Bueckers, no. 2 UConn prevent no. 23 South Florida 60-53

[ad_1]

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP)-Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma continues to push Paige Bueckers and freshman Azzi Fudd to shoot more.

Games like Sunday will make the Hall of Fame coach more patient-especially considering how it helped the second-ranked Huskies grind to a tough tournament game against a ranked opponent.

Bueckers had 21 points while Fudd had a season-high 18 of six 3-pointers to help Connecticut stop the No. 1 pick. 23 South Florida 60-53 in the semifinals on Sunday of the inaugural women’s Battle 4 Atlantis. Both hit big shots in the second-half run that put the Huskies into a surprising hole after wasting a 13-point first-half lead, helping the Huskies advance to an early marquee matchup against top-ranked South Carolina for title of Atlantis.

“I think being a great teammate is shooting every time you’re open when you’re a great shooter,” Auriemma said. “For young kids, I think it’s pretty natural sometimes not to want to put yourself in that situation. … Some kids just take a little longer to see it. It’s not a bad thing, it’s what it is. ”

The Huskies (3-0) had to fight until the last minute to maintain the perfect mark against the Bulls (3-2). In addition to losing the first-half margin, UConn squandered an eight-point lead midway through the third after giving up an 11-0 run to fall behind 45-42.

Bueckers made 8 of 16 shots, his biggest when he dribbled away from the corner and hit a turnaround 3 on Elisa Pinzan to tie it at 45 at the end of the third quarter.

The Huskies got the ball to start the fourth, and Fudd followed with a straight 3-essentially a six-point possession that recovered momentum from the rising Bulls. That was the start of a 14-2 burst, which included the Bueckers scoring on a cut off of the perfect feed from Olivia Nelson-Ododa at the post and Fudd added another 3 to push the lead to 56-47 with 4:28. the rest.

Fudd finished 6 of 9 from 3-point range after scoring just 12 points on 13 shots in the first two games of the season.

“Coach tells me to shoot and in every game so far I’ve been overthinking,” Fudd said. “… And when I get the ball and my defender’s hands aren’t there, to Just shoot. “

Elena Tsineke scored 17 points to lead South Florida, who scored 37% but only 4 of 13 (31%) in the final quarter when the game was in balance. Bethy Mununga added 15 points and eight boards, helping South Florida control the glass and take a 15-6 advantage on offensive rebounds.

“I thought we were defensive, we made a lot of effort in a lot of games,” USF coach Jose Fernandez said. “That’s your typical second or third weekend NCAA Tournament game.”

BIG PICTURE

USF: The Bulls had no problem opening their tournament, outscoring Syracuse 77-53 behind a double-double from Mununga. Fernandez said afterwards that the team needs to handle Connecticut’s runs, not to let one or two baskets become a mess of 12 or 14 missed points. For most, South Florida did just that, especially with its 11-0 run late in the third.

“In that fourth quarter, it was tied and now everything is magnified,” Fernandez said.

Connecticut: The Huskies won the first game of the inaugural tournament at the resort of Atlantis, which opened the game in the third quarter to beat Minnesota 88-58. This one was a harder fight, where Bueckers and Fudd had to carry the offensive load in a slower game for a team that couldn’t really loose on the move.

WALANG MANDIS

Connecticut climbed to 33-0 all-time against South Florida that returned to their time together in the Big East and American Athletic conferences, even though it was the first in the conference to be decided by less than 10 points.

OOPS

Bueckers had no turnovers in the first two games at that point, then he was ahead on the throwaway with 7:21 of the second quarter.

“He didn’t stop there, did he?” Auriemma joked. “He recovered.”

Bueckers followed another less than two minutes later and finished with three.

NEXT

USF: Bulls will face No. 9 Oregon, which lost to South Carolina on Sunday, in third place game on Monday.

Connecticut: The Huskies met the top Gamecocks, who beat the Ducks on Sunday, in the championship game on Monday.

___

More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

___

Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap

[ad_2]