Spokane regional: Paige Bueckers scores 31 points to lead UConn past USC 78-64

UConn is more than Paige Bueckers.

USC knew that much going into Monday night’s Elite Eight game at the Arena. But what to do about it?

The Trojans finally ran out of answers in the fourth quarter and UConn pulled away for a 78-64 win in front of an appreciative crowd of 10,141.

There was plenty to appreciate as the Huskies booked their 24th trip to the Final Four.

No one seriously expected Bueckers to match the 40 points she dropped on Oklahoma two days earlier. Yet she still managed a game-high 31 along with six assists and four steals.

And like great ones do, Bueckers made everyone else better. Crisp passes helped propel freshman forward Sarah Strong to a 22-point night that also included 17 rebounds.

“Just doing what it takes to win,” Bueckers said after the game.

Bueckers also led a defense that stifled USC in the first half and helped the Huskies to a 14-point halftime lead. Guard Kaitlyn Chen had 15 points, most of them created by turnovers.

“We were locked in defensively,” Chen said.

The Trojans, without injured All-American guard JuJu Watkins, got back in the game in the third quarter.

USC fell behind by 19 in the third quarter but took advantage of a three-minute UConn scoring drought to get within 51-46 after three quarters.

“I think there was never a point where this team gave up,” said guard Talia von Oelhoffen, a Tri-Cities native.

Reaching the Elite Eight for a second straight year is a major achievement, the Trojans said.

“The bar has been raised, the standards have been raised, the expectations have been raised,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.

UConn (35-3) regrouped in a hurry. Azzi Fudd, 0-for-9 to that point, opened the fourth quarter with a long 3-pointer. Moments later, a hard-won rebound by Strong set up Bueckers for a pullup jumper.

Bueckers followed up with a 3-pointer that restored the double-digit lead, 59-48, with 7½ minutes left.

“These games are really, really hard,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “There was so much going on in the game that both teams had to struggle through.”

USC never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Senior Raya Marshall led USC (31-4) with a career-high 23 points. She also had 15 rebounds.

UConn was outrebounded 42-31 but more than made up for it by going 10 for 22 from long range. USC made just 3 of 13 shots from beyond the arc.

As Oklahoma did two days earlier, USC stifled the Huskies in the first half. Kiki Iriafen led a early 10-0 USC run to lead 11-5, but UConn answered with nine straight to lead 14-11 after the first quarter.

UConn’s defense also rose to the occasion, forcing 12 turnovers on eight steals and allowing just three assists in the first half.

For most of the first half, Bueckers did everything but score. She made just one shot in three attempts but grabbed two steals and assisted on a pair of buckets by forward Sarah Strong.

After one quarter, Strong had 10 points (on 4-for-6 shooting) along with five boards.

Midway through the second quarter, Bueckers scored on a driving layin and moments later hit Kaitlyn Chen with a sweet bounce pass off the fast break to make it 26-19.

Gottlieb called timeout. But just as USC cut the lead to five in the last two minutes, Chen scored twice to give UConn its biggest lead yet, 33-23.

Then Bueckers knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to give UConn a 39-25 halftime lead.