UConn likely No. 1, but even Geno uncertain of future
The UConn women’s basketball team has been together for about seven months, with players arriving in Storrs in July to begin navigating something truly complicated: The 2020- 21 season.
“Everything has been a slog,” coach Geno Auriemma said Friday night after the Huskies wrapped up a tiring and rewarding stretch with a 64- 40 victory over lowly Georgetown. “Everything has been a grind. So where are we going? I don’t know.”
The Huskies, for starters, are likely headed to the top of the Associated Press national poll, primed to move to No. 1 on the strength of their victory Monday over then topranked South Carolina. That was one of three games this week, one of five in 10 days, one of six victories that have followed a Jan. 28 loss at Arkansas.
When Auriemma said he didn’t know where his team was going he was speaking to the trajectory of a project, not a travel itinerary. UConn ( 16- 1), which will completely step away from basketball this weekend for a necessary break, plays Wednesday at St. John’s, the second of five consecutive road games. That’s the plan, anyway.
“We could be going into a pause next week,” Auriemma said. “We could be going to St. John’s and play great, and we could go to Xavier ( Feb. 20) and play lousy. Right now, I just go by: we played [ Friday], we were kind of half- assed in a lot of ways, but we found a way to win. We do so many things that just boggle your mind. I can’t imagine it. I see things that just make me shake my head. So when you see stuff like that and you say, ‘ Which way are you going?’ I have no idea.’”
Trying to figure out the state of a team in Feb. 2021 is unlike trying to figure out a team in February of any other year. It is like baking a cake with expired ingredients at an ill- advised temperature for the wrong amount of time. Sprinkle in some luck and it might be all right.
UConn looks all right. The Huskies, despite the inconsistency that sur
rounds Paige Bueckers, are one of a handful of teams with legitimate national championship aspirations, falling into a top tier with teams like Baylor, Louisville, South Carolina and Stanford — in whatever order.
Still …
“When’s the last time you saw us shoot the ball this poorly?” Auriemma said. “When’s the last time you saw us miss this many layups or make some of the passes that we make? There are things happening every day that ... in my younger years I would be losing my mind on the sideline. Now I just sit down and worry about my next warning for not having my mask on.
“That’s my biggest stress right now, how many warnings I get from the Big East and from our fans back home telling me you’re setting a bad example, not wearing your mask. They don’t know I get tested every damn day. They should just worry about themselves and not worry about me. I’m fine. But there are things happening right now that years ago, I would have lost it. But now? Hey, these are COVID times.”
The Huskies clearly — and, ironically, in that she’s a freshman — have a player in Bueckers capable of carrying pressure and responsibility that would make others sweat or crack. She is averaging 26.2 points during a winning streak that most assume will extend into the postseason.
“Mentally pushing through it and physically pushing through it, I think our team showed a lot of resilience and strength,” Bueckers said of the recent stretch. “The tough battle against South Carolina was hard. But just the way we fought through it … was really important for our team.”
Bueckers had 19 points and nine assists against the Hoyas
( 1- 10). Christyn Williams had 19 points, too, rebounding from a scoreless effort against Seton Hall, an important get- well perfor
mance UConn must hope carries over.
“This stretch of games has been physically taxing and mentally taxing so we’re looking forward to two days off,” Williams said. “I feel like we’re getting a flow and everybody is learning their role and playing to the best of their ability. I think we’re pretty good when things are flowing great.”
Bueckers said her only goal in each game or practice is to fill whatever role asked of her. That role isn’t labeled “Everything” on a white board. That’s just the way it has sometimes played out. UConn hopes the equation changes for good before Bueckers hits a wall, if she ever does.
“If you’re not on a team with a lot of great players and a lot’s being asked of you and you have to deliver every single night as a freshman, that’s a difficult task,” Auriemma said. “Paige doesn’t show it, but it’s happened to her already and it’s happening maybe right now. But she doesn’t let onto it. You’ll never know. She doesn’t show it. But I’m sure she’s gone through it. When you have to take 25 shots some nights to win a game, that’s not a great place to be in.”
Atop a poll in February typically is, though.
“Vote your conscience,” Auriemma jokingly advised voters. The new rankings come out Monday, when the team resumes practice with another crazy segment of a strange season in the rearview and a shrug of the shoulders for what is ahead.
“What you learn in these situations is that the most mature players are the ones that stay ( steady) and they’re the same every day, regardless of whether we’re playing the No. 1 team in the country or the No. 101 team in the country,” Auriemma said. “That’s the message you try to give your team this time of year. You just need to be consistent.”
UConn’s string of road games concludes Feb. 27 at Butler before a return home March 1 against Marquette.
“I hope we get to play them all, No. 1,” Auriemma said. “And I hope we build some momentum.”