Canada's Aaliyah Edwards helps UConn overwhelm Mercer, begin quest for 12th title

Canada's Aaliyah Edwards scored seven points and added six rebounds as UConn began its run toward a 12th NCAA Tournament title with an 83-38 first-round rout of No. 15 seed Mercer.

Paige Bueckers, last season's national player of the year, played 25 minutes, the most in six games since coming back from a left knee injury that kept her out for more than two months. She led UConn with 12 points, adding five assists and four rebounds.

Christyn Williams had 13 points to lead the Huskies (26-5), who opened the tournament with a win for the 28th straight year. Dorka Juhasz added 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Huskies held Mercer to just 13 baskets on 56 shots (23%).

Mercer played much of the game without leading scorer Amoria Neal-Tysor (17 points per game), who went down hard on her left elbow while driving to the basket in the second quarter and had to be helped to the locker room. She finished with four points and came out for the second half with her arm in a sling.

Canada's Kiandra Browne and the Indiana Hoosiers are also through.

Mackenzie Holmes scored 19 points to lead Indiana to an 85-51 victory over Charlotte on Saturday in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Browne had two points and three rebounds in the game.

Serving as hosts for the first time in the women's tournament, the third-seeded Hoosiers (23-8) used a 22-2 run across a nearly six-minute first-half stretch to blow the game open. Aleksa Gulbe scored the final five in the spurt to make it 33-13 with 6:44 remaining in the half.

The lead never dipped below 20 in the second half as Holmes scored 15 of her points after halftime.

Canadians Tara Wallack's and Jessica Clarke's Washington State Cougars was downed 50-40 by No. 9 Kansas State.

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