UConn women notebook: Juhász among 10 Leslie Award finalists
Feb. 3—STORRS — Dorka Juhász didn't live up to her own expectations a year ago after transferring from Ohio State to join the UConn women's basketball team.
The graduate student center has been everything the Huskies could ask for and more in her final season.
Her efforts were recognized Friday as Juhász was named a Top 10 candidate for the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award that honors the nation's top center. The announcement was made by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the WBCA.
Juhász is averaging career highs of 15.0 points on 51.4 percent shooting from the floor, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists for the fifth-ranked Huskies, who entertain No. 1 South Carolina at the XL Center in Hartford Sunday. She'll match up with Gamecocks' senior center Aliyah Boston, a three-time Leslie Award winner.
A native of Pecs, Hungary, Juhász missed seven games with a broken left thumb suffered against Texas on Nov. 14.
She has scored in double figures in 14 of the 16 games she has played with eight double-doubles on the season. She is looking to become the second UConn player since Rebecca Lobo in 1994 to average a double-double. Napheesa Collier did it in 2019.
Joining Juhász and Boston in the 2023 Leslie Award Top 10 are Quay Miller (Colorado), Alexis Markowski (Nebraska), Mackenzie Holmes (Indiana), Monika Czinano (Iowa), Taiyanna Jackson (Kansas), Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech), Jessika Carter (Mississippi State), and Bella Murekatete (Washington State).
Five finalists will be announced in March with the award being presented at a date to be determined.
Moving on up
Nika Mühl will continue her chase of Sue Bird's single-season assists record Sunday.
The nation's leader in the category at 8.8 per game enters the showdown with South Carolina with 193 assists at No. 8 on the single-season list. Moriah Jefferson (195 in 2013-14) is seventh, Renee Montgomery (199 in 2008-09) is sixth, and Jefferson is fifth (204 in 2015-16) is fifth. Bird set the record with 231 assists in her Player of the Year senior season of 2001-02.
On Monday, the junior point guard was named a Top 10 candidate for the 2023 Nancy Lieberman Award that honors the nation's top point guard. Mühl made it to the Top 10 after not appearing on the award's preseason list.
UConn's Lieberman Award winners are Bird (2000-02), Diana Taurasi (2003-04), Montgomery (2009), Jefferson (2015-16), and Paige Bueckers (2021).
"It's definitely very satisfying," Mühl said. "It's an honor being on the list considering the players who have won the award in the years before, including Paige. There are some great point guards on this list.
"But at the same time I'm not satisfied. I have something I'm working for that is much bigger than that, in my personal view. I'm thankful for it and I feel it's a team honor because for an assist someone has to make a basket. There's something greater I want."
One more time?
Fifteen athletes are expected to participate in a USA Basketball Women's national team training camp from Monday through Thursday in Minneapolis.
Among them is Taurasi, who with Bird shares the record for women's basketball Olympic gold medals.
Taurasi turns 41 on June 11.
Could she make one more bid next year in Paris to get the record gold for herself?
"Am I buying or selling it?" UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "I am buying whatever Diana wants to do because it's going to get done. Is she up for the grind? There isn't that four-year cycle this time so maybe she feels like, 'I can do it. It's next year.' When she shows up at training camp, it's not like she looks around and goes, 'I'm in trouble.' She is still Diana Tarausi. Never discount anything she puts her mind to."
Auriemma coached Taurasi with three national championship UConn teams (2002-04), two Olympic gold-medal winning teams (2012, 2016), and two FIBA World Cup gold-medal winning teams (2010, 2014).
"In her mind, she has to play until she can't," Auriemma said. "As long as she feels like she can play, she's going to play. It's probably no different than Sue. They love the game. They don't like what they have to do to get ready to play in those games, but they love the games. If D starts working out and it is serious, then you'll know. If she is just up there hanging out, which I don't think she is ... Nobody leaves California to go to Minnesota in February just to hang out."
Worth quoting
Mühl on the Huskies perhaps not being the favorite against No. 1 South Carolina: "I like being the underdog. I've been the underdog my whole life before coming here. I'm used to it and sometimes I really like it. But I don't necessarily go with that mentality. It's another game we're going to prepare the same for.
"We're not going to do anything different. What we've been doing has been working. We've had three days off and I feel like we rested a little bit and we'll be physically ready and mentally ready too."
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.
