the fourth. Foul bother began to plague the Huskies as Edwards, level guard Nika Muhl and redshirt freshman Ice Brady picked up three apiece, however it wasn’t sufficient to decelerate UConn’s trio of 20-point scorers. Muhl additionally despatched the Huskies into the fourth quarter on a buzzer-beater 3-pointer, her lone outdoors make of the day.

Regardless of an undersized lineup in opposition to Jackson State’s 6-foot-6 heart Angel Jackson, the Huskies managed the paint on each ends of the ground. Jackson was held to simply 13 factors, 4 rebounds and two blocks. UConn outscored the Tigers 34-14 within the paint and gained the rebounding battle 45-36. They even stored it tight on the offensive boards the place Jackson State ranks ninth within the nation, grabbing 12 to the Tigers’ 14.