UConn survives scare from Syracuse
STORRS — UConn women’s basketball had been here before.
Its best defender fouled out early and sitting on the bench, and a small, pesky All-American guard exposing all of the Huskies’ weaknesses. The same scene that led to all five of UConn’s regular-season losses this year.
But this was different. The season was on the line. UConn’s record history in the NCAA Tournament was on the line.
With 29 seconds left and UConn’s lead down to six, Paige Bueckers found herself double-teamed on the wing. She looked to her right and passed to a wideopen KK Arnold in the corner.
The freshmen launched the dagger 3-pointer without hesitation. The ball rolled along the rim before falling in, saving UConn’s season.
In its most thrilling game this season, No. 3 seed UConn outlasted No. 6 Syracuse 72-64 to advance to an NCAA Tournament-record 30th straight Sweet 16. The Huskies will face No. 7 Duke this weekend in Portland, Oregon on Saturday at 8 p.m. (ESPN).
The Huskies’ last three second-round games in the NCAA Tournament all came down to the wire. This year was no different, except for the fact they had a healthy Bueckers.
Bueckers played the 2022 NCAA Tournament not quite 100 percent after a knee injury sidelined her that year for nearly 20 games. She spent all last season out recovering from an ACL injury. And after she watched UConn edge out Baylor in last year’s second round from the bench, she said she went to her car and cried.
On Monday, she finished with an NCAA Tournament career high of 32 points on 56 percent shooting along with 10 rebounds, six assists four steals and one block.
The biggest obstacle heading into Monday’s matchup was Syracuse star guard Dyaisha Fair. In all five of UConn’s regular season loses, a small, speedy guard got the best of its defense and collapsed the team’s poise.
But with the season on the line, Nika Mühl wasn’t going to let that happen — especially in her final game at Gampel Pavilion. The senior point guard’s only assignment of the night was to defend Fair. She didn’t care about setting the program’s all-time career assist record nor what the final score would look like. All she only wanted to slow down Fair.
Fair entered the game ranked No. 8 in country averaging 22.3 points per game and sat at No. 5 on the NCAA’s all-time career scoring list.
Mühl won the first half in the guards’ battle. She got up in Fair’s face during her every possession, throwing up her hands in front of every shot she took and reaching in for the ball in every dribble. Fair couldn’t escape Mühl, who followed her like a hawk stalking its prey. Mühl’s glaring stare focused solely on her. The two got physical as at one point Fair two-handed shoved Mühl to the floor during the second quarter, getting away with the no-call foul.
Mühl’s pestering paid off. At halftime, Fair had just two points and was 1of-7 from the floor.
But the All-American guard came alive in the second half.
Fair (20 points, six assists) scored nine in the third quarter and outplayed nearly everyone on the floor. When her shot was bad, she found an open teammate with ease. She was quicker than the Huskies and made them play down to her 5-foot-5 size, dancing between defenders inside the paint.