STORRS — When third-seeded UConn women’s basketball drew No. 14 Jackson State as its first-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament, longtime coach Geno Auriemma was nervous about the matchup.
But on his 70th birthday, Auriemma’s Huskies cruised through the first round with an 86-64 rout of the Tigers at Gampel Pavilion on Saturday. UConn advances to the second round for the 31st straight season, where it will host the winner of Saturday’s first-round game between 6-seed Syracuse and 11-seed Arizona on Monday.
The Huskies dominated from the beginning, opening up a 22-8 lead in the first quarter behind a 17-0 run. Bueckers was practically unstoppable in the first half, shooting 70% from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range to enter the halftime locker room with 19 points plus four rebounds and three assists. In her first NCAA Tournament since tearing her ACL in August 2022, Bueckers logged her first postseason double-double with 28 points on 11-for-19 shooting plus 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. It was her fourth consecutive game with at least 27 points and seventh in UConn’s last six.
Aaliyah Edwards also made a triumphant return to the court after sitting out most of the Big East Tournament with a broken nose suffered in the semifinal. The senior started slightly sluggish with just four points in the first quarter, but she shot 4-for-7 for 10 points in the second to finish the half.
Edwards did a little bit of everything for UConn, recording her 17th double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds while adding two assists, two blocks and a steal. She shot 61.5% from the field and went 4-for-4 at the free throw line.
Alongside the All-American seniors, freshman Ashlynn Shade had a spectacular NCAA Tournament debut with a career-high 26 points, fueled by a career-high five 3-pointers on 11 attempts. She powered UConn’s third-quarter effort and logged 17 of her points during the second half. The rookie also added six rebounds and two steals.
Jackson State mounted a comeback attempt out of halftime, but it only managed to cut UConn’s lead from a game-high 27 points to 22 by the start of the fourth. Foul trouble started to plague the Huskies as Edwards, point guard Nika Muhl and redshirt freshman Ice Brady picked up three apiece, but it wasn’t enough to slow down UConn’s trio of 20-point scorers. Muhl also sent the Huskies into the fourth quarter on a buzzer-beater 3-pointer, her lone outside make of the day.
Despite an undersized lineup against Jackson State’s 6-foot-6 center Angel Jackson, the Huskies controlled the paint on both ends of the floor. Jackson was held to just 13 points, four rebounds and two blocks. UConn outscored the Tigers 34-14 in the paint and won the rebounding battle 45-36. They even kept it tight on the offensive boards where Jackson State ranks ninth in the country, grabbing 12 to the Tigers’ 14.