NCAA Women’s Tournament ALBANY REGION

Auriemma reaches milestone in rout

Connecticut forward Breanna Stewart (30) drives against Texas guard Brianna Taylor (20) during Saturday’s Albany Region semifinals in Albany, N.Y. Stewart finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists as the Huskies won 105-54.
Connecticut forward Breanna Stewart (30) drives against Texas guard Brianna Taylor (20) during Saturday’s Albany Region semifinals in Albany, N.Y. Stewart finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists as the Huskies won 105-54.

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT 105, TEXAS 54

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Geno Auriemma reached another milestone in record fashion.

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AP

Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma reacts during his team's practice for a women's college basketball NCAA tournament first round game, Friday, March 20, 2015, in Storrs, Conn.

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AP

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (right) scored 10 points and was one of five players to finish with 10 or more points for the Huskies (35-1), who never trailed while moving on to the Elite Eight.

The Hall of Famer became the second coach to achieve 100 victories in the NCAA Tournament as his UConn Huskies pulled off a record rout of Texas, 105-54, on Saturday in the Sweet 16.

Auriemma joined Pat Summitt, who finished with 112 victories in her career, as the only two coaches in men's or women's basketball to reach that milestone.

"That's lots of wins, 100 wins in the NCAA Tournament," Auriemma said. "Some people don't get to play in the NCAA Tournament ever or play a couple games. We've been pretty fortunate. We didn't win anything in the NCAA in our first couple years."

The Huskies stand three victories away from a third consecutive national championship and 10th overall.

Breanna Stewart was a key reason why the Huskies set the NCAA record for margin of victory in the regionals and beyond. The junior had 31 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists.

"[Today] was a lot of fun," Stewart said. "Right from the start, shots were going in and we were being aggressive. ... Texas has a big presence inside, big post players. We knew if we got them moving a little bit, we could get any shot we wanted."

The Huskies shot a blistering 56 percent from the field and became the eighth team to put up more than 100 points in the regionals.

"Like I said to the coaching staff at Texas, when you shoot the ball as well as we did, we're a really hard team to play against," Auriemma said.

UConn (35-1) led 26-19 midway through the first half before blowing open the game with a 44-9 run spanning the half. The burst started with 13 consecutive points by the Huskies.

UConn led 52-24 at the half and scored 18 points in the first 3:30 of the second half to finish off the run.

Stewart surpassed her previous NCAA Tournament best of 29 points before leaving the game for good with a little more than nine minutes left. Moriah Jefferson added a career-high 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting for the Huskies, who have advanced to the regional final for 10 consecutive seasons. They have been to the Final Four a record seven consecutive years.

"I can't say enough about these two guys," Auriemma said. "It seemed like they were on a whole different level than anyone else who was playing. You almost come to expect that from Stewie at this time of year. To see Moriah do what she did today, she's come a long way in two years. I couldn't be happier for these guys."

Texas was making its first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2004. Coach Karen Aston, a native of Benton, has a young roster and the Longhorns may not have to wait long to get back.

Ariel Atkins scored 11 to lead Texas (24-11). The Longhorns tried to slow the Huskies with their big lineup of 6-7 Imani Stafford-McGee and 6-5 Kelsey Lang. Aston went with the pair at the first media timeout and her team trailing 13-6. The Longhorns were within seven points with 9:36 left before the Huskies made their run.

"They are a tremendous basketball team, and I say that in every sense of the word," Aston said. "They play the game at a high level on the offensive and defensive end. It was not a good day for us. We weren't patient enough to not let them have extra possessions. Our defense wasn't as connected as it needed to be."

The Longhorns haven't beaten UConn in six meetings, including three games in the NCAA Tournament. With the early season injury to McGee-Stafford and the loss of Nneka Enemkpali midway through the year, Texas hasn't had been at full strength all season.

UConn will face Dayton in the regional finals. Seventh-seeded Dayton beat third-seeded Louisville 82-66 in another regional semifinal Saturday.

Sports on 03/29/2015

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