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The result was never in question, but No. 2 UConn played against Boston University with a level of poise and focus that reminds us why they are national title contenders. On Thursday, they collected their first win of the year, beating BU 86-32.
Every Husky scored, with freshman Sarah Strong and redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy leading the way with 17 points each. Paige Bueckers was demonstrative in her 24 minutes of play, with 13 points, seven assists, five steals and one block.
How the Huskies dominated
The opening quarter began with an 11-0 run by UConn, which Sisi Bentley of BU ended with a layup. This was the closest the Terriers ever got to the Huskies. UConn went on a tear after that basket, at one point leading 26-2.
One of the biggest highlights during this stretch was a monster block by Bueckers, who led UConn in rejections last season.
After one quarter of play, UConn was up 31-6. The rest of the first half was more of the same. Head coach Geno Auriemma didn’t allow his starters to let up, as they began the second quarter on an 11-2 run.
Kaitlyn Chen, the graduate transfer from Princeton, had a solid debut. She distributed the ball well, had five assists and scored four points. The combination of her and Bueckers in the backcourt will be a headache for most teams.
At the break, UConn was up 60-13, and the contest was all but over. The Huskies did let go of the rope a bit in the third quarter, only winning the period 12-9, but rotations also started to go beyond the players who will typically play in competitive games.
The fourth was essentially garbage time, and most of the main players didn’t touch the floor. Due to the margin, this game felt more like a preseason game than a regular season one. El Alfy scored the game’s last points at the 1:02 mark, and the final 60 seconds was unserious basketball.
Closing thoughts
There is not much to learn from this one. UConn is better, and they showed it in the first half. You can just about throw away all the tape from the second half, as it indicates nothing about where this team is going and the weaknesses they might have. It’s a good start for Huskies, and while they likely want to foul less moving forward, everything else was as good as advertised and expected.
Next. UConn will take on South Florida on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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