UConn women beat Syracuse 72-64 to reach 31st consecutive Sweet 16

STORRS, Conn. – For the 31st consecutive season under coach Geno Auriemma, UConn women’s basketball is headed back to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.

The 3-seed Huskies (31-5) secured their trip to the Portland 3 regional with a 72-64 victory over 6-seed Syracuse (25-8) in their final game at Gampel Pavilion this season. UConn advances to face 7-seed Duke, which upset 2-seed Ohio State in a second-round matchup Sunday.

Defense fueled the Huskies’ win, especially the effort from the guards in containing Syracuse star Dyashia Fair. The senior, who ranks fourth in NCAA history in career points, was held to two points in the first half despite finishing the game with 20. Fair shot just 1-for-7 from the field and didn’t make a single 3-pointer in the first half, though she found some rhythm shooting 4-for-9 from outside the arc after halftime.

Star guard Paige Bueckers put UConn on her back offensively with more than half of the team’s 39 first half points, hitting 20 with a last-second jump shot at the halftime buzzer. She finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals for her second consecutive double-double – and the second of her career in an NCAA Tournament game. It was her fourth 30-point performance of the season and her 11th with at least 20 in UConn’s last 12 games.

Syracuse started hot with four 3-pointers in the first quarter, and the Orange led by as many as four points. The Huskies were ahead by a single point entering the second quarter, but Bueckers hit her stride before halftime with 12 of her 20 first-half points coming in the second.

Senior point guard Nika Muhl led UConn with five assists, becoming the program’s career assist leader with 663. Her 660th assist, which broke Moriah Jefferson’s record set from 2012-16, came on a pass to Ashlynn Shade for the freshman’s second 3-pointer of the game.

All-American forward Aaliyah Edwards logged 11 rebounds, now just one shy of 1,000 for her career. She also scored 11 points, for her 18th double-double of the season.

UConn started the second half on a four-minute scoring drought as Syracuse put up eight unanswered points including the first 3-pointer of the game from Fair.

Shade snapped the run with a jump shot, then sank a buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter to send UConn into the fourth with an 11-point lead. The freshman finished with 19 points shooting 5-for-9 on 3-pointers after putting up a career-best 26 in UConn’s first round matchup with Jackson State.

Syracuse nearly derailed the Huskies’ otherwise-dominant performance when Muhl fouled out with five minutes left in the game. Back-to-back 3s from Syracuse with less than three minutes left to play cut UConn’s lead to just four points, but the Huskies held on thanks to a last-minute layup by freshman KK Arnold. Arnold ended with 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Other scores:

(1) Iowa 64, (8) West Virginia 54

(1) USC 73, (8) Kansas 55

(2) Notre Dame 71, (7) Mississippi 56

(2) UCLA 67, (7) Creighton 63

(3) NC State 79, (6) Tennessee 72

(4) Indiana 75, (5) Oklahoma 68