Tiffany Hayes scored 12 points and had five rebounds and five assists as No. 1 seed Connecticut cruised past No. 16 seed Hartford, 75-39, in the opening round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon in Storrs, CT.
Connecticut (33-1) will face the winner of No. 8 seed Kansas State and No. 9 seed Purdue on Tuesday night.
The Huskies jumped out to a quick 10-5 lead with 16:14 left in the opening half and built their lead to 40-17 entering halftime. UConn continued to dominate in the second half, outscoring Hartford, 35-22.
Maya Moore (seven rebounds), Stefanie Dolson (seven rebounds) and Bria Hartley (four rebounds) all scored 12 points for UConn, which was very efficient from the field, shooting 49.2% (30-for-61 FG). Kelly Faris scored 10 points and Lorin Dixon added seven points off the bench.
UConn collected 43 rebounds (12 offensive), 20 assists, six steals, one block and turned the ball over 11 times.
Alex Hall scored 10 points to lead the way for Hartford (17-16), which was held to 31.5% shooting (17-for-54). Ruthanne Doherty had seven points, Nikkia Smith added six points and both Amanda Weaver and Alyssa Englert finished with four points off the bench for the Hawks.
With Sunday's loss, Hartford has now lost all 12 meetings with the Connecticut Huskies.