UConn dismantles ’Nova
Williams scores 26 to lead Huskies to 24th Big East final
UNCASVILLE — It was a clinic. A 40-minute master class conducted by the No. 1 team in the country.
UConn didn’t just outplay Villanova in the Big East Tournament semifinals, they toyed with them.
In fact, the Huskies turned in one of their most complete performances of the season in Sunday’s 84-39 dismantling of fifth-seeded Villanova at Mohegan Sun Arena.
“Everyone that played, played their role perfectly,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “We made very few mistakes. That’s two nights now we made very few mistakes defensively.”
Junior Christyn Williams did a bulk of the scoring for UConn with 26 points. The junior, who made 11 of her 17 shots in the game, had 11 points in the first quarter, helping UConn to a 25-10 lead.
She also bottled up Villanova star Maddy Siegrist, who scored a career-low three points.
“I think today was the culmination of her being great defensively on a really tough assignment,” Auriemma said, “and just letting the natural part of who she is happen on the offensive end.
“We’re a championship team if Christyn Williams plays like that.”
Freshman Paige Bueckers contributed 18 points and eight assists. Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Evina Westbrook had eight points and seven boards.
The Huskies (23-1, 20-0) advanced to their 24th Big East final — and first since 2013 — and will play second-seeded Marquette on Monday at 8 p.m.
UConn scored the first seven points of the game, stretched its lead to 45-13 at halftime, and never trailed.
The Huskies ripped off the first
17 points of the second quarter. Villanova made just one bucket during the stanza — a 3-pointer by Brianna Herlihy with 1:15 left — and was outscored 20-3.
Utter domination. “We’re playing our best basketball right now,” Bueckers said. “Ever since our loss against Arkansas (on Jan. 28), we tried to find a positive out of it. … I felt like it was a lesson.”
It’s no coincidence Williams has been experiencing a breakthrough. Sunday was her seventh 20-point game of the season, and the most she’s scored since she had 29 against DePaul on Jan. 31.
Believe it or not, she’s even become a factor on defense.
“Christyn’s taken on a defensive mindset for a big part of the second half of the season,” Auriemma said. “It’s allowed her to focus on the entire game, not just one aspect of it. I think sometimes she overthinks the game, complicates things for herself.”
Said Williams: “I’ve always been very offensiveminded. When I got to college, defense is very important as well. I’ve finally taken pride in my defense, and I noticed it translates to the offensive end. It takes a lot of pressure off of me.”
Villanova (15-6, 10-6) shot only 6 of 33 from beyond the arc and 24.6% overall. The Wildcats’ 39 points were a season-low; they had 52 in a loss to UConn on Dec. 22.
Siegrist, the Big East’s top scorer at 23.6 points per game, was just 1 of 10 from the floor. She had 30 points in the Wildcats’ quarterfinal victory over DePaul.
“She’s a great player,” Williams said. “She’s a big guard. She tries to post you up, but she can shoot the 3 as well. We knew that coming in, and it was a team effort to stop her. She's a great player. … So if we could shut her down, we could handle the other players as well. I felt like we did a great job as a team today stopping her.”
MUHL RETURNS
Freshman Nika Muhl scored three points in 18 minutes, one day after spraining her left ankle and leaving on crutches in UConn’s quarterfinal win over St. John’s.
“When we left here yesterday, obviously, we weren't sure the extent of what happened, but overnight she did everything she was asked to do,” Auriemma said. “Our athletic training staff, Janelle (Francisco) did a great job with her and was able to come to shootaround this morning and looked good and then worked on it again today. She is a tough kid, and I'm sure it hurt, and she played through it anyway.”