Angry, then happy
Huskies jump on each other — then on Terps — in get-right game Griffin, Uconn ratchet up intensity for blowout win in wake of upset loss
STORRS — The Uconn women found themselves in another close game, found themselves trying to compensate for another injury, and Paige Bueckers, back on the court after a poke in the eye, found herself surrounded by freshmen.
“I had gotten on KK (Arnold) to make sure we got to every loose ball,” Bueckers said, “and that every 50-50 ball ends up our and you saw, every loose ball after that KK had it.”
This is what the Huskies were talking about all week. The chip-on-the-shoulder thing is an easy go-to in sports, but if a team needed to regain its edge, it was this team on Thursday night. Bueckers, who had a red mark on her cheek to show for the game’s physical nature, typified a night when Uconn was spoiling for a fight.
Geno Auriemma was talking about the memory of Maryland’s celebration after beating a depleted Uconn team a year ago.
STORRS — When it was announced that Azzi Fudd was unable to play for the Uconn women’s basketball team due to a knee injury Thursday night, Aubrey Griffin stepped in to start against Maryland and delivered an impressive performance.
Griffin had 13 rebounds, four of Uconn’s nine blocks, nine points, two assists and a steal in 27 minutes in the Huskies’ 80-48 victory over No. 20 Maryland at Gampel Pavilion.
“I love when players play to their identity — if you look at Aubrey and you say, ‘Look at that kid, what should she be able to do? She should be able to play defense, rebound, run the floor and block shots,’” Uconn coach Geno Auriemma said.
“You look at (what she did Thursday) and that’s exactly what happened. Losing Dorka, that’s like 10 rebounds a game and somebody’s got to fill that void. Right now, Aubrey’s that person. I thought Aubrey was fantastic today. I thought she was a difference maker. Big time.”
It’s uncertain when Fudd will return as Auriemma said Thursday night that she couldn’t have an MRI until the swelling in her knee went down. But he was happy with the way his team responded to losing another player, especially after getting pretty much everybody back healthy this season.
“I addressed this in the locker room after the game,” he said. “I said, ‘You know, over the last three years, it seems like there’s always something, something we have to deal with.’ Sometimes it’s minor — this one might be minor — sometimes it’s major.
“It seems like we’ve always handled it really, really well. We’re pretty resilient. For us to win 31 games last year given what we went through — they respond. They don’t pout. They really don’t, so when I said, ‘Hey, we’re going to have to figure this one out for however long this is, whether it’s today, tomorrow, at least through Saturday, we’ll see what happens.’ It changes your rotation, the way you want to play, it certainly changes your offense.”
Auriemma said last week that other players were going to have to come up with more rebounds to make up for the absence of Dorka Juhasz. Uconn was outrebounded Sunday against NC State. The Huskies were outrebounded Thursday by one, 36-35, but it didn’t matter in the long run.
“I was just trying to focus on rebounding and doing what my team needs to win,” Griffin said. “I pride myself on doing those things in practice. I think also the freshmen stepped up today big for us and helped us a lot for this one.”
They did. When Uconn made a run to end the second quarter, Ashlynn Shade drove to the basket and was fouled and hit the free throw to give the Huskies a 29-25 lead. She hit a jumper to make it 38-27. KK Arnold was on the floor. Ice Brady was on the floor. Paige Bueckers was driving the run, which ended up with Uconn leading 42-27 at halftime, but the freshmen were all there.
“We’re going to give those guys minutes, that’s the only way they’re going to get better,” Auriemma said. “I was absolutely thrilled the way they handled themselves. That second quarter was pretty cool to watch them do what they did.”
Shade ended up with 10 points, Brady had five points and three rebounds. Arnold kept the run going in the second half, shooting 5 for 5 from the field and ended up with 12 points, five assists and five steals.