Sarah Strong has a double-double and defending champ UConn cruises to Elite Eight, beating UNC 63-42
Sarah Strong had 21 points and 10 rebounds as defending national champion and overall No. 1 seed UConn overwhelmed North Carolina 63-42 on Friday, sending the Huskies to the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament for the 30th time.
Strong, a sophomore forward, is a North Carolina native and AP All-American alongside teammate Azzi Fudd. Strong made four consecutive field goals in a two-minute span right after Blanca Quiñonez put UConn (37-0) ahead to stay with a layup early in the second quarter.
Quiñonez scored 16 points and Fudd had 10 for the Huskies, who are seeking their 13th national championship. They extended their overall winning streak to 53 games.
Indya Nivar had 20 points for fourth-seeded North Carolina (28-8), which hasn’t advanced past the Sweet 16 since 2014, which was 20 years after its only national title.
UConn will play sixth-seeded Notre Dame in the Fort Worth Region 1 final Sunday to fill the first slot for the Final Four in Phoenix. Hannah Hidalgo had a 31-point triple-double in the Fighting Irish’s 67-64 win over No. 2 seed Vanderbilt earlier Friday.
It will the ninth time for the Huskies and Irish to play each other in March Madness. Their first eight tourney meetings, the last in 2019, were all in the Final Four, including back-to-back national championship games in 2014 and 2015. UConn won both of those during its run of four consecutive titles.
Strong, the Big East Player of the year, had 11 points in the second quarter, when UConn outscored the Tar Heels 17-8 to take a 28-20 halftime lead. Also the league’s top defender, she finished with two blocked shots and five steals.
UConn came out of the break with a 12-0 run that included a layup and a 3-pointer by Fudd, who in the first half was held to two points on 1-of-7 shooting.
The Tar Heels had 24 turnovers and shot a season-low 28% (17 of 60) in another disappointing Sweet 16 game. Their season finished in that round last year with a 47-38 loss to Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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