Women's Hoop Review XVI

UConn 79 - Mass-Lowell 23

The wait is over, UConn finally took the court and it amounted to a 56-point route on Saturday.

Below: Paige Bueckers

Freshman guard Paige Bueckers had a strong debut with 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals. She made 72 percent of her shot attempts as well, while leading the Huskies in points and steals. She shared the lead in assists with sophomore guard Anna Makurat. Bueckers also shared the lead in rebounds with junior forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa, who posted 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Below: Mir McLean

Junior guard Christyn Williams had 10 points with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Freshman forward Mir McLean had a very productive game with 10 points and six rebounds in 11 minutes.

Michigan State 86 - Iowa 82

Below: Alyza Winston

Michigan State (4-0) remained unbeaten, while handing Iowa (4-1) its first loss of the season. The Spartans survived a strong comeback from Iowa. At the half Michigan State led 44-28, before the Hawkeyes had a 27-19 third quarter run. Iowa outscored Michigan State 27-23 in the fourth stanza but it wasn't enough to win the game.

Michigan State's Alyza Winston scored 25 points while draining six-of-12 three pointers. The sophomore guard is averaging 18.7 points on 59 percent shooting in 28 minutes per contest. Last season she had a limited role as she averaged 2.9 points in nine minutes per game.

Nia Clouden, a 5-8, junior guard posted 21 points, making all nine of her free-throw attempts. She also collected six assists in the win. Clouden is averaging 19 points and 5.5 assists per game this season. A third guard Julia Ayrault put up 19 points in the win. Ayrault is a bigger guard at 6-1, who shared the team lead in rebounds with Kendall Bostic. Each player brought down nine boards each.

Below: Nia Clouden

Iowa got a combined 59 points from guard Caitlin Clark and center Monika Czinano. Clark scored 35 points on 40 percent shooting from three, while also going 9-9 from the free-throw line. A 6-0 freshman from West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark may be the best first year player in the nation. In her first five games she has averaged 29.8 points, shooting 48 percent from the field and 87 percent from the free-throw line. She is also averaging six rebounds and 6.4 assists per game.

Below: Monika Czinano

Czinano is a 6-3 junior who posted 24 points and six rebounds before fouling out. She is averaging a career best 20.8 points per game this season after averaging 15.6 points last year. Iowa also got a near double-double from McKenna Warrock, who snagged down a game best 12 rebounds to go along with nine points. The sophomore guard also had six assists before fouling out.

South Carolina State 69 - UNC Ashville Bulldogs 60

Above: Jayah Hicks

On Saturday night, South Carolina State (1-4) got its first win of the season, behind a strong effort from its frontcourt. Jayah Hicks scored on seven-of-10 shot attempts. The 5-11 sophomore forward scored a season best 19 points which matched her combined total for the previous four games. Hicks also had a career night from beyond the three-point line. She made all five of her attempts from beyond the arc. In her previous 30 career games she'd only made seven three-pointers in all.

Her teammates Amaiah Lindsay and Trinity Klock also scored double figures. Lindsay had 18 points which surpassed her combined season total. A 6-1 sophomore center, Lindsay entered the game averaging just under three points per contest. She also led her team with eight rebounds and three blocks.

Klock, a 5-11 freshman scored over 10 points for the second straight game. Her 12 points on six-of-12 shooting, to go along with five rebounds, three assists and one block were instrumental in the win.