UConn ladies’s basketball staved off an upset bid from the 6-seed Syracuse Orange to tug out a 72-64 win within the second spherical of the NCAA Event. The three-seed Huskies advance to their thirtieth consecutive Candy Sixteen, the place they’ll face 7-seed Duke in Portland, Oregon.
UConn led by as many as 11 within the fourth quarter however after Nika Mühl fouled out with 5 minutes left, Syracuse battled again to get inside two with 1:53 remaining. Nevertheless, the Husky protection held the Orange with no basket from that time on to return out on prime.
Paige Bueckers put the workforce on her again, scoring 32 factors — a brand new career-high within the NCAA Event — to go together with 10 rebounds, six assists, and 4 steals. Ashlynn Shade helped out with 19 factors thanks partially to a 5-9 efficiency from three whereas Aaliyah Edwards battled for 11 factors and 11 rebounds down low.
Mühl completed with 5 assists, which vaulted her atop UConn’s profession leaderboard within the class.
Syracuse star Dyaisha Honest scored 20 factors on 6-22 capturing — 18 of which got here within the second half. Honest, Georgia Wooley, and Sophie Burrows mixed for 56 of the Orange’s 64 factors.
Regardless of making simply 32.0 p.c from three coming, Syracuse made its first three pictures from behind the arc and took an early 11-7 lead. UConn went with the other method and bought the ball inside, scoring 12 of its 18 first-quarter factors within the paint.
Whereas the Huskies led by simply two via 10 minutes, they began the second quarter on an 8-0 run to construct the result in double-digits. The Orange responded to get again inside six, however UConn scored 5 straight factors to shut the half and went into the locker room up by 11.
Out of the break, the Huskies struggled to get their offense going once more. They didn’t make a basket for the primary 5 minutes and went over 4 minutes with none factors. In that span, Syracuse battled again to get inside three factors and prompted a timeout from UConn. After regrouping, the Huskies scored two fast baskets to push the hole again to seven factors.
The 2 groups traded buckets to open the fourth quarter which stored UConn forward by an arm’s size. Then Mühl fouled out with 5 minutes left and the sport modified. The Orange scored eight of the subsequent 10 factors to make it a two-point recreation. A jumper by Bueckers was answered by free throws from Honest, although she made simply 1-2 to maintain UConn up by three with 1:13 left.
On the Huskies’ subsequent defensive possession, Shade compelled a steal and Bueckers jumped on the free ball and referred to as a timeout to retain possession. The Orange didn’t rating once more and UConn held on for the 72-64 win.
Subsequent, the Huskies will head throughout the nation to Portland, Oregon for the regionals, the place they’ll face Duke on Saturday with tip-off time and tv info to be introduced.