BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — This was a little different than Monday night.
The UConn women’s basketball team, which struggled to win an NCAA Tournament second-round game against UCF Monday, took a lead at the end of the first quarter Saturday afternoon and never looked back, beating third-seeded Indiana, 75-58, in the Bridgeport Regional semifinal at Total Mortgage Arena.
UConn (28-5) used a 16-0 run in the third quarter to blow open the game. Paige Bueckers hit a 3-pointer 30 seconds into the third and UConn was off and running.
It was the first time Indiana (24-8) and UConn had played each other.
Second-seeded UConn will face top-seeded North Carolina State, a 66-63 winner over Notre Dame in the first semifinal game Saturday, in the Bridgeport Regional final Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Total Mortgage Arena.
It’s the 16th straight time UConn has advanced to the Elite Eight.
UConn’s defense, led by Azzi Fudd and Christyn Williams, stifled Indiana’s leading scorer Grace Berger, who averaged 16.3 points before Saturday’s game and had two points at halftime. She finished with 13.
Bueckers and Williams led the Huskies with 15 points each, Fudd had 13 and Olivia Nelson-Ododa had a double-double (14 rebounds and 10 points).
Ali Patberg led Indiana with 16.
UConn led 37-33 at halftime after Indiana’s Aleksa Gulbe hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Huskies outrebounded Indiana in the first half 19-15 with Aaliyah Edwards leading the way with eight of her 10 rebounds in the half. She had four offensive and four defensive, including two big offensive rebounds at the end of the first half.
For the game UConn outrebounded Indiana 39-27.
Bueckers answered Gulbe’s first-half buzzer-beater with a 3-pointer to open the third quarter and the Huskies proceeded to go on a 9-0 run, prompting an Indiana timeout. That didn’t stop UConn as Bueckers promptly stole the ball and the Huskies continued on their run. They ran the score to 53-33 before Nicole Cardano-Hillary’s layup stopped the run for Indiana.
Indiana cut the lead to 11 on a Patberg shot in the fourth quarter with 5:48 left but a Bueckers’ basket and a put-back by Nelson-Ododa gave UConn a comfortable lead again.
UConn came out a little sluggish in the first quarter and Indiana did not back down from the start but Williams had an old-fashioned 3-point play at the end of the quarter and UConn took its first lead 19-18 with less than a minute left, then she finished the quarter by blocking a shot. UConn led 21-18 after the first.
