Connecticut shows off its top-to-bottom excellence in Sweet 16 win over Iowa

Someone forgot to tell Christyn Williams that she was supposed to be an afterthought. The guard from Little Rock set the tone on both ends of the court with 18 first-half points as she played all 20 minutes. She also made life extremely difficult for Clark on the other end. Williams ended up with 27 points as No. 1-seeded UConn defeated No. 5 Iowa, 92-72, Saturday in the Sweet 16 in the River Walk Region

Bueckers posted 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to fall just shy of a triple-double. Clark scored 21 on 7-for-21 shooting to go along with five assists and three rebounds.

Clark was held to seven points on 2-for-11 shooting in the first half, including shooting 1 for 6 from behind the arc, as she didn’t seem to get a single clean look outside of a back-cut layup. The nation’s leading scorer at 26.8 points per game did have four assists as she drew crowds when driving and was able to kick out to shooters. She also had an impressive hockey assist after crossing over three times, faking a step back and kicking out on the drive.

Bueckers (averaging 19.9 points, 6 assists and 2.4 steals) was a bit more efficient, but UConn (27-1) didn’t need her as Williams carried the load. The Big East Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year scored six points on 3 for 6 shooting and added six rebounds and four assists of her own in the opening 20 minutes.

Both found a little more room to operate in the second half and a third-quarter stretch saw the pair go back and forth putting the ball in the basket. Bueckers hit a midrange jumper and a pair of free throws to put UConn up, 59-45, but Clark immediately answered with one of her patented deep three-pointers. Bueckers responded with another jumper and teammate Aaliyah Edwards laid it in to take a 63-48 lead. With things getting dangerously close to getting out of hand, Clark knocked down another step-back triple. She closed the third quarter with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the Hawkeyes (20-10) into the final stanza trailing, 72-61, and within reach of the upset.

The Hawkeyes cut the lead to nine early in the fourth quarter, but Bueckers wasn’t entertaining any thoughts of a comeback and knocked down a three-pointer from the corner. Gabbie Marshall answered with her own three-pointer for Iowa and Bueckers waved the finger, again, with another triple.

UConn simply had the deeper, more talented roster, but the two freshmen didn’t disappoint after slow starts.