Elite matchup
Tall task awaits UConn in Baylor
SAN ANTONIO — What does Geno Auriemma see when he looks at Baylor?
For starters, a physically imposing team. One that bullies opponents, overwhelming them with sheer strength and aggression.
“They’re a very athletic, very physically intimidating team,” the UConn coach said Sunday. “I don’t know that anybody would ever call us that. They remind me of when we had Tina (Charles) and Maya (Moore), Renee (Montgomery) ...”
He also sees a team that was deserving of a No. 1 seed only to be placed in the same region as his Huskies. He wishes they could play later in the NCAA Tournament but there’s no use griping now. The brackets are the brackets. There’s no changing them.
“I just don’t know how a team that good and has done all that … can be seeded seventh [overall],” Auriemma said. “You watch the tournament, it doesn’t make sense.”
In order to reach another Final
Four, No. 1 UConn must conquer second-seeded Baylor. The teams, two of the three winningest in terms of NCAA titles, will square off Monday (7 p.m., ESPN) in the Elite Eight at the Alamodome.
Baylor (28-2) is a formidable opponent, easily the best the Huskies (27-1) have seen since February when South Carolina rolled into town. The Lady Bears are big, long, and athletic, not to mention they’ve got a Hall of Fame coach of their own in Kim Mulkey. She has managed to beat Auriemma four times in eight tries over her career.
What will be the keys to defeating Baylor? Let’s take a closer look:
WIN THE POST PLAY
The latest star post player in Waco is junior NaLyssa Smith, who should be a handful for UConn. How much can she impact a game? Look no further than what she did in the Sweet 16 against Michigan. The 6-foot-2 Smith dropped 24 points on the Wolverines, and was efficient in getting them as she hit
all 11 shots she took.
The Huskies — with post defenders Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aaliyah Edwards — will try to make it tough on her down low. If UConn is succeeding, Smith won’t be taking uncontested shots.
“Good players are going to do what they’re going to do,” Auriemma said. “You’ve just got to hope that you make it a little more difficult on them than it normally is. But she’s going to get the same shots she got [Saturday]. I hope she doesn’t go 11 for 11, but she’s become a really, really good basketball player.”
Smith, an AP All-American, is averaging 18.2 points and 8.2 rebounds across 30.2 minutes per game. Auriemma said she may be the most versatile big in the country.
Collectively, Baylor — which also has 6-3 junior Queen Egbo — ranks second in the country in rebounding, eighth in blocks and 13th in scoring defense. The Baylor post players make an impact at both ends.
UConn is potent inside, too, though. Freshman Edwards’ emergence has taken some of the pressure off 6-5 junior Nelson-Ododa.
“When go to Aaliyah, you’re looking at a young lady that’s tough in there,” Mulkey said. “She posts you up, she’s physical. Their styles are different, which makes them very difficult to defend because they … complement each other very well.”
Edwards, who has started the last two games with guard Nika Muhl hurt, is 22 of 26 from the floor for the tournament.
“We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for her,” Auriemma said. “If it wasn’t for Aaliyah Edwards, we wouldn’t be here today. That kid has really added so much to our team.”
DEAL WITH THE ‘D’ FROM DIDI
Baylor’s identity very much revolves around senior DiDi Richards, a lockdown defender whose game is about more than just stats.
The 6-2 Richards, the team’s only remaining starter from the 2019 national championship game, is the reigning national defensive player of the year.
“You don’t necessarily crack the lineup at Baylor or get a lot of playing time at Baylor if you’re not a great defensive player,” Auriemma said. “DiDi is just a perfect example of that. You look at stat sheet and you’ll say, ‘What kind of contribution does she make?’ You have to watch the game, you watch the way she impacts the game defensively to realize how valuable she is.”
The Lady Bears hold opponents to 32.3% shooting, best in the nation. They’re also seventh in steals.
In Richards, they have someone who can hound UConn freshman star Paige Bueckers.
SUPPORT PAIGE
The Huskies aren’t as reliant on Bueckers as there were during stretches of the regular season. The supporting cast has stepped up lately, particularly junior Christyn Williams, who scored 27 points and put the clamps on Iowa phenom Caitlin Clark in the Sweet
16.
With Williams acting as an offensive option, Bueckers — a pass-first guard — may have the ability to create and score.
Teams with title aspirations need the best players to bring their A-game and produce points in March. And Bueckers, who’s averaging 20.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and
6.0 assists through her first three NCAA Tournament games, has done that.
“I hate that we’re playing against her because she may burn us,” said Mulkey, a former point guard who expressed her admiration for Bueckers’ game.
SET THE PACE
Want to run? Baylor can do that. Prefer to slow it down? No problem, Baylor’s up for that as well.
Baylor will adapt to whatever UConn does. What’s important is that the Huskies control the pace and flow of the game.
“We have to be prepared for whatever comes,” Auriemma said. “If it’s a fast-paced game, we have to be able to function in that kind of a game. If it’s a halfcourt game, we have to be able to execute in that kind of a game. I think at this time of the year, you’ve got to be able to adapt to whatever the game calls for.”
KEEP AN EYE ON
Edwards emerging: UConn freshman guard Nika Muhl is expected to miss her third straight game with a right ankle sprain. Muhl, a starter for 15 games, suffered the injury in a first-round win over 16th-seeded High Point.
In her absence, the Huskies will likely go to a bigger lineup including 6-foot-3 freshman Aaliyah Edwards, whose emergence has been huge. Edwards is averaging 18 points and 6.6 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament.
“Having someone like Aaliyah,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said, “that’s an element we didn’t have last season. That allows [Olivia Nelson-Ododa] to … be more of a distributor for us and be someone who can occupy one of [Baylor’s] defenders at the high post, and gives us some defensive flexibility.”
Nelson-Ododa said Edwards’ confidence seems to be at an “alltime high.”
“Going into the game tomorrow, she’s tough, she’s physical and she’s going to bring that into every game she plays,” Nelson-Ododa said.
What’s at stake: With a win, UConn will extend its record streak of Final Four appearances to 13. Baylor has gone on to win the national championship each of the last two times it’s advanced that far (2012 and 2019).
“It’s two talented teams,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said of her meeting with UConn. “I wish it was for the national championship and not a chance to get to the Final Four because I think both programs are just elite. It’s a shame somebody has to lose.”
‘Impose their will’: The Lady Bears are 13th in the country in scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 54.4 points per game. What makes them so good on that side of the floor?
“They’re long, they’re athletic, they’re physical, they really try to intimidate you and impose their will on you defensively,” Auriemma said. “They rebound the ball. They get involved with their hands, with their feet, with their arms.”
Statistically, UConn has been even better on defense, ranking fourth (51.5). Both teams are also top-five offensively.
History lesson: The series is tied 4-4, with the initial meeting coming in the 2010 Final Four in San Antonio (UConn 70-50). They most recently met in January 2020, when Baylor won 74-58 in Hartford.
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