Napheesa Collier scored 27 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as UConn held off 10th seeded Buffalo 84-72 on Sunday night to move into the Sweet 16 for a 26th consecutive season.
Katie Lou Samuelson and freshman Christyn Williams each added 17 points for the No. 2 seed Huskies (33-2).
Cierra Dillard, the nation's second leading scorer, had 29 points to lead Buffalo, which made a big run in the fourth quarter but could not overcome a 24-point second-half deficit. The Mid-American Conference champions finish the season 24-10.
Buffalo never led and trailed 73-49 with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. But the scrappy Bulls would not go away. They outscored the Huskies 12-2 to open the fourth, cutting the lead to 75-67.
Their hopes of a comeback were dealt a blow in the middle of that run when Dillard went down after rolling her left ankle in a collision with Collier. She had to be helped to the locker room, but came back into the game less than two minutes later, scoring five more points while clearly hobbled.
Her layup with 1:11 to go made it 79-71, but UConn hit its foul shots at the end to close out the game. >> Read more
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