Ducharme returns to floor, performs 4th-quarter rescue
STORRS — The Uconn women’s basketball team was down six points to Creighton with around three minutes left in Wednesday night’s matchup, at risk of dropping the third game in four outings.
Caroline Ducharme wasn’t letting that happen. The sophomore guard drove into the paint with determination, used an up-and-under move to create some space and scored the and-one layup, completing the three-point play and fouling out one of the best opposing players, Rachael Saunders, in the process.
Back on the court for the first time since Dec. 31 after sitting out the last 13 games with a concussion, Ducharme had a phenomenal fourth quarter to lead the No. 6 Huskies to a 62-60 victory at Gampel Pavilion.
Uconn (23-4, 15-1 Big East) trailed by 11 points early in the fourth. Ducharme went on to score 10 of the Huskies points, including the game-winning free throws, as they outscored the Bluejays 23-12 in the final frame.
“She’s just one tough individual,” Uconn head coach Geno Auriemma said. “When the pressure is on and when it’s most important, she finds a way to make a play. Some kids will dribble and pick it up because they don’t know where they’re going, or they’ll go in the lane and throw some nonsense up. She knows exactly what she’s doing, where she’s going and how to get in there and how to get fouled.”
Lou Lopez Sénéchal led the Huskies with 17 points. Aaliyah Edwards had 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Dorka Juhász had 10 points, seven points and seven assists. Ducharme had 10 points and two rebounds in 20 minutes played off the bench.
Uconn shot 37.9% (22 of 58) from the field — its second lowest mark in a game this season — and 30% (6 of 20) from deep. Though the Huskies didn’t have a great shooting night, they only committed seven turnovers, which is their fewest in any game this year. Creighton also shot 37.9% (22 of 58) from the floor, but made 12 3-pointers on a 36.4% clip.
Ducharme first subbed into the game with 1:43 left in the first quarter, met by loud cheers from the home crowd.
“She’s back just in time,” Auriemma said. “It’s a great Valentine’s Day gift.”
The Huskies held a narrow 19-18 lead over the Bluejays at the end of a back-and-forth first quarter. Creighton shot 4 of 10 (40%) from deep in the opening frame after going 3 of 28 (10.7%) the last time these teams faced, a 72-47 win for Uconn on Dec. 28.
With under six minutes left in the second quarter Aubrey Griffin caught the ball at the top of the key and saw the 3-point look wasn’t there. She passed it off to Edwards and made a beautiful cut into the paint to score a layup. That bucket was part of an 11-0 run for Uconn while holding Creighton scoreless for five and half minutes.
With free throws from Edwards to cap the run off, the Huskies led 30-21 with 3:34 left in the second. But they went scoreless from the field for the rest of the quarter while allowing two triples to the Bluejays. They led 31-29 at the break.
Having Ducharme available made a noticeable difference as Uconn’s coaching staff had a lot more room for substitutions to give players rest. Nika Mühl was the only Husky to not get any time on the bench in the first half.
Creighton came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders to regain the lead. The Bluejays went on an 8-0 run in less than two minutes behind two 3-pointers and a layup to go up 37-31 — their largest advantage of the night thus far — and force a Uconn timeout.
Morgan Maly hit another triple for Creighton shortly after to extend the run and lead to nine points. The Huskies went scoreless for five minutes, with many of their shots rolling in and out of the rim. That is until Juhász drained a 3-pointer with 4:59 left, at which point Uconn trailed 40-34.
Uconn couldn’t get much more offense going from there, however. Lopez Sénéchal was the only other to Husky to score in the quarter, coming up with an and-one play and a layup in the final minutes.
The Huskies were outscored 19-8 while only shooting 20% from the field in the third and were down 48-39 entering the final quarter.
Creighton extended its lead to 11 off a jumper from Saunders less than 30 seconds into the fourth.