How UConn women’s basketball is battling physical and mental fatigue, regrouping after suffering back-to-back losses

A few days before UConn women’s basketball’s game against No. 1 South Carolina, the coaching staff decided to give players a mental health day.

This time of the year is a grind for teams all over the country, but it’s taken quite the toll on the Huskies in particular. They’ve dealt with injuries across the roster for the second consecutive season, left with just eight healthy players and mostly relying on five starters due to a lack of production off the bench. And they had just come off of a stretch of five games in 12 days, in which the team’s fatigue was evident.

So UConn’s staff arranged a spa day. Players showed up to the team facility and had different options to choose from. There were saunas and steam rooms set up. Players got massages and took part in meditation sessions. If some just wanted to relax in a quiet environment with no technology and no one to talk to, they could do that too. Head coach Geno Auriemma was voting for manicures and pedicures, but he got turned down. There were food and drinks set up too.

“That was really amazing of them to do that for us,” Nika Mühl said. “It was good to be in the gym still surrounded with all these amazing people, but not being focused on basketball. … That helped us so much and that kind of relieved us from all that constant pressure that we have. We’re very thankful to the coaches and to the staff for doing that. That was a really good move and we all enjoyed it so much.”

In his nearly 40 years at UConn, Auriemma says he’s never had to navigate a season like this. He and his staff have had to get creative. Practices are shorter than they ever have been, they’re using more tracking technology than ever before and they’ve made a point to work in off time like that spa day to keep players rejuvenated.

But there’s only so much one can do to fight the mental and physical fatigue of a season like this. The two are intertwined, connected as part of human nature. No matter how in shape or well-conditioned players are, the exhaustion eventually takes a toll. And it ultimately caught up to the Huskies in a 59-52 defeat at Marquette on Wednesday, following a close loss to No. 1 South Carolina.

Now UConn finds itself coming off back-to-back losses for the first time since March 1993 entering another road game at Georgetown on Saturday.

“Things change fast,” Auriemma said. “I think the adrenaline of Sunday, the opponent, the crowd, just the build up, and then for us to actually compete the way we did and have the kind of game that we did … I don’t know if I expected or anybody expected a carryover, like we’re going to do the exact same thing Wednesday at Marquette. I knew that wasn’t going to be possible. So you knew some kind of letdown was coming, I just didn’t expect it to be that extreme.

“... We just didn’t respond for the first time all year. We just didn’t respond. And I think it got to the point where it was just, I don’t have it in me for this fight tonight. And nothing wrong with that.”

Dorka Juhász said that the Marquette loss felt like the first time all season that players were so physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted that they just didn’t have enough in the tank to find a way to win. Auriemma said afterward that he was surprised the Huskies had held on for as long as they did.

“As competitors having that loss, obviously that day just felt like it’s the end of the world,” Juhász said. “If you really like playing basketball and you love the game and you love winning, when you lose that just feels like everything is falling apart.”

Juhász said the emotions were high after the loss, so that night wasn’t the time to reflect on what had just taken place. But the close-knit Huskies have regrouped since.

“Everybody is a professional in that way of they know like, hey, ‘we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves,’ or ‘what could I have done better in that moment’ and just take it all in their heart,” Juhász said. “We regroup, we practice, we prepare for Georgetown. I think everybody is in a great mindset. The goal is still the same. … This was the first loss that I felt like it was just nothing that we could have like really done with the mental fatigue and physical fatigue. I think we gave everything we had for that game and it was just not enough.

“So I think we can definitely learn from that. And I think we’re very strong women, we all love to win, we are competitors, so we’re gonna find a way to win next time. But there’s no time to be negative about stuff and look back and just kind of have an impact on you for the next game.”

Mühl echoed the sentiment that the Huskies are in a better mindset and looking forward to the next challenge ahead.

“I feel great going forward,” Mühl said. “I feel like this was a fluke. … That just wasn’t UConn basketball that day. And it’s okay. It’s not an excuse that we’ve been going through a lot, I feel like every team has been going through a lot. So that’s definitely not an excuse, but it is something that’s reality too. We’re not looking back, we’re looking only forward from now on.

“We’re going to try to fix as many mistakes as we can in the period of time that we have with the bodies that we have, and I’m sure everybody’s gonna do their their best job and as usual give their best effort. So I have no doubt in this team, even after a loss like this. … It’s only up from here.”

The Huskies have responded to adversity all season and they expect to do the same on Saturday. But fatigue will continue to be something to keep an eye on as the regular season winds down, with just six games remaining.

“Everything that we’ve asked of them, they’ve done it,” Auriemma said. “I don’t think the two losses are as much of an issue as our physical state and our mental state … I’m not as much concerned about are we going to get over the losses as how do we figure out how to play through this physically and be consistent and be mentally present? That’s going to be our biggest challenge going forward.”

Update on Caroline Ducharme

Caroline Ducharme has missed 12 games in a row since suffering a concussion in practice on Jan. 2.

Last Sunday, Auriemma was hopeful that the sophomore guard might return this week, depending on how she responded to workouts. However, it seems like that isn’t in the cards.

“I don’t think tomorrow,” Auriemma said when asked about her availability for the Georgetown game. “But (in) Caroline’s words, ‘I’m really close.’ So I take that as a huge positive.”

What else to know for the game

Site: Entertainment & Sports Arena (home of the Washington Mystics)

Time: 5 p.m.

Series: UConn, 50-6

Last meeting: No. 4 UConn 65, Georgetown 50 on Jan. 15, 2023 at the XL center

TV: SNY; Allen Bestwick (pxp), Meghan Culmo (analyst), Maria Marino (sideline)

Streaming: SNY app

Radio: UConn Sports Network on 97.9 ESPN