STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Paige Bueckers scored 19 of her 22 points in the first half as No. 2 UConn rolled to an 86-49 victory over former conference rival South Florida on Sunday.
The win was No. 1,215 for the UConn women’s basketball coach Gen. Auriemma. That means he won’t hesitate to retain the former Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer‘s college basketball record.
Buecker’s big opening 20 minutes helped the Huskies take a 43-25 lead at halftime. Ice Brady had the first four points for the Huskies as UConn opened the game on a 9-0 run.
Ashlynn Shadow had 10 of UConn’s 30 points in the third quarter as the Huskies (2-0) never trailed in the game. Shade finished with 15 points and Sara Strong added 13 points for the Huskies.
Mama Dembele had 12 points and Sammie Puisis added 10 points for South Florida (2-1).
Takeaways
South Florida: The Bulls’ top two scores in the game started their collegiate careers in the ACC or the SEC. Dembele, a transfer from Missouri, had eight of her 12 points in the first half. Puisis, a transfer from Florida State in her third season at USF, had seven of her 10 points in the first half.
UConn: Auriemma has scored 34 of his wins against South Florida, as the Bulls have never beaten the Huskies.
Key moment
With UConn leading by six points, Bueckers had four points and four different players had baskets in an 11-0 run for the Huskies. Kaitlyn Chen had two points and two assists during that stretch.
Key stat
UConn missed back-to-back shots just once in the first three quarters as the Huskies led 73-39 after three quarters after beating South Florida by just seven points in the most recent meeting at the Battle 4 Atlantis- 2021 tournament.
Next
South Florida plays at home against Vanderbilt on Thursday. UConn North Carolina on Friday in Greensboro, NC
