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 got off to a hot start in her first game since being named an AP First Team All-American earlier in the week.
She 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. Bueckers also matched Nika Muhl and the Tigers’ Keshuna Luckett with a game-high seven assists.
“Paige, when she starts off like that, it makes everybody feel a lot more confident,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “They can breathe a little bit easier knowing that she’s pretty much taken control of the game.”
Edwards complemented Bueckers with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double.
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 Ashlynn Shade erupted for 14 points.
Shade finished with 26 points and knocked down 5 of 11 shots from 3-point range. UConn went 9-for-24 from beyond the arc as a team, also going 34-for-68 from the floor.
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, and committed 16 turnovers that UConn converted into 16 points.
Ti’lan Boler accounted for all but one of Jackson State’s made 3-point attempts, going 5-for-12 from deep. She led the Tigers with 25 points.
Angel Jackson added 13 points for Jackson State.
“I not only wanted to put our university on the map, I wanted to put HBCUs on the map,” Tigers coach Tomekia Reed said. “We have such a special community that a lot of people overlook. We have a community that is not built on wins and losses but is built on community and love.”
With the decision, UConn reached the 30-win mark for the third consecutive season and for the 17th time since 2005-06. The Huskies have advanced to at least the second round every year since the 1994 NCAA Tournament (no postseason in 2020).
UConn will face No. 6 Syracuse in the second round on Monday.
“Playing a team like Jackson State, they compete really, really, really hard, and they seem to get energized,” Auriemma said. “They never feel like, ‘We’re out of it. We should just pack it in.’ I was really impressed with them. I think they’re exceptionally well-coached.”
–Field Level Media
