The first step towards a showdown between UConn commits Crystal Dangerfield and Katie Lou Samuelson went according to plan today at the NIKE Tournament of Champions.

Samuelson, a senior wing, tied a Mater Dei single-game record with 41 points (UConn's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and UCLA's Nirra Fields share the mark) and broke the program record (held by Mosqueda-Lewis and her sister Karlie) with 10 3-pointers as Mater Dei defeated Skyline out of Dallas 67-34.

Dangerfield had 21 points as Blackman High defeated Hamilton High, one of the host schools, 57-44 in the first round in the Joe Smith Division.

Next up for California powerhouse Mater Dei is Fremont (Nebraska) High tomorrow in a showcase of a pair of top five national recruits as Fremont's Jessica Shepard, a Nebraska signee, is sure to cross paths with Samuelson more than once.

Blackman, the defending high school national champion out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, will play Desert Vista in tomorrow's quarterfinals. Desert Vista features Cal commit Kristine Anigwe, who played on the U-17 national team along with Samuelson and fellow UConn signee De'Janae Boykin.