Farleigh Dickinson's Rebcca Osei-Owusu, left, battles Iowa's Hannah Stuelke for the ball during Saturday's first round NCAA Tournament game in Iowa City. (AP photo)

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — The title defense for the UConn women’s basketball team began like so many other NCAA Tournament openers for the 12-time national champions.

Sarah Strong had 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals in three quarters of play as the Huskies, the top seed in the Fort Worth 1 region, rolled to a 90-52 win over No. 16 UTSA on Saturday for its 51st consecutive victory.

Blanca Quinonez, one of two international players in UConn’s main rotation, had 10 points in an 18-1 run for the top-ranked Huskies, who will face Syracuse in Monday’s second round.

Quinonez had 15 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots and Ashlynn Shade added 14 points as UConn (35-0) won its NCAA opener for the 32nd tournament in a row. UConn’s last first-round loss came to Louisville in 1993.

“I just tried to approach the game the same way we did the last couple of games,” Quinonez said. “Just tried to play hard, aggressive and just try to do the best for our

team, so just locked in like everybody.”

UConn was just 7 of 33 from 3-point range, but 19 steals turned into 35 points off turnovers. Kayleigh Heckel had three of those steals and finished with 11 points.

UConn also had 36 bench points in the win. The bench was called on early after guards Azzi Fudd and KK Arnold both picked up three fouls in the first half. The Huskies still led 48-14 at halftime.

“They made a really great impact when they came in the game,” Strong said. “They were ready when they were called on, so that’s really important for us. The special thing about our team is that anyone can come in and make a difference, make a big impact.”

Ereauna Hardaway was one of three UTSA players with 11 points. Cheyenne Rowe had 11 points and eight rebounds for USTA (18-17), The Roadrunners reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009 after winning the American Conference tournament.

IOWA 58, FARLEIGH DICKINSON 48

Ava Heiden scored a career-high 29 points, including 12 straight for Iowa in the fourth quarter, and the No. 2-seeded Hawkeyes survived an upset bid from 15th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson

The Hawkeyes get a home game against Virginia, which will be playing its third game in five days in the tournament.

Hannah Stuelke added 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (27-6), who advanced to Monday’s second-round game against 10th-seeded Virginia. But to do that, Iowa had to escape the Knights (30-5), who came into the game with a 22-game winning streak and were never rattled by the sellout crowd of 14,332.

Iowa only led 35-33 to start the fourth quarter and was up 42-36 when Heiden took the game over. The Knights were within 44-43 with 6:24 to play and 48-46 with 3:24 left, but Heiden answered with baskets inside each time.

Iowa held the Knights to just two points over the final 5:24.

Heiden was 11 of 16 from the field and added seven rebounds.

Iowa shot 41.7% from the field, but made just 1 of 13 3-pointers. Kylie Feuerbach also had 11 rebounds for the Hawkeyes, who had a 47-28 rebounding advantage.

The Hawkeyes opened the game with an 18-3 run, but Fairleigh Dickinson closed the first quarter with a 14-2 surge, a sign of what was to come in the game. Iowa was outscored 9-7 by the Knights in the second quarter, and only outscored them 8-7 in the third.

Ava Renninger led the Knights with 13 points. Ten of Fairleigh Dickinson’s 18 field goals were 3-pointers.

USC 71, CLEMSON 67 (0T)

Freshman Jazzy Davidson scored 31 points in her women’s NCAA Tournament debut, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:03 left in overtime to lift ninth-seeded Southern California to an overtime victory over No. 8 seed Clemson.

Davidson, a 6-foot-1 freshman, stroked a perfect shot from the right side to send the Trojans (18-13) into a second-round matchup with top seed South Carolina on Monday.

It looked like Clemson had won when Mia Moore flipped in a running basket at the regulation buzzer and the Tigers ran onto the court in celebration. But officials reviewed the play and found the shot clock had not properly started with 4.4 seconds to play when Clemson inbounded the ball, and they waved off the basket.

