WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY
NO. 21 VILLANOVA AT NO. 5 UCONN
When: Sunday, 2 p.m.
Where: XL Center
Records: UConn (19-2, 11-0 Big East), Villanova (18-3, 9-1)
TV: CBSSN
Radio: UConn Sports Network, WGCH 1490 AM (Greenwich), WAVZ 1300 AM (New Haven), WATR 1320 AM (Waterbury), 97.9 FMESPN
KEEP AN EYE ON
History lesson: The last time UConn women’s basketball hosted Villanova at the XL Center?
The Wildcats upset the then-No. 8 Huskies 72-69 to end UConn’s 169-game win streak over conference opponents. It was Villanova’s first win over UConn since 2004.
The Huskies were without Paige Bueckers (knee), Caroline Ducharme (head) and Aubrey Griffin (back), and senior center Olivia Nelson-Ododa was a last-minute scratch from the lineup due to a groin injury. Christyn Williams (24 points) and Azzi Fudd (29 points) were the only Huskies in double figures. Villanova had four players in double digits led by Lior Garzon with 19 points and star Maddy Siegrist with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
“It’s just another reminder that games have to be won. Games aren’t necessarily pre-ordained. Games have to be won. You have to go out and win games,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said at the time. “… You gotta lose at some point otherwise you’re not in a good conference. Losing to a really good team like Villanova, they deserved to win. Plain and simple.”
The Huskies are now in their second season dealing with another rash of injuries. But this time they’ve learned how to adjust on the fly and how to utilize the players they do have available.
UConn has played the last four straight games with just eight available players as Ducharme (concussion) and Fudd (knee) remain out.
Yet, the Huskies enter Sunday’s matchup on a 12-game win streak after beating longtime rival Tennessee on Thursday in Knoxville.
About Villanova: The Wildcats have once again proven they’re the second-best team in the conference and are currently in second place in the standings below just UConn.
Villanova’s lone Big East loss came on Dec. 2 against Creighton, falling 67-46. The Wildcats’ other two losses this season came from Iowa State on Dec. 18 (74-62) and Baylor on Nov. 26 (75-70).
While they bring a nine-game win streak into Sunday’s meeting, the Wildcats haven’t played since Jan. 20 (a 73-57 win at Creighton).
The Wildcats’ biggest threat is senior forward Maddy Siegrist. The 6-foot-2 New Yorker is the reigning Big East Player of the Year and a third-team All-American. In Villanova’s win at Creighton, she became the Wildcats’ all-time leading scorer with 2,409 career points (the record had been set 36 years ago).
The matchup between Aaliyah Edwards and Siegrist will be a key factor in Sunday’s game.
UConn is 39-18 all-time against the Wildcats. After the Huskies’ historic loss last February, they got their revenge by defeating Villanova 70-40 in the Big East Tournament championship game.
Villanova has a Connecticut connection in sophomore Anahi-Lee Cauley, who hails from Windsor and played at Kent School after playing for three years at Loomis Chaffee. Last year as a freshman with the Wildcats, she played in 30 of 32 games and averaged 0.6 points and 0.6 rebounds in 7.9 minutes per game. This year Cauley has played in 14 of Villanova’s 21 games with 2.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 10.3 minutes per game.