UConn women’s basketball team opens the postseason with something to prove in the Big East Tournament
The prelude is past, the postseason is here. The UConn women’s basketball team may not be in its familiar position, poised for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and considered the team to beat, but the Huskies are embracing their position as dangerous underdogs.
“We’re a different team [than earlier in the season],” UConn senior Christyn Williams said. “I feel like a lot of teams are sleeping on us because we’re not the same as we were way back then, but that’s fine. We’re going to play with chip on our shoulder and prove ourselves. We’re not going to talk about it, we’re going to go out there and let everybody see for themselves.”
“Way back then,” as a team depleted by injury, UConn lost to South Carolina, Louisville, Georgia Tech and Oregon by Jan. 17. Since then, UConn has won 13 of 14 games. The Huskies the only loss came against Villanova, who could be a major obstacle as the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament, the first stop in March Madness. UConn faces No. 9 Georgetown, a 68-55 winner over Providence in Friday’s first round, in the quarterfinals Saturday at noon.
“Everybody has grown in their confidence,” Williams said. “We went through a stretch where everybody was kind of in a funk and we only had six or seven people. Now, I feel like everyone is flourishing because we have our original team back.”
UConn, the No. 1 seed after winning the conference regular-season title with a 16-1 record, has nine players who have, at one time or another, started or played starter-level minutes during the season. Essentially, with so many injuries, UConn coach Geno Auriemma has had to play his bench all season, so now he has the deepest team he has had in years, sometimes using hockey-style mass substitutions, which should be a strength when playing three games in three days.
“Trying to get everybody all the minutes they would want is virtually impossible,” Auriemma said. “’Do you want to play 40 minutes? No, I’d be happy with 38.’ They all want to play a lot of minutes, but you have to make sure you get people enough minutes to be effective.”
The minutes watch will be on most particular for Paige Bueckers, the reigning national player of the year. After missing 19 games and more than two months recovering from a knee injury and subsequent surgery, she returned with two cameos — 12 minutes vs. St. John’s and 13 vs. Providence — in the last two games. Her work load will be slowly ramped up.
Bueckers looked better in practice on Thursday than she had since she returned, Auriemma said.
“She’ll be under the [restrictions] that I feel like putting on her based on what she says and based on what I see,” Auriemma said. “I don’t see her playing 35 minutes three games in a row, but it will be more than 15.”
UConn will be relying heavily on the two young players who made the Big East’s all-freshman team — Caroline Ducharme and Azzi Fudd. Ducharme’s mid-season emergence helped keep the Huskies from losing back-to-back games, and Fudd became the dynamic 3-point shooter she was advertised to be after she returned from her foot injury.
“We have so many options.” Ducharme said. “Knowing when you get in there, it’s doing what you do best and being able to capitalize on that, and then we have fresh legs coming in. We’ve had to step up and find those roles, and that everyone is back, I feel like everyone is peaking at the right time. If everyone is playing their best game at once, we’re pretty hard to beat.”
Here’s what you need to know for Saturday’s Big East Tournament quarterfinals matchup.
The basics
Big East Tournament quarterfinal: UConn vs. Georgetown
Time: Noon ET
Site: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville
Series: UConn leads, 48-6
Last meeting: UConn won 90-49 on Feb. 20 at XL Center
TV: FS1 (John Fanta, Kim Adams)
Radio: UConn IMG Sports Network on 97.9 ESPN (Bob Joyce, Debbie Fiske)
Georgetown (11-18) probable starters, sixth player
Milan Bolden-Morris, G, 5-10, Gr.; Kelsey Ransom, G, 5-10, So.; Kaylin West, G, 5-7, Gr.; Brianna Scott, F, 6-4, Fr.; Graceann Bennett, F, 6-3, Jr.; Ariel Jenkins, F, 6-3, Fr.
UConn (22-5) probable starters, sixth player
Christyn Williams, G, 5-11, Sr.; Paige Bueckers, 5-11, G, Jr.; Nika Mühl, G, 5-10, So.; Olivia Nelson-Ododa, F, 6-5, Sr.; Azzi Fudd, G, 5-11, Fr.; Evina Westbrook, G, 6-0, R-Sr.
The matchup
UConn’s offense: During their seven-game winning streak to finish the regular season, the Huskies shot 52.7 percent from the field. This figures to improve with Bueckers getting more and more time on the court.
UConn’s defense: Mühl was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year, indicative of the tone-setting defense she plays and also of the Huskies’ overall defensive effectiveness. They allowed only 50.8 points per game in conference play. Georgetown turned it over 30 times against UConn on Feb. 20.
Georgetown’s offense: The Hoyas delivered a knockout against Providence with a 21-0 second-half run. Bolden-Morris (12.6 points per game) scored 18 points on 7-for-19 shooting. She scored only six against UConn, so stopping her will again be a key for UConn.
Georgetown’s defense: Georgetown allows 67.8 points per game, with opponents shooting 40.2 percent, 34.2 on 3s. The Hoyas have won three in a row, allowing 51.0 points during this stretch.
UConn keys: The Huskies are winning games with defense. The offense just has to be solid on the basics: ball security, ball movement and shot selection.
Player to watch: Bueckers will be playing more this weekend, at least more than the 12 and 13 minutes she played in her first two games back. This is her chance to shake off the rust from her long absence in time for the NCAA Tournament.
About Georgetown’s coach: James Howard, 52, has been head coach at Georgetown since June 2017, with previous stops at Bethune-Cookman, Howard, George Mason and a head-coaching stint at Division III Wesley in Delaware.
Georgetown’s mascot: Jack the Bulldog.
Famous alumni: Former president Bill Clinton, former NBA player/current Georgetown men’s coach Patrick Ewing, NBA stars Allen Iverson, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning and journalist and former First Lady of California Maria Shriver.
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com
