PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Paige Bueckers scored all 17 of her points in the first half Saturday and No. 10 UConn completed an undefeated conference season with a 65-42 win at Providence.

Aaliyah Edwards added 13 points and KK Arnold scored 12 for Connecticut (26-5, 18-0 Big East), which has won six straight games after falling to top-ranked South Carolina on the road.

Marta Morales Romero had 10 points for Providence (12-19, 6-12), which has lost eight of its last nine games.

UConn shut down the Providence offense, holding the Friars to 26 percent shooting (15-of-58) and scoring 19 points off 18 Friar turnovers.

Bueckers, who sat out the fourth quarter, scored the game’s first five points and had nine in the first quarter as UConn took a 21-13 lead.

The Friars hit just five of their 26 shots from the floor in the first 20 minutes and Connecticut closed the first half on a 14-1 run. They took at 37-16 lead into intermission and led 57-25 after three periods.

Only eight UConn players made the trip to Providence. Little-used center Amari DeBerry remained on campus after suffering a concussion. The Huskies already have lost five players for the season with injuries.

BIG PICTURE

UConn: This is the 14th team in Big East history to go undefeated in conference play. UConn has done it 11 times and also was the last team to accomplish the feat, going 18-0 during the pandemic-marred 2020-21 season. They also went undefeated in all seven of their seasons in the American Athletic Conference.

Providence: Providence has now lost its last 35 meetings with UConn. The Friars last beat the Huskies on March 7, 1993, in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament.

UP NEXT

Both teams head to Uncasville, Connecticut, for next week’s Big East Conference tournament. Providence will face Butler in the 8-9 game on Friday. UConn will play the winner of that game in the quarterfinals after getting a first-round bye.

Popular in the Community

More from sny