Nika Mühl injured as depleted No. 6 UConn women’s basketball escapes with 69-64 win over Princeton
The UConn women’s basketball team entered its matchup against Princeton with just eight players available and its 29-year streak of avoiding back-to-back losses on the line.
The Huskies have dealt with injuries throughout the last few months, with Paige Bueckers (ACL tear) and Ice Brady (dislocated patella) ruled out for the year in August and October, respectively, and Dorka Juhasz out for six consecutive games after breaking her left thumb against Texas in November. It was their first game without star guard Azzi Fudd, who will miss three to six weeks after suffering a right knee injury in UConn’s loss to Notre Dame.
The number of players available dwindled to a mere seven after point guard Nika Mühl was injured in the third quarter. Still, coach Geno Auriemma’s squad found a way to escape with a victory, defeating the Tigers, coached by former UConn player Carla Berube, 69-64 Thursday night at Gampel Pavilion.
Aubrey Griffin had a career-high 29 points on perfect 11 of 11 shooting, along with 10 rebounds, to lead the Huskies. Lou Lopez Sénéchal had 18 points and six rebounds, while Aaliyah Edwards finished with eight points and eight rebounds. Mühl had seven assists and five points before exiting.
Amari DeBerry was the first substitution off the bench for UConn, entering the game less than three minutes into the first quarter after playing sparingly throughout the start of the season. She scored a layup right after checking in.
Lopez Sénéchal stepped up early to help make fill the scoring void left by Fudd’s injury. She had seven of UConn’s first 13 points of the night in a back and forth first quarter.
Auriemma then switched things up and went with a forward-heavy lineup of Edwards, Griffin and DeBerry all on the court together alongside Mühl and Lopez Sénéchal. The Huskies went on a 7-0 run in less than two minutes with that group, taking a 20-12 lead with 1:30 left. They led 21-14 at the end of the first quarter.
UConn picked up its defense in the second quarter, forcing Princeton to miss 13 shots in a row during a scoring drought of nearly seven and a half minutes.
The Huskies went on a 10-0 run during that stretch to take a 31-16 lead. Griffin played a huge role in UConn building its lead as she scored all but three of the team’s points during that spurt, including an and-one play that got the Gampel crowd excited.
UConn didn’t make a field goal for nearly five minutes to end the second quarter but still held a 32-20 lead at halftime thanks to its defense. The Huskies held their opponent to 25% shooting from the field and 15.4% (2 of 13) shooting in the first half, including a 16.7% mark in the second quarter.
The Huskies were dealt another tough blow in the injury department with a little over seven minutes left in the third quarter.
Mühl fell to the ground while trying to box out a Princeton player, taking an elbow to head and falling hard, hitting her head on the court. She was down for at least a minute while trainers and coaches came over to help and Gampel fell silent. She then had to be helped off the court by team athletic trainer Janelle Francisco and Bueckers, but made it to the locker room on her own power. That left UConn with just three healthy guards and no true experienced point guard.
Caroline Ducharme picked up her fourth foul on an offensive charge with under two minutes left in the period, forcing Auriemma to go to freshman guard Inês Bettencourt. Ducharme would come back later in the game.
Griffin continued to keep the Huskies afloat throughout the chaos, scoring 11 of their 20 points in the third quarter. UConn led 52-38 entering the final frame.
The effect of Mühl’s absence began to show in the fourth as UConn committed seven turnovers in less than three minutes, allowing Princeton to go on a 10-0 run in the process. Guard Julia Cunningham hit a 3-pointer to make trim the Huskies’ lead to 58-53 with a little over five minutes left.
Griffin once again came to the rescue, scoring back to back layups to bring UConn’s lead back up. But then Lopez Sénéchal subbed out with 4:19 left and Princeton went on an 8-0 run in less than two minutes, capped off by free throws from Kaitlyn Chen, to make it a 64-62 game with 46.1 seconds left. Griffin had another basket, but the Tigers came back with another response, a long midrange bucket from Madison St. Rose, to make it a two-point game with 30.4 seconds left.
Bettencourt was sent to the line with 21.7 seconds left and made one of two shots. Down three points, Princeton had possession and a chance to tie, but the Huskies managed to hold on the rest of the way with Bettencourt making two shots at the stripe.
The Huskies are back on the road Sunday to face No. 20 Maryland. The game will tip at 3 p.m. on ABC.
