Healthy Ducharme surprises Geno every day
Sidelined for four games with a head injury, UConn women’s basketball freshman Caroline Ducharme returned to the court about five minutes into the Huskies’ blowout victory at Xavier on Friday night.
It took 13 seconds for Ducharme to find the basket. She drove from the right side, pulled up and sank a jump shot. Not a hint of apprehension.
That’s the way it has been all season. Ducharme arrived somewhat overshadowed by uber-prospect Azzi Fudd, admitting she has a chip on her shoulder because she was somewhat under-recruited coming out of the Massachusetts prep school circuit.
She broke out of the shadows quickly. And when UConn was in need of a go-to scorer upon losing Paige Bueckers in December, Ducharme was willing and able to fill the role — she averaged over 16 points per game with Bueckers out.
The Huskies are embarking on the final four games of the season, integrating players into a lineup that’s been depleted all season. On Friday night, Ducharme and Olivia Nelson-Ododa (groin injury) returned and contributed in an 89-35 win.
Bueckers may be back before the regular season ends, creating an interesting dilemma for coach Geno Auriemma. Who sits? How does he distribute minutes with a roster full of high school All-Americans that runs deep?
This much seems clear: Ducharme will be scrapping for playing time.
“We keep saying it all the time,” Auriemma said. “Caroline, she surprises you every day. She’s an oldfashioned basketball player who makes an impact right away. You know, the first time she touched the ball, I think, she had a little pullup. And then she had two or three great possessions defensively where she came up with the ball, a couple
terrific passes right on the money.
“She’s just an all-around good basketball player, you know, and when we have her in the game, I feel like we’re not going to have any droughts scoring.”
Ducharme, 6-foot-2, came to UConn with a reputation as a gifted offensive player, especially from the perimeter. The Katie Lou Samuelson comp was out there.
But her game is diverse. Her defense has been strong, both on the perimeter and in the paint. She shows a willingness to drive to the hoop — remember her last-second layup to beat DePaul? — and she displays a toughness under the basket.
Not that her offensive gifts don’t jump out. Ducharme was 2 of 5 on 3-point attempts, including a shot from the arc that came after Fudd’s 3 midway through the second quarter.
The consecutive 3s ignited UConn’s 19-0 run to end the half that turned into a 37-0 run that left Xavier reeling. Ducharme — like Bueckers and Fudd — has displayed an ability to deflate opponents with shots at the most important moments.
Auriemma has been raving about her since training camp. Now he envisions Ducharme on the court with Fudd as UConn prepares for March.
“If you put her on one side, Azzi on the other, that’s a tough matchup for most for most teams,” Auriemma said.
Ducharme missed time after she was hit in the head and was experiencing headaches. Auriemma said she did not have a concussion, but UConn was cautious.
She practiced this week and UConn limited her time Friday. She had 11 points in 14 minutes
“We were trying to limit her ... I thought we did that,” Auriemma said. “And she made the most of it.”
Early in the season, her minutes were limited because she was just starting her college career. She played four, 12, three and six minutes in her first four games. She didn’t play in UConn’s loss to South Carolina.
It wasn’t until the victory over Notre Dame — when Bueckers was injured — that Ducharme exerted herself, with 14 points in 14 minutes. Now she’s an important cog for a team that could have a deep run in March.
Bueckers may be back before the end of the regular season. UConn has four games this week, starting with Georgetown on Sunday at the XL Center.
The final stretch will be a chance to shuffle the lineup and figure out which mix of players mesh and which don’t. Sounds great, but Auriemma understands that players need time to develop chemistry.
“When you have a lot of players and you want to play a lot of players, that’s all well and good but that really disrupts the flow of your offense,” Auriemma said. “Your offense flows really well when kids play together a long time. So if they’re out there four minutes and they’re out, four minutes and then they’re out, different combinations, four minutes and then they’re out, it’s tough to get any kind of a flow. So that might take some time for us to sort all that out.
“We have a lot of players that can put the ball in the basket, a lot of different ways. I thought they all showed that (Friday) ... The big thing going forward now, the rest of February, whatever is left of it this week, and then all of March obviously, however long we get to play in March, is you’ve got to be the same team every night. And every player has to show up and be the same every night . ... Caroline, we need that every night.”