UConn women’s basketball routs Jackson State 86-64 as Paige Bueckers puts stamp on NCAA opener

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 (30-5) cruised through the first round with an 86-64 rout of the Tigers (26-7) 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.

“I’m thrilled that this one’s out of the way and it’s over with,” Auriemma said. “Playing a team like Jackson State, they compete really, really, really hard, and they seem to get energized. even more the more you score … They never feel like, ‘We’re out of it. We should just pack it in.’ I was really impressed with them. I think they’re exceptionally well coached.”

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 game 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 performance with at least 27 points and sixth in UConn’s last seven.

Auriemma said he sat Bueckers down after practice on Friday to talk about the tournament, and the senior superstar already knew what he was going to say.

“I said, ‘What do you think I’m gonna talk to you about?’ and she said ‘That I have to take control of the tournament, and do it in the biggest ones and make sure that I’m everything my team needs me to be. So she kind of said it for me,” Auriemma said. “Being in the tournament coming off of injury and then being in the tournament missing a whole year, those are her last two experiences, and I know that this was a big, big deal for her. She’s a forgotten entity in the country, and I think maybe she reminded everybody that’s she’s still pretty good.”

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, who wore a mask to protect the nose injury on Saturday, 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.

“Aaliyah, we weren’t sure how she was going to react with the mask back on and whether or not she was going to be able to feel comfortable with all the contact that was going to happen,” Auriemma said. “When I saw how physical she was rebounding the ball, and outside of her area, that’s when I knew we were going to be okay. Paige was being aggressive, Aaliyah was being assertive … and those two things are kind of what drives us.”

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.

“It was definitely really exciting. I had a lot of nerves and this anxious feeling before the game, when I went to bed, when I woke up,” Shade said with a grin.” But to step out on the court and go through the starting lineup, to hear how loud our crowd was, I just felt like it was a dream. It was such a surreal moment to be out there.”

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.