Freshman Aubrey Griffin came off the bench halfway through the first

half to spark the UConn Huskies to a 94-61 win over Temple in the AAC

quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday.

By Bob Phillips





UNCASVILLE —The University of Connecticut Huskies, playing in their final American Athletic Conference women’s basketball championship tournament, rolled over the Temple Owls, 94-61, before 5,763 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday. Crystal Dangerfield led all scorers with 22 points. The 5-5 senior guard from Murfreesboro, Tenn., shot 53 percent from the floor (8-for-15) including a scorching 6-for-9 from beyond the three-point arc. She also added four rebounds and three assists for the Huskies, the No. 1 seed in the tournament (as they have been every year as a member of the American).





American Player of the Year Megan Walker scored 17 points, grabbed six boards, and dished out three assists, while 6-1 freshman forward Aubrey Griffin from nearby Ossining, NY, put up a double-double (15 points, 16 boards) for the victors.





Mia Davis led Temple with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. Ashley Jones scored 13 points and dished out six assists for the Owls, who fell to 16-15 overall, 7-9 in the conference.





Temple opened the game with a 9-2 run, holding the Huskies scoreless for nearly three minutes. But sadly for Owl fans, that was as good as it got as UConn responded with an 8-2 run to pull within a point, 11-10 at the media timeout. Olivia Nelson-Ododa worked her inside-outside game to perfection after the time out, banking home a layup to give the Huskies their first lead of the contest, 12-11. Griffin drove the lane, got hammered, and converted a traditional three-point play at the end of the opening period to give the Huskies a 15-13 lead at the first turn.





“You can see it,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said of Griffin, his freshman star in the making who didn’t come into the game until a little over eight minutes in. Griffin, by the way, is without question a basketball blueblood. Her dad, Adrian Griffin, played for nine seasons in the NBA player and is currently and assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors.





“It's an energy level you don't see very often,” continued Aubrey Griffin’s Hall of Fame coach. “Her ability to pressure [on defense]; her ability to go get the ball when it comes off the rim. It's unique ... even when you think you got her boxed out. She's pretty good at getting in the lane.”





“She just came in and she changed the entire game,” Temple coach Tonya Cardoza said. “I think she gave them the energy they needed. She got some offensive rebounds and got to the free-throw line. She was the spark that they needed.”





“I just went out there and played hard, stayed aggressive,” said Griffin. “I don't know how I feel about (the postseason); I've definitely just got to go out there and play hard. I just went in there. Just kind of do my thing.”





UConn pulled away in the second quarter after Griffin poured in four straight points for the Huskies. Dangerfield nailed an uncontested trey at 3:17 of the second give the Huskies a 15-point lead at their home away from home.





Time out Temple.





Didn’t help much.





The Huskies kept the pedal to the metal and took a 19-point lead, 47-28, into the locker room at intermission.





Theo up the UConn lead to its largest of the game at 37-22 and force a Temple timeout. The Huskies kept the momentum rolling and carried a 47-28 lead to halftime.





The third quarter was all Connecticut’s. A jumper by Polish sharpshooter Anna Makurat (14 points on 4-for-8 shooting, including3-for-5 from downtown Norwich) late in the period gave the Huskies a 27-point lead.





Temple comeback?





Yeah, right.





Temple’s Alexa Williamson drew the foul on a layup in the final minute of the quarter but was unable to cash in from the charity stripe, and Christyn Williams chipped in a layup at the other as the Huskies took an insurmountable 73-64 lead at the third pole.





A trey by Dangerfield at the 6:29 mark of the fourth quarter staked the Huskies to an 80-52 lead.





Say good night, Gracie.





The top-seeded Huskies now advance to the semifinals where they will face the tourney’s No. 4 seed, USF, 64-50 winners over Tulane, on Sunday. Tip-off at the Mohegan Sun Arena at 4 p.m., and fans unable to attend can follow the action on ESPN platforms, including ESPN3, ESPNU and ESPN2. For full coverage of this week’s American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, visit theamerican.org/wbb and follow @American_WBB on Twitter .

—with staff reports





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