No. 9 UConn routs Marquette 81-52 in Big East semifinal
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Aaliyah Edwards and Dorka Juhasz each put up double-doubles for the second consecutive game, Nika Muhl added another and No. 9 UConn advanced to its 19th straight conference tournament final with an 81-52 win over fifth-seeded Marquette in the Big East Tournament on Sunday.
Edwards scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Juhasz scored 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Muhl did it a bit differently, with 11 points and 10 assists.
Lou Lopez Senechal added 14 points for the Huskies (28-5), who are seeking a 10th straight league tournament title.
Liza Karlen scored 18 points and Mackenzie Hare added 15 for Marquette (21-10).
The top-seeded Huskies held Marquette to 30% shooting and outrebounded the Golden Eagles 45-32.
Connecticut used an 18-4 run that stretched from the second quarter into the third to blow open the game.
Lopez Senechal scored the Huskies’ first five points, part of an opening 9-2 run and the Huskies led 20-12 after the first quarter.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Jordan King and Hare highlighted an 8-0 Marquette run that cut the UConn lead to 25-20.
But Marquette’s Chloe Marotta, who came in averaging almost 15 points a game, picked up her third foul with 3 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter. She finished with just two points on 1 of 9 shooting.
UConn went on a 12-2 run over the last five minutes of the half to take a 37-22 lead. The Huskies extended that in the third quarter and took their first 20-point lead at 46-26 lead on Aubrey Griffin’s jumper.
The Huskies will play Monday night for their third straight Big East Tournament title since rejoining the league after winning seven straight in the American Athletic Conference.
BIG PICTURE
Marquette: The fifth-seeded Golden Eagles might have earned an NCAA Tournament bid with their 10-point win over No. 4 seed St. John’s in the quarterfinals. The program, which was playing in its seventh consecutive Big East semifinal, also has a home win over UConn last month on its resume.
UConn: UConn hasn’t lost in a Big East semifinal since Boston College earned a win in 2004. The Huskies went on to win the national championship that season.
UP NEXT
UConn will play the winner of the semifinal between No. 11 Villanova and Creighton on Monday night.
___
AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25