BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Breanna Stewart and the UConn Huskies took notice of the major upsets Friday night. They needed just four minutes to put to rest any notion of that happening to them.
Stewart had 22 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to lead No. 1 UConn to a 98-38 record rout of fifth-seeded Mississippi State on Saturday.
“Crazy things happen in March,” Stewart said. “We wanted to make sure when we came out today that wasn’t going to happen with us.”
It hasn’t in quite some time.
The win was the 72nd straight for UConn (35-0) and left the Huskies three victories shy of an unprecedented fourth consecutive national championship. Their road to that title got a bit easier Friday night when top seeds South Carolina and Notre Dame both lost in the Sweet 16.
The best team in the nation put together one of its most dominant games during this run, quickly quashing any thoughts of the Bulldogs (28-8) pulling off the upset with a dominant start.
The victory supplanted the record 51-point win the Huskies had over Texas in the regional semifinals last year that set the NCAA record for margin of victory in the regional rounds and beyond.
Stewart, the two-time AP player of the year, got the game started with a 3-pointer and UConn was off and running. The Huskies scored the game’s first 13 points, including 11 by Stewart and Morgan Tuck.
A basket by Mississippi State did little to turn the tide as UConn scored 19 of the final 21 points of the quarter, including Moriah Jefferson’s basket that just beat the buzzer.
Mississippi State entered giving up just 54.7 points a game. UConn surpassed that with 1:40 left in the first half and led 61-12 at the break.
TEXAS 72, UCLA 64: Imani Boyette had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead second-seeded Texas (31-4) to a comeback win over UCLA (26-9) in the other Bridgeport Regional semifinal.
Brooke McCarty added 15 points for the Longhorns, who will play UConn Monday in their first regional final since 2003.
Monique Billings had 20 points and 12 rebounds for UCLA.
Texas scored the first 10 points of the fourth to take a 58-54 lead, and did not trail again.
DALLAS REGIONAL
BAYLOR 78, FLORIDA STATE 58: Nina Davis scored 30 points and Baylor (36-1) is going to the Elite Eight for the third straight year after beating Florida State (25-8) in a regional semifinal at Dallas.
The top-seeded Bears went ahead to stay with a 15-3 run to end the first quarter after an early flurry of turnovers led to a timeout.
OREGON STATE 83, DEPAUL 71: Jamie Weisner had career highs with 38 points and seven 3-pointers and No. 2 seed Oregon State (31-4) advanced to its first regional final with a victory over DePaul (27-9) at Dallas
Weisner also had 10 rebounds for the Pac-12 champion Beavers, who will play Baylor on Monday.
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