UConn women’s basketball defeats Cincinnati in AAC Tournament title game, 87-53

UConn women’s basketball will leave the American Athletic Conference forever perfect. The Huskies defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats, 87-53, to claim their seventh and final AAC Tournament championship while also finishing with a 139-0 record all-time against conference opponents.

Megan Walker was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player while Crystal Dangerfield, Aubrey Griffin and Christyn Williams all made the All-Tournament team.

After Williams hit the first two shots of the game, UConn struggled to put the ball in the basket. It wasn’t for a lack of effort — the Huskies were getting open looks but the ball often just bounced out of the cylinder.

Cincinnati stayed close in the opening frame, thanks in large part to Angel Rizor — who scored 10 of the Bearcats’ 15 first-quarter points.

However, UConn quickly began to separate in the second quarter. The Huskies made their first three baskets, forcing Cincinnati to take a timeout. That only temporarily stopped the bleeding, though, with UConn mounting a 9-0 run which pushed its lead over double digits for good.

The Huskies got out in transition, quickly moving the ball up the floor with long passes and scored without even setting up in the half court much if at all. Another seven-point spurt helped UConn go into the locker room leading 48-26.

Cincinnati came out of halftime with a little life and scored six of the next eight points in the game, but it didn’t last. The Huskies outscored the Bearcats 17-4 over the next four minutes to put any thoughts of a comeback to rest. The fourth quarter featured little excitement as UConn rolled to a 34-point win to cap off its reign of terror over the AAC.

This is UConn’s 25th conference tournament title in program history and the 51st conference championship overall. The Huskies won all but two AAC games by double-digits over the last seven seasons as members of the conference.

UConn will have a week and a half off before the NCAA Tournament begins. The Huskies will learn their path to a 12th national championship a week from tonight on Selection Monday.