No. 1 UConn runs streak to 108

Kia Nurse and Napheesa Collier each had 24 points as the Connecticut women's basketball team extended its winning streak to 108 in a row with a 116-55 rout of 16th-seeded Albany on Saturday in a first-round NCAA tournament game at the Bridgeport Regional in Storrs, Conn.

Nurse tied a career-high with six 3-pointers and Collier added 10 rebounds for her 15th career double-double for the Huskies (33-0), who are vying for an unprecedented fifth consecutive NCAA championship and 12th overall.

Gabby Williams collected 20 points and 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season, and Katie Lou Samuelson had a team-high nine assists to go along with 15 points.

Connecticut, the NCAA Tournament's top seed, will next play eighth-seeded Syracuse in a rematch of the 2016 title game on Monday after the Orange downed ninth-seeded Iowa State, 85-65, lin a ater game on Saturday.

The Huskies dismantled the Orange, 82-51, to become the first women's program to clinch a fourth consecutive championship.

Imani Tate had a team-high 19 points and Jessica Fequiere added 16 for the American East conference champion Great Danes (21-12), who fell for only the second time in their last 14 games.

Kyla Irwin drilled a 3-point shot in the final minute of the fourth quarter to cap the scoring for Connecticut, which eclipsed its previous high in points in an NCAA Tournament game. The Huskies scored 114 versus Hampton in 2000.

The Huskies showed no ill effects of an 11-day layoff, scoring the first nine points of the contest before building a 35-16 lead on the strength of solid interior play and foul shooting. Collier made all five of her first-quarter shots from the field, while Connecticut went 11 of 13 from the charity stripe.

The Huskies didn't let up and shot 58.8 percent from the field (20 of 34) in the first half to build a 58-32 halftime advantage. Their first-half point total is the fourth most in an NCAA Tournament first-round game and three shy of the program record.

Connecticut went on a 9-0 run in the first 1:09 of the second half to effectively put away Albany, which struggled to keep pace due in large part to their struggles with perimeter shooting.

The Great Danes went 4-for-22 from 3-point range, while the Huskies converted on 13 of 26 from beyond the arc.