PARADISE ISLAND, The Bahamas — Another game, another career-best offensive outburst from a UConn player to lead the way.
Senior Christyn Williams scored a career-high 31 points to propel the No. 2 Huskies over Minnesota, 88-58, in their first game of the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis women’s tournament Saturday in the Bahamas. They’ll play USF, which beat Syracuse 77-53 later in the afternoon, Sunday at noon.
Williams had 21 of UConn’s 47 first-half points and finished with her 31 on an incredibly efficient 12-of-14 shooting (3-for-4 shooting on 3s). It was the second time in two games that a UConn player dropped a 30-piece after sophomore Paige Bueckers scored 34 against Arkansas Sunday.
Redshirt senior Evina Westbrook was the only other Husky player to hit double figures with 16 points (4-for-7 shooting, 3-for-5 on 3s). Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards contributed eight points apiece.
Using the momentum she found at the end of her junior season this spring, Williams has now scored at least 18 points in UConn’s first two games with a 69.2% clip from the field.
Like its first game, UConn started off firing on all cylinders, scoring the first 12 points of the game and leading 20-5 at the 4:30 mark of the first quarter.
Despite the Gophers shooting just 31.6% on 3s going into the game, Minnesota’s Deja Winters and Sara Scalia caught fire from beyond the arc, cutting the deficit to 24-18 by the end of the first period and then to 31-30 with 4:54 to go in the half. Minnesota shot a combined 9 for 15 on 3s before the break.
That’s when Williams, who was already having a strong game, really took over. She scored nine straight points, a run initiated with her first trey of the season, to give UConn an eight-point cushion. A floater from Olivia Nelson-Ododa, midrange jumper from Azzi Fudd and 3 at the buzzer from Westbrook capped a 16-5 run and extended UConn’s advantage to 47-35 at the half.
Bueckers got going with the first five points of the second half, which, combined with a Williams 3, put the Huskies up 55-35. They kept rolling from there, scoring 16 unanswered points in the third and not allowing a Gophers basket until the 4:09 mark. With that renewed defensive intensity, the Huskies held the Gophers to 2-of-9 shooting from the arc in the second half.
Williams tied a career-high with a 3 in the third, but UConn’s posts also got more involved, helping the Huskies outscore Minnesota 25-8 in the frame. The senior set a new career best in scoring midway through the fourth with a layup, and freshman Caroline Ducharme recorded her first career points right after.
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