Testing their defense
Huskies set to face high-powered Blue Demons’ offense
UConn coach Geno Auriemma knows a dominant defense when he sees it.
His fourth-ranked Huskies may qualify at some point, but for now, he says, they don’t pass the eye test.
“We’re a work in progress as everybody likes to say when they hate what they have,” Auriemma said Tuesday. “We’re a work in progress.”
For better or worse, he should know more about their defensive makeup Tuesday when No. 18 DePaul rolls into Gampel Pavilion. The Blue Demons, true to form, have been an offensive dynamo, and a unique one at that.
The Blue Demons (5-2) like to play at a pace that is fast even for UConn, which makes preparing for them seem impossible.
“When you have a young team,” Auriemma said, “DePaul can make you look silly. …
“Maybe if we had practice players that could go that fast and move that quickly and jack up that many shots, it may be a little easier, but we just can’t simulate that in practice.”
DePaul is averaging 88.3 points and nine 3-pointers through seven games. Both categories rank top-20 nationally.
The Huskies have historically fared well against them. In fact, they’re 17-1 all-time in the series, with their lone loss coming in 1983 — Auriemma and his good friend, Doug Bruno, were assistants at other schools at the time.
But that doesn’t necessarily make Tuesday’s meeting — UConn’s first against a ranked opponent this season — any easier for the Huskies, especially as Auriemma says, with how young they are.
“They’re going to score a bunch of points against us,” Auriemma said. “The trick is, can we limit how they get them?
That’s a good challenge for us.”
Statistically, UConn’s defense is among the best in the country. Only five teams are allowing fewer points per game (49.2). But despite what the numbers say, Auriemma isn’t satisfied with how they’ve performed on that side of the ball.
He joked that their best strategy in last Tuesday’s win against Villanova, in which they bottled up Wildcats star Maddy Siegrist, was to stand in zone and yell “miss.”
“I think we’re going to stick with that for a little while,” he said. “Trying to play man-to
man, trying to change things up a little bit, it’s going to be a little bit of a challenge until some of our guys grow up a little bit.
“For the most part,” he continued, “we have two teams. We’re the team that can play good defense at times, and we’re the team that struggles defensively at times.”
Auriemma, for it what it’s worth, isn’t necessarily surprised by this. Coming into the season with six freshmen, Auriemma knew he’d need to be patient, that they’d need time to mature and grasp his concepts. And five games in — all double-digit wins — there still isn’t anyone he trusts to singlehandedly shut down the opponent’s best player.
“We still have a lot of learning to do,” junior Christyn Williams said. “We’re not bad, but we’re not where we need to be. We’re just going to keep working at it day-by-day.”
UCONN FALLS IN TOP 25 POLL
Despite their unbeaten record, the Huskies dropped one spot to No. 4 in Monday’s Women’s Associated Press Top 25 poll. They were leapfrogged by NC State, though it was close. The Wolfpack edged the Huskies by one point (675-674) and had two firstplace votes to their one.