UConn women win 7th straight AAC title, top UCF 66-53

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Megan Walker scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead No. 6 UConn to a 66-53 win over UCF and the outright regular-season championship in the American Athletic Conference.

Anna Makurat added 17 points and Crystal Dangerfield had 12 of her 14 in the second half for the Huskies (23-3, 13-0 American). They have won 50 conference regular-season or tournament titles in their 46 seasons.

Masseny Kaba scored 14 points and Kay Kay Wright had 12 to lead UCF (16-9, 8-5), which came into the game having won five in a row and six of seven.

The Huskies improved to 133-0 in conference games since the formation of the AAC, including 115-0 in the regular season.

The Huskies never trailed and led 8-3 when UCF’s Wright suffered a left leg injury battling for a rebound.

Walker, who put up her ninth double-double this season, scored eight straight points to close the quarter and UConn took a 16-4 lead after the first 10 minutes.

UCF hit just one of its first 14 shots and the Huskies held the Knights without a basket for about 8 1/2 minutes.

Wright returned in the second quarter and UCF outscored the Huskies 14-12 to trail 28-18 at the half.

UConn extended the lead to as many as 20-points in the third, before the Knights made another run.

It was 52-40 with 8:23 left in the game when UConn’s Olivia Nelson-Ododa was hit in the nose on what was ruled an intentional foul by Kaba. The Knights were hit with another intentional foul a short time later and UConn was able to stretch the lead back to 58-40.

UCF went on a final run to cut the lead to 10, but a 3-point play and a 3-point shot by Anna Makurat on consecutive possessions put the game away.

This was UConn’s 207th straight win over an unranked opponent.

BIG PICTURE

UCF: Kay Kay Wright scored her 1,500th career point in the first half. She had scored 20 points four times in the Knights previous five games and had 18 points in the last meeting between the two teams.

UConn: The Huskies honored seniors Crystal Dangerfield, Kyla Irwin, Molly Bent, Batouly Camara and graduate transfer Evelyn Adebayo before the game. The senior class has a record of 130-8 and is 61-0 against AAC opponents.

UP NEXT

UCF: The Knights head home to host Temple on Wednesday

UConn: The Huskies travel to Cincinnati Wednesday to take on the Bearcats.

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