Jackson State Women Basketball falls To U Conn in NCAA Tournament

Ti’Ian Boler scored 25 points and Angel Jackson had 13 for 14th seeded Jackson State (26-7), which lost for the first time in 22 games.

The Tigers’ Miya Crump opened the game with a jumper and Jackson State led briefly at 4-2.

But Bueckers sparked a 17-0 Husky run by scoring eight of UConn’s first 10 points. She gave Connecticut its first lead at 5-4 on an up-and-under layup and foul shot.

UConn led 22-8 after 10 minutes, and took its first 20-point lead at 39-19 on a 3-pointer from Bueckers, who also pulled down 11 rebounds and had seven assists in the game.

“Paige, when she starts off like that, it makes everybody feel a lot more confident,” Auriemma said. “They can breath a little bit easier knowing that she’s pretty much taken control of the game.”

Boler’s 3-pointer from the right corner at the buzzer sent the teams into the half with UConn leading 49-28.

A 3-pointer from Nika Muhl as the third quarter expired put the Huskies up 72-50 and Connecticut cruised from there.

UConn shot 50% from the field and finished with nine 3-pointers, five of them from Shade.

“It was such a surreal moment to be out there,” the freshman said of her first NCAA Tournament game. ”It was just really exciting.”

The Huskies improved to 13-1 in games played on their coach’s birthday.

BIG PICTURE

Jackson State: This was the Tigers’ third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years. They have never advanced past the first round, but coach Tomekia Reed said is was proud of how her team has represented historically black schools.

“I not only wanted to put out university on the map, I wanted to put HBCUs on the map,” she said. “We have such a special community that a lot of people overlook. We have a community that is not built on wins and losses, but is built on community and love.”

UConn: The Huskies have appeared in 35 straight NCAA Tournaments and are 31-2 in first-round games. They last lost an opening round contest in 1993, when they fell by three points to Louisville in Storrs. … This is the 27th time the Huskies have won 30 games in a season.