Huskies’ guard is up
Slowing Syracuse standout Fair focus of UConn’s gameplan
STORRS — UConn women’s basketball’s common failure in each of its five losses this season? Letting an opponent’s star guard get around the Huskies’ defense and score at will.
Players that are quick, smart and nimble have caused UConn the most trouble. Talented guards who quickly find the holes in UConn’s defense and outwork their traps and screens. Their scoring ability so good, that it deflates the Huskies’ confidence and brings in a rush of frustration that often ends in foul trouble and bad losses.
That’s what UConn is facing in Monday’s second round of the NCAA Tournament. The No. 3 seeded Huskies host No. 6 Syracuse and its All-American guard Dyaisha Fair (6 p.m. on ESPN) at Gampel Pavilion. With a trip to the Sweet 16 in Portland, Ore. on the line, will the Huskies learn from past mistakes and keep their season alive?
“When I saw they were in our bracket, I wasn’t too pleased,” Huskies’ head coach Geno Auriemma said of the Orange.
Monday will be UConn and Syracuse’s fourth meeting in the NCAA Tournament, including their third time meeting in the second round. The former Big East conference foes last met officially in the 2021 Second Round yet faced each other in a secret preseason scrimmage in October.
But UConn looks much different now than it did in the fall. It no longer has depth in the frontcourt and two of its strongest guards (Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme) are out with season-ending injuries.
The lack of bodies inside the paint combined with the lack of experienced defenders has created a large hole in the Huskies’ defense when it comes to containing talented guards.
The Huskies dropped their second game of the season at unranked NC State on Nov. 12, losing 92-81. Saniya Rivers, a 6
foot-1 junior guard, scored 33 points (on 11-of-19 shooting) along with 10 rebounds. UConn watched as she drove into the lane again and again and again, weaving between efenders as if the Huskies’ feet were glued to the ground.
Then came UConn’s trip to the Cayman Islands. The Huskies lost to No. 2 UCLA, 78-67, in its first game without both Fudd and Ducharme. Sophomore guard Kiki Rice shot 60 percent from the floor and continually found open space down low to sneak in and grab rebounds. She finished with 24 points, 11 boards and eight assists. Rice and senior guard Charisma Osborne combined for 42 points and took 31 of UCLA’s 59 shots.
At Texas on Dec. 3, Longhorns’ point guard Rori Harmon scored 27 points and recorded 13 assists against the Huskies. The Huskies’ lack of size wasn’t even a factor against 5-6 Harmon, who exhausted the Huskies’ defense by forcing them to keep with her speed.
Notre Dame freshmen Hannah Hildago was the best player on the floor when UConn lost to its longtime rival, 82-67. Hildago scored 34 with 10 rebounds and six assists.
And South Carolina’s point guard Te-Hina Paopao scored 21 in the Gamecocks’ blowout win over the Huskies in Columbia in early February.
Fair will be no different. “She’s our focus in the scout,” Paige Bueckers said. “I feel like she’s underappreciated countrywide in the media. She’s not talked about enough. She’s a great player, great scorer. … Her off-the-dribble moves and ability to just get into the paint whenever she wants. Create off the dribble, get herself open, get her teammates open and she’s capable of going off for 40 points on any given night. So, she provides a lot to worry about on defense.”
The 5-5 Third Team AllAmerican
guard is one of the best scorers in the country. She’s quick on her feet and has prime court vision, knowing exactly what the next play needs a few seconds before it all occurs. Fair is No. 8 in the country with 22.3 points per game and No. 9 with 692 total points.
Even more impressive, the fifth-year senior is currently No. 5 on the NCAA all-time career scoring list for women’s basketball. Fair enters Monday’s game with 3,383 points and is just 11 away from taking over the No. 4 spot from Jackie Stiles (2001). Kelsey Mitchell is No. 3 with 3,402 points. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is No. 1 with 3,798 points and counting.
“I think with me, with the type of player that I am, you don’t know what you’re gonna get,” Fair said. “You don’t know what decision I’m gonna make. And it’s kinda hard for teams to really scout that defensively because it’s hard to do.”
Fair, who earned ThirdTeam All-American honors from both the AP and the USBWA this season, transferred to Syracuse after three years at Buffalo, following then-Bulls head coach Jackie LegetteJack — who was hired by the Orange in March 2022.
“I know what I’m capable of doing,” Fair said. “So what they do versus whoever has nothing to do with me. I feel like I’m gonna do what I do best and that’s be D and being me is what has gotten this program where we are this season. And when I’m able to just be in my element and just do what I’m capable of doing, it’s hard to stop.”
The Huskies know they can’t completely shutdown Fair. She’s too good. All they can do is slow her down and limit her options.
That means closing in on the paint to prevent her from driving to the hoop, being extremely vocal on defense to call out screens and having everyone step up and defend. Fair knows when to kick the ball out to her teammates when she’s not open. Every Husky will need to be alert guarding their assignments.
“Those are the toughest players to guard, who have multiple things in their bag that they can go to any point in time,” Bueckers said.
It also means not letting any frustration build up into fouling. With just eight available players, UConn can’t afford any of its key defenders to get into
early foul trouble.
That’s what happened with Hildago. Nika Mühl, UConn’s best defender, fouled out early in the fourth quarter and left the Huskies without any confidence nor cohesion.
UConn will need to focus on clean, smothering defense on top of continuing its offense momentum on the other end.
“Sometimes one player can beat you. One player can be that dominant,” Auriemma said. “I think she (Fair) is that dominant and I don’t think one player on our team is gonna be able to do it by herself . ... I don’t know that you can just go out and take somebody out of the game that’s that good. On the other end, you’ve got to score and you’ve got to continually score. We know she’s gonna score, and we hope we’re gonna score.”
UConn is looking to advance to its record 30thstraight Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, the Orange are looking to make the regional for the first time since 2016.
No. 7 Duke upset No. 2 Ohio State in Sunday’s second round. Whoever wins Monday night will face the Blue Devils in Portland for a chance to play in the Elite Eight.