UConn women’s basketball staved off an upset bid from the 6-seed Syracuse Orange to pull out a 72-64 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 3-seed Huskies advance to their 30th consecutive Sweet Sixteen, where they’ll face 7-seed Duke in Portland, Oregon.
UConn led by as many as 11 in the fourth quarter but after Nika Mühl fouled out with five minutes left, Syracuse battled back to get within two with 1:53 remaining. However, the Husky defense held the Orange without a basket from that point on to come out on top.
Paige Bueckers put the team on her back, scoring 32 points — a new career-high in the NCAA Tournament — to go with 10 rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Ashlynn Shade helped out with 19 points thanks in part to a 5-9 performance from three while Aaliyah Edwards battled for 11 points and 11 rebounds down low.
Mühl finished with five assists, which vaulted her atop UConn’s career leaderboard in the category.
Syracuse star Dyaisha Fair scored 20 points on 6-22 shooting — 18 of which came in the second half. Fair, Georgia Wooley, and Sophie Burrows combined for 56 of the Orange’s 64 points.
Despite making just 32.0 percent from three coming, Syracuse made its first three shots from behind the arc and took an early 11-7 lead. UConn went with the opposite approach and got the ball inside, scoring 12 of its 18 first-quarter points in the paint.
While the Huskies led by just two through 10 minutes, they started the second quarter on an 8-0 run to build the lead to double-digits. The Orange responded to get back within six, but UConn scored five straight points to close the half and went into the locker room up by 11.
Out of the break, the Huskies struggled to get their offense going again. They didn’t make a basket for the first five minutes and went over four minutes without any points. In that span, Syracuse battled back to get within three points and prompted a timeout from UConn. After regrouping, the Huskies scored two quick baskets to push the gap back to seven points.
The two teams traded buckets to open the fourth quarter which kept UConn ahead by an arm’s length. Then Mühl fouled out with five minutes left and the game changed. The Orange scored eight of the next 10 points to make it a two-point game. A jumper by Bueckers was answered by free throws from Fair, though she made just 1-2 to keep UConn up by three with 1:13 left.
On the Huskies’ next defensive possession, Shade forced a steal and Bueckers jumped on the loose ball and called a timeout to retain possession. The Orange didn’t score again and UConn held on for the 72-64 win.
Next, the Huskies will head across the country to Portland, Oregon for the regionals, where they’ll face Duke on Saturday with tip-off time and television information to be announced.
