In the first half of an NCAA tournament round-of-64 game on Saturday against Saint Francis, the Connecticut Huskies scored 94 points. That’s not “19.4” points. That’s ninety-four points, as in one more than 93 and one fewer than 95. The Huskies set records for most points in a quarter and most points in a half, and the game was obviously over by the break.
UConn scored 94 points in the first half and then set the Division I single-game scoring record
This box score is a masterpiece.
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
UConn wound up beating Saint Francis by a score of 140-52. The Huskies shattered the 121-point single-game scoring record for women’s Division I hoops, which Alabama had set in 1985. This was the most comprehensive demolition in recent college basketball history.
Let’s pull some highlights from this box score, via ESPN.
All of this was just in the first half, when things were at their most lopsided:
- UConn shot 39-of-53 from the field (73.6 percent)
- UConn had a 39-8 rebounding advantage
- UConn had a 26-7 assists advantage
- UConn had a 9-2 turnovers advantage
Meanwhile, on the Saint Francis side, the Red Flash had at the break:
- A 10-for-40 shooting half from the field
- An 8-for-30 half on three-pointers. The Red Flash clearly figured their only chance against this juggernaut was to chuck up a million threes. That’s a fair strategy! It didn’t work, and the Huskies picked up a bunch of long rebounds and basically created a layup line.
- A 13-3 advantage in, uh, personal fouls committed
UConn let up on the gas pedal a bit in the second half, which was nice of them. The Huskies finished shooting 59-of-91 from the field (64.8 percent) with a 69-30 rebounds edge. They had 38 assists at the end to Saint Francis’ nine, though they gout out-fouled, 17-7.
UConn had a bunch of individuals light it up. Azurá Stevens scored 26 points off the bench to lead the team, one point ahead of Napheesa Collier at 25. Stevens and Kia Nurse both had 10 boards. Six Huskies scored in double figures, and Collier and Stevens combined to score just one fewer point than Saint Francis had as a team (52).
Some people will use this result to criticize women’s basketball for its lack of parity. I choose to just stare at it in awe, because UConn is a basketball death machine of epic proportions. The Huskies are 32-0 and look deeply committed to avenging a Final Four loss to Mississippi State last spring. I suspect they’ll get the chance.
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