Women's NCAA Fort Worth 1 roundup: No. 1 Connecticut opens title defense by routing UTSA

Sarah Strong scored a game-high 18 points Saturday and top-seeded Connecticut cruised to a 90-52 rout of 16th-seeded UTSA in the first round of the Fort Worth Region 1 in Storrs, Conn.

Three other players finished in double figures for the defending NCAA champion Huskies (35-0), who advanced to a second-round matchup Monday against either No. 8 Iowa State or No. 9 Syracuse. Blanca Quinonez came off the bench for 15, Ashlynn Shade added 14 points and Kayleigh Heckel chipped in 11 points plus five assists.

Ereauna Hardaway, Damara Allen and Cheyenne Rowe each scored 11 points for the Roadrunners (18-16). UTSA struggled to hit shots and take care of the ball against UConn's tough defense, hitting only 20 of 49 from the field and coughing up 27 turnovers that were cashed in for 35 points.

The Huskies opened up a 19-6 lead after one quarter that turned into a 48-14 advantage by halftime. They led by many as 47 points in the fourth quarter.

No. 3 Ohio State 75, No. 14 Howard 54

Jaloni Cambridge scored 21 points and sister Kennedy Cambridge added 11 points with seven rebounds as the Buckeyes rolled to victory over the Bison in a Fort Worth Region 1 game at Columbus, Ohio.

Chance Gray and Ava Watson also scored 11 points each and Elsa Lemmila added 11 rebounds as the Buckeyes (27-7) advanced to face sixth-seeded Notre Dame.

Zennia Thomas scored 15 points and Ariella Henigan added 14 points with 10 rebounds as the Bison (26-8) saw their 14-game winning streak come to an end.

Ohio State shot 45.0% from the floor while holding Howard to 33.9% overall and 0 of 9 from 3-point range.

The Bison led 14-12 with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter before the Buckeyes went on a 12-0 run between the first and second quarters. Ohio State added a 13-0 run just before halftime to lead 43-19 at the break and Howard never threatened in the second half.

No. 6 Notre Dame 79, No. 11 Fairfield 60

Hannah Hidalgo flirted with a quadruple-double as the Fighting Irish pulled away from the Stags for the win in the first-round game in Columbus, Ohio.

Hidalgo scored a game-high 23 points while adding nine rebounds, eight steals and six assists as the Fighting Irish (23-10) advanced to a second-round game against Ohio State Monday.

Iyana Moore added 18 points and Cassandre Prosper chipped in 17 points and rebounds for Notre Dame. The Irish sank 46.9% of their field-goal attempts and earned a 43-30 rebounding advantage. They also dominated paint points, doubling up the Stags 44-22.

Meghan Andersen scored 21 points for Fairfield (28-5). Jillian Huerter added 12 and Janelle Brown came off the bench for 10 points but it wasn't enough. The Stags hit only 38.3 % of their field-goal attempts and committed 19 turnovers that led to 22 points.

Notre Dame never trailed and led for all but 15 seconds of the game. It led by as many as 23 points in the third quarter.

--Field Level Media