KEEP AN EYE ON

Doing the heavy lifting: Geno Auriemma wants Christyn Williams to contribute more this season, especially on the offensive end, where the Huskies must replace two of the most prolific scorers in program history. It’s a lot to ask, but Williams seems to be taking her new role to heart.

Williams scored a team-high 24 points — more than she had in all but one game as a freshman — to go along with seven rebounds and three assists in Sunday’s season-opening win over California.

“I tried to crash the boards as much as I could, and when my teammates were open, I tried to get them the ball,” she said. “Coach has been on me about doing more than scoring, so I tried to do that today.”

Williams got involved early, scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half. But she wasn’t satisfied, approaching Auriemma at one point and asking for the ball more.

The quartet of Williams, Crystal Dangerfield, Megan Walker and Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored 70 of the Huskies’ 72 points.

Irwin elevated: Kyla Irwin made her third career start Sunday but did not attempt a shot and was scoreless in 10 minutes. The senior, who had started two games last season, was given the nod over freshman Anna Makurat.

“Kyla knows what we’re doing out there,” Auriemma said. “She’s going to make a good pass, she’s going to set a good screen. She’s going to be a complementary player basically.”

Welcome back: Dangerfield, a native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., is not the only Husky going home. Assistant coach Jasmine Lister was an All-SEC guard at Vanderbilt from 2011-14. She started all 129 games of her career and broke the school record for minutes played with 4,626.

Lister is in her second season on Auriemma’s staff after working as a graduate assistant from 2014-16.

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