Clemson led 64-61 with 2:34 to play in OT when Davidson got going. She hit a tying 3-pointer and then put USC ahead to stay on the next possession after Malia Samuels gathered Davidson’s missed shot and got it back to Davidson for the go-ahead basket.

WEST VIRGINIA 82, MIAMI (OHIO) 54

Sydney Shaw had 19 points and nine rebounds, Gia Cooke scored 18 points and West Virginia used an early defensive lockdown to take control inin the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

West Virginia (28-6), the fourth seed in the Fort Worth region, will meet No. 5 seed Kentucky in the second round on Monday. The Wildcats beat 12th-seeded James Madison earlier Saturday.

Jordan Harrison had 15 points and eight assists, while Kierra Wheeler added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Mountaineers.

Amber Scalia led Miami with 14 points, Amber Tretter added 13 and Ilsa de Vries 12.

VANDERBILT 102, HIGH POINT

All-American Mikayla Blakes scored 23 of her 30 points by halftime as the second-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores routed No. 15 seed High Point 102-61 on Saturday night to open the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Vanderbilt (28-4) came in with the most victories in program history and remains undefeated at home this season. Now they play either seventh-seeded Illinois or No. 10 seed Colorado (22-11) on Monday night for a spot in the Sweet 16 of the Fort Worth 1 Region.

Sacha Washington had 10 points and 17 rebounds, and Aubrey Galvan added 17 points. Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda added 10 as 11 Commodores had at least a point.

High Point (27-6) won both the Big South’s regular-season title and tournament championship for the Panthers’ second straight and third NCAA berth overall. Macy Spencer, a transfer from UNLV, did her best to keep them close with 22 of her 27 points in the first half.

SYRACUSE 72, IOWA STATE 63

Uche Izoje had 16 of her 23 points in the first half as ninth-seeded Syracuse topped No. 8 Iowa State despite 37 points from Cyclones All-American Audi Crooks.

Olivia Schmitt added a season-high 15 points for the Orange, who will face reigning national champion UConn in the second round of March Madness on Monday.

Laila Phelia had 18 points and Sophie Burrows added 13 points and nine rebounds for Syracuse (24-8). Jada Williams had 14 points, six rebounds and eight assists for Iowa State (22-10).

Syracuse was playing in the Storrs subregional for the second time in three years. They also faced UConn in the second round two years ago. Sophie Burrows was one of three Syracuse players to score in double figures with 18 points in that 72-64 loss.

NOTRE DAME 79, FAIRFIELD 60

Hannah Hidalgo had a dominant performance to show that she is still one of the best players in women’s basketball.

The Notre Dame junior had 23 points, nine rebounds, eight steals and six assists as the sixth-seeded Fighting Irish led the entire game en route to a victory over 11th-seeded Fairfield on Saturday in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Hidalgo was an AP first-team All-America selection her first two years, but was a second-team pick this season despite winning ACC player of the year for the second straight season.

Hidalgo’s bigger aim is trying to get the Fighting Irish into the Sweet 16. They will face third-seeded Ohio State on Monday after the Buckeyes advanced with a 75-54 win over Howard.

OKLAHOMA STATE 82, PRINCETON 68

Oklahoma State survived blowing most of their leads of 18 and 14 points to beat Princeton in Los Angeles, giving Jacie Hoyt her first March Madness win in her fourth season as coach.

The eighth-seeded Cowgirls (24-9) were led by Achol Akot with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Jaydyn Wooten had 18 points and 10 assists and Micah Gray added 16 points.

Oklahoma State had lost in the first round in its last two March Madness appearances.

The ninth-seeded Tigers (26-4) closed within four in the third quarter, when they outscored the Cowgirls 20-13, and within five early in the fourth. Princeton was led by Madison St. Rose with 17 points. Skye Belker and Ashley Chea had 14 points each while combining to make seven of the Tigers’ eight 3-pointers in the game.

Oklahoma State was too strong in the fourth, outscoring the Tigers 21-15, including a 9-0 run after the Tigers got to 63-58. The Cowgirls ran off nine straight points to start the fourth to snuff out Princeton’s hopes.