The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Huskies tame Hoyas
Williams enjoys a bounce-back performance with 19 points
UConn coach Geno Auriemma didn’t get the quick start he wanted.
Not that it mattered much, of course.
The second-ranked Huskies were a bit sloppy out of the gate Friday against Georgetown, their third game this week and fifth in 10 days. And while they never really kicked it into gear, they still had enough in the tank to beat the Hoyas in Washington, D.C., 64-40.
Christyn Williams was a catalyst in the win. The junior guard had 13 points in the first half — she came in with just six points over her last two games, including a goose egg Wednesday against Seton Hall — and finished with 19.
“It felt really good,” Williams said. “It felt good just to see the ball go in. I’ve really been struggling a bit shooting the ball, just getting into a good groove.”
Williams was far more aggressive than she had been during her recent slump. It certainly didn’t hurt that Georgetown’s zone afforded her plenty of open looks. She matched a season high with 19 field goal attempts, making eight. She also had seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
“I just took the opportunities. I was wide open. I
just shot it,” Williams said. “I feel like in the other games I was just really passive, just not very confident in myself.
“I just went into this game telling myself, ‘Here we go.’ ”
Freshman Paige Bueckers narrowly missed her seventh straight 20-point game, matching Williams with 19. Aubrey Griffin scored seven off the bench.
After a busy week, the Huskies can now catch up on some rest before their next game — Wednesday at St. John’s. They’re expected to be ranked No. 1 when the new AP poll is released at the beginning of the week.
“Hopefully we can have two days off now — Saturday and Sunday — and then two days before we play St. John’s to kind of get back into what seems like a normal college basketball routine,” Auriemma said.
Auriemma said the Huskies’ recent stretch was difficult, not just physically but emotionally as well.
And it showed. The first quarter was sloppy, with UConn turning it over seven times and only outscoring Georgetown 14-13.
But UConn started to assert itself in the second. An 11-0 run stretched the Huskies’ lead to 24-17, and they went into halftime up 29-21.
“Until people other than Paige start shooting high percentages, then it’s going to be slow (starts),” Auriemma said. “We have to work really, really hard to get open shots.”
Bueckers fought through a sore ankle to shoot 6 of 10 from the floor, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. She contributed nine assists.
Kelsey Ransom led Georgetown (1-10) with 15 points.