Paige Bueckers scored 27 points and blocked five shots as No. 10 UConn cruised to a 78-42 win over Georgetown to capture the women’s Big East tournament title on Monday night in Uncasville, Conn.
Ice Brady added 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the top-seeded Huskies (29-5), who clinched their fourth Big East tourney title in a row. KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade finished with 10 points apiece.
Graceann Bennett and Mya Bembry scored 12 points apiece to lead the sixth-seeded Hoyas (22-11). Kelsey Ransom scored nine points.
The Huskies jumped to a 16-2 lead in the first five-plus minutes and never looked back.
Brady scored UConn’s first five points before Bueckers made her first jump shot. Nika Muhl and Brady followed with back-to-back layups to make it 11-0.
Georgetown finally got its first basket on a layup by Bennett with 5:51 remaining in the first quarter.
Arnold followed with a three-point play and Bueckers made a pair of free throws to increase UConn’s lead to 16-2 with 4:37 to go in the first quarter.
UConn entered the second quarter with a 28-11 lead.
The Huskies increased their advantage to 47-25 entering the half. Shade made a 3-pointer for UConn in the final minute to finish the first-half scoring.
The pace slowed in the third quarter, when UConn finished with an 11-10 edge to increase its lead to 58-35. Bueckers had four points during the quarter.
Qadence Samuels made a jump shot to give UConn a 78-42 lead with 43 seconds to play, the largest margin of the game.
UConn ran its winning streak to nine games heading into the Women’s NCAA Tournament. Georgetown saw its six-game winning streak end.
–Field Level Media
