Duke forward Delaney Thomas blocks a shot by UConn guard KK Arnold during Saturday’s Portland 3 Regional Semifinal game at Moda Center in Portland, Ore. Photo by Tim Ashman/Sportspage Magazine
After a slow-paced, low scoring first half and a late second half surge by Duke, the UConn Huskies downed the Blue Devils 53-45 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon on Saturday night to advance to the Portland 3 Regional Final.
Duke, the No. 7 seed, was making their 26th NCAA Tournament appearance and their 18th trip to the Sweet Sixteen. They previously made four Final Four appearances and two trips to the National Championship game. Meanwhile, this was No. 3 seed UConn’s 31st trip to the Sweet Sixteen. They are currently in the midst of a record-setting 30 consecutive appearances that dates back to 1994. They were also in the 1991 Sweet Sixteen.
UConn guard Paige Bueckers began the scoring with a jump shot 47 seconds into the game. Nearly a full minute later, Duke guard Taina Mair tied the score with a jumper of her own. Then the scoring stopped. Both teams spent a lot of time in zone defense while on the offensive end, they chewed up the shot clock with half court sets. Neither team scored for the next two minutes until UConn guard KK Arnold made a layup with 6:12 remaining in the opening quarter. The Huskies led 4-2.
UConn forward Aaliyah Edwards made a jump shot a half minute later to extend the lead to four points. It was answered by a jump shot by Duke guard Reigan Richardson to make the score 6-4 with 5:17 left in the first quarter.
Blue Devils guard Ashlon Jackson throws up a three-point shot over the outstretched arms of UConn guard Ashlynn Shade during the Portland 3 Regional Semifinal game at Moda Center on Saturday. Photo by Tim Ashman/Sportspage Magazine
The second half of the quarter was as slow as the first half. Bueckers and Edwards each scored for the Huskies, while Richardson managed to add two more points for the Blue Devils. Neither team scored in the last two minutes of the opening quarter. The 10-6 score in favor of UConn was the lowest first quarter score of the year for both teams.
The pace of play for the second quarter wasn’t any faster.
Edwards made a basket after the first minute of play and hit the court hard. She grabbed her left knee, to the concern to her teammates and UConn fans in attendance, but she stayed in the game.
A minute and a half later, Bueckers was fouled by Duke forward Kennedy Brown. Bueckers missed both free throws, which were the first attempted in the game. Thirty seconds later, Bueckers made a hot and was fouled by Blue Devils guard Ashlon Jackson. Bueckers converted the free throw and the score was now 15-6 in favor of UConn with 7:02 remaining in the first half.
The scoring ground to a complete halt. Neither team was able to put the ball into the basket. Finally Duke guard Oluchi Okananawa made a jump shot with 4:46 to end the scoring drought and give the Blue Devils their first points of the quarter.
Bueckers and Edwards each scored again before Okananawa was fouled twice by Edwards resulting in more free throws. She made two of her four attempts during the back-to-back trips to the charity stripe.
UConn guard KK Arnold made a layup to neutralize the free throws from Okananawa, but Jackson made the first three-pointer of the game with 19 seconds left on the clock.
Duke guard Reigan Richardson shoots a layup as UConn guard Paige Bueckers trails during Saturday’s Portland 3 Regional Semifinal game at Moda Center in Portland, Ore. Photo by Tim Ashman/Sportpage Magazine
The Huskies led 23-13 at halftime in what became the lowest scoring first half for both teams this season, and was the lowest scoring first half for UConn in the past five years.
The pace picked up in the third quarter.
Richardson began the scoring with a jump shot 18 seconds into the quarter, but it was matched by a three-pointer by Bueckers shortly afterwards. Brown scored on a layup and then UConn made the game’s first run. Bueckers hit a three-pointer and Arnold scored in back-to-back possessions. Okananawa made a layup for Duke, then Bueckers scored twice and Arnold made two free throws. The score was now 39-19 with 2:58 left in the third quarter after a 13-2 run.
The Blue Devils didn’t quit. Okananawa and Huskies guard Nika Muhl exchanged three-pointers. Duke forward Camilla Emsbo made a jump shot and Mair hit a three-pointer. The quarter ended on a Blue Devils 8-3 run, though UConn still led 42-27.
The teams traded baskets in the first part of the fourth quarter, which found the Huskies leading 48-33 with 6:25 remaining in regulation when UConn guard Ice Brady made a 3-on-0 fast break layup.
Again, the Blue Devils didn’t give up. Huskies guard Ashlynn Shade fouled Jackson, who made both free throws. Okananawa made a shot and a free throw after getting by Shade. Richardson scored a jump shot and Okananawa hit a three-pointer. Suddenly the score was 48-43 after the Duke 10-0 run with just 1:59 remaining in the game.
Edwards and Brown exchanged baskets to keep the margin at five points as the time was winding down. Duke was forced to put UConn on the free throw line. Richardson fouled Bueckers with 19 second on the clock. Bueckers made both free throws. Then she was fouled by Brown with six seconds remaining. Bueckers went one-for-two from the line.
The final score was 53-45 in favor of the Huskies and the right to advance to the Region 3 Final.
UConn went 22-for-55 (40.0 percent) from the field; 3-for-16 (18.75 percent) from three-point range; and 6-for-10 (60.0 percent) from the free throw line. They gave up 13 turnovers.
“It always comes back to get you when you leave a lot of points on the table. But scoring was not going to be easy tonight at both ends. They weren’t going to have an easy time scoring against us, and we weren’t going to have an easy time scoring against them,” said Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma.
UConn Husky players Aaliyah Edwards (L) and Paige Bueckers (R) battle for a rebound against Duke forward Delaney Thomas during Saturday’s Portland 3 Regional Semifinal game at Moda Center in Portland, Ore. Photo by Tim Ashman/Sportspage Magazine
“The fatigue factor became a big issues because it forced us to change our game plan,” he said. “We got up 20 because we just pushed it, pushed it, pushed it. And then I felt like, ‘Okay. We need a breather here or we’re not going to be able to finish the game.’”
Duke was 18-for-55 (32.73 percent) from the field; 4-for-19 (21.05 percent) from three-point range; and 5-for-7 (71.43 percent) from the charity stripe. They gave up 23 turnovers in the game.
“I think it was just crowded in there the whole night, so when we did get touches in the paint, there was multiple players there. They did a great job of bringing multiple players when we got catches. It flustered us at different times,” said Duke head coach Kara Lawson.
“And then an inability to finish down there I thought hurt us when we did get touches. We missed a lot of layups, and a little bit uncharacteristic for us,” she added.
The Huskies were led by 24 points from Paige Bueckers; and 12 points each from KK Arnold and Aaliyah Edwards. Edwards led UConn with seven rebounds while Arnold led in the assists category with five.
“I think defensively we were just playing smarter than we did on the offensive end,” said Edwards. “I think that we took care of those possessions on the defensive end…I think that we did a good job just disrupting and being effective that way.”
Oluchi Okananwa led the Blue Devils with 15 points, while Reigan Richardson pitched in 10 points. Kennedy Brown pulled down a team leading 10 rebounds and Jadyn Donovan led Duke with three assists.
“I feel like our game plan from the beginning was to disrupt and make things hard for them,” said Richardson. “I think towards the end of the game, we fought back as hard as we can, and I feel like our defense showed up.”
The No. 3 seed UConn Huskies will now take on the No. 1 seed University of Southern California Trojans from the Moda Center for the Portland 3 Regional Final on Monday at 9:15 p.m. ET.
