New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Huskies look to weather absences, Red Storm
The UConn women’s basketball team is 1-1 since losing Christyn Williams to COVID-19 protocols last weekend