Making the great leap forward

Jan. 28—There are times when Aaliyah Edwards is inside Gampel Pavilion that the UConn women's basketball team's junior forward will sneak a look at the wall where the Huskies of Honor are.

The No. 3 is there twice for former All-Americans Diana Taurasi (2002-04) and Morgan Tuck (2016). Edwards' dream is to add her name to the list

"I want my name up on one of those banners up against all the greats because that is an amazing achievement," Edwards said. "But I am really just focusing on winning the Big East and the national championship right now."

Edwards' play could make that dream reality. From the start of the season, she's played the game at an All-American level.

She'll have an opportunity to move closer to her goals Sunday when the fifth-ranked Huskies host No. 21 Villanova in a Big East showdown at the XL Center in Hartford.

UConn (19-2 overall, 11-0 Big East) has won 12 in a row and leads the Wildcats (18-3, 9-1) by 1 1/2 games in the Big East regular season race. A win would give the Huskies breathing room. Edwards, meanwhile, figures to have her moments matching up against Villanova's Maddy Siegrist, the reigning Big East Player of the Year and the nation's leading scorer.

Edwards enters ranked fifth in the conference in scoring (17.6), first in field-goal percentage (62.2), third in rebounding (9.3), and tied for fourth in blocked shots (1.1).

"There isn't an aspect of the game where she is not playing at an All-American level," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.

Coming off an up-and-down sophomore season, Edwards set a tone for herself from the start and has not stopped.

She had 25 points in the Huskies' 84-67 win over Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, her fourth straight 20-point performance and 11th of the season. She has nine double-doubles after not getting one a year ago.

"I had a conversation with Coach about preparing and being like a pro, and how I can implement that into everything I do on a daily basis on the court and off the court," Edwards said. "I'm just carrying myself that way. Coming into this year, I had a mindset shift of, 'I'm going to be a leader. I'm an upperclassman now. My mindset just changed and I'm taking more accountability and I've become more selfish into my development.

"It starts with consistency. When you look at the greats and one of the things is they have routines, and they are consistent in everything they do. I just try to stick to that every day. It starts in practice. What you do in practice is only a glimpse of what you're going to be doing in the game."

Edwards and graduate student guard Lou Lopez Sénéchal are the only Huskies to play in all 21 games. She did injure her ankle in the Jan. 5 game at Xavier when she fell over a chair trying to save a ball from going out of bounds. The Huskies' game against DePaul set for Jan. 8 was postponed as UConn did not have the conference minimum seven scholarship players available and Edwards was able to return in time for the Jan. 11 game against St. John's.

She is averaging 32.5 minutes per game and has played more minutes this season than she did in 29 games as a freshman. At her current pace, she'll top last year's total in mid-February.

But she's showing no signs of slowing down.

"It is a lot, but I get through it making sure that recovery-wise after games and practices I take care of my body and I am doing the things I need to do to prepare for games and practice," Edwards said. "It's very tiring on my body. But as any basketball player will tell you, it's a physical sport and you just get through it.

"I'm just paying attention to my body, listening to it. I think the coaches and everybody here understands that and just takes the right precautions."

By being in top shape, she's able to play harder for longer stretches of time.

"I think I've had a high motor since freshman year, but now I'm managing that and being able to withstand that throughout the game," Edwards said. "Me getting steals is great, but being able to come back and play more defense for 35-40 minutes is really what we need as a team and my teammates need from me. So I'm maintaining my energy but also providing that kind of explosiveness and that high-motor player my coaches and teammates need me to be."

She'll need all the energy she can muster facing Siegrist and Villanova. A year ago, the Wildcats ended the Huskies' 169-game conference winning streak.

Villanova has won nine in a row and has not played since walloping Creighton on Jan. 20. UConn will be playing the fourth game in a stretch that has it playing five games in 11 days.

Sophomore Fisher commits

Kelis Fisher, a 5-foot-9 sophomore guard from Baltimore, announced on Instagram Friday that she had committed to UConn.

Fisher is rated the No. 22 recruit in the Class of 2025 by ESPN. She took an unofficial visit to UConn in October to attend First Night festivities and received a scholarship offer.

She plays for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. As a freshman she played at Roland Park Country Day School, which produced former Huskies' and current Virginia forward Mir McLean.

Fisher is the first player from the Class of 2025 to commit to UConn. The Huskies have three recruits coming in for next season in McDonald's All-Americans KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade along with forward Qadence Samuels, and have one commit from the Class of 2024 in guard Allie Ziebell.

For coverage of all sports in the JI's 18-town coverage area, plus updates on the UConn women's basketball team and head coach Geno Auriemma, follow Carl Adamec on Twitter: @CarlAdamec, Facebook: Carl Adamec, and Instagram: @CarlAdamec.