After a tight first quarter, UConn women’s basketball trampled the Ohio State Buckeyes 100-68 at PeoplesBank Arena on Sunday. The Huskies only led by three through 10 minutes but then out-scored the Buckeyes by 29
the rest of the way.
Sarah Strong was unstoppable, tying a career-high with 29 points to go with 13 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks, three steals and no turnovers. Blanca Quiñonez had the best day of her young career so far with 18 points on 7-11 shooting to go with four rebounds and two steals. Azzi Fudd recovered from a slow start to put up a career-high seven assists along with 19 points while Serah Williams (12 points) and Ashlynn Shade (10 points) each reached double-figures as well.
The first quarter didn’t feature much defense. Ohio State shot 10-15 from the floor and 4-6 from three while UConn faced little resistance inside with 16 points in the paint. Through 10 minutes, the Huskies held a narrow 27-24 lead.
Then UConn flipped a switch. The hosts ripped off an 8-0 run to start the second quarter, prompting the Buckeyes to take a timeout. It only temporarily stopped the bleeding. Ohio State never got closer than nine points before the Huskies closed the half with 11 straight points.
That sent them into the locker room with a commanding 50-30 advantage.
UConn kept it rolling out of the break, scoring 15 of the first 18 points to extend the lead past 30. Strong had 14 points on her own in the third quarter, just five fewer than Ohio State had as a team. In the final period, UConn reached 100 points for the first time this season en route to a 32-point victory.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 4-0 on the season. Next, they’ll face their toughest test so far when they take on the No. 14 Michigan Wolverines on Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
