No. 4 UConn women host St. John’s while still in pursuit of Big East crown
UConn did the hard work it took to get a two-game lead in the Big East Conference, winning 60-51 at Villanova on Saturday, despite facing a Villanova team that was ranked and one that boasted the nation’s leading scorer in Maddy Siegrist.
Now, with three league games in the final seven days of the Big East’s regular season, the fourth-ranked UConn women’s basketball team has, well, some more overwhelmingly hard work to do.
The Huskies (24-4, 16-1) begin that stretch with a game against St. John’s (19-7, 10-7) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the XL Center (SNY).
UConn has struggled with injuries, with sophomore Caroline Ducharme finally returning for the first time since Dec. 31 and helping the team to big wins over Creighton and Villanova. But UConn coach Geno Auriemma said following the Villanova game that graduate forward Dorka Juhasz played that game with a sprained ankle.
Sophomore Azzi Fudd, a national player of the year candidate when the season started, remains sidelined with a right knee injury and Auriemma said he had no date for her return.
Auriemma said the two-game lead doesn’t mean much with what looms for the Huskies: games with St. John’s, DePaul and Xavier over the next week.
“Having a two-game lead, you know that can disappear in two games,” Auriemma said Saturday. “So it’s breathing room but it’s not anything more than that.”
UConn will clinch at least a share of the Big East regular-season title with a win over St. John’s. The Huskies travel to DePaul on Saturday and finish with Senior Night at Gampel Pavilion on Feb. 27 against Xavier before the start of the Big East tournament March 3 at Mohegan Sun Arena.
“Obviously, we’re Connecticut, so the expectations are such that we have to win every game and we have to win the Big East championship every single year and we’ve got to win the tournament every year and we’ve got to go to the Final Four every year,” Auriemma said.
“When you get in a situation like we’re in this year, it has a little different significance. Like what’s more important? You go all out and try to win the next three games. Then you go all out trying to win the three games in the Big East tournament and then we limp into the NCAA tournament because we’re not 100%.
“This is one of those years where right now, play every game as hard as we can. But the main focus is trying to keep everybody as healthy as they can.”