Nelson-Ododa helps No. 4 UConn rout Temple 83-54

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Olivia Nelson-Ododa had a career-high 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks to lead No. 4 UConn to an 83-54 win over Temple on Sunday in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Christyn Williams scored 19 points and Megan Walker added 15 for the Huskies.

The game was being played so early in the schedule because UConn has four non-conference games against No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Baylor, No. 6 South Carolina and Tennessee after Jan. 1 as well as an exhibition game against the U.S. national team on Jan.27. That made finding dates to play during the normal part of the conference schedule difficult.

UConn (3-0) hit nine of its first 12 shots, including five 3-pointers and two three-point plays to jump out to a 25-14 lead on Temple. The Huskies led by 11 after one quarter and extended the advantage to 46-30 at the half.

Temple (3-2) was able to get within 10 in the third quarter to put some pressure on the Huskies, but UConn opened the fourth with a 15-2 run — including a nifty spin move for a layup by Williams — to put the game away.

Mia Davis led Temple with 18 points.

ON THE BOARD:

It took three games, but UConn freshman Anna Makurat finally has a basket. She was 0-for-6 coming into the game and missed her first six shots on Sunday before hitting a backdoor layup with 6:30 left in the third quarter. Even though she hasn’t been shooting well, she’s been doing other things. The guard from Poland had seven assists to go along with her two points.

TIP-INS:

UConn is 105-0 in the American Athletic in regular-season play and 121-0 overall in the conference the Huskies are leaving at the end of the season. … The Huskies have won the past 14 meetings between the two schools after dropping the first two. This will be the lone game between the teams in the regular season . … Huskies senior Kyla Irwin had about 30 family and friends in attendance sitting at center court wearing “Kyla” shirts. She’s from State College, Pennsylvania, about a three-hour drive from Philadelphia. She checked in for the first time with 5:10 left in the game to a huge ovation from the group and scored a layup a few minutes later. She also added a jumper and a 3-pointer. … With a jumper in the third quarter Davis became the 25th player in Temple history to reach 1,000 points.

UP NEXT:

UConn: hosts Virginia on Tuesday.

Temple: visits Bucknell on Wednesday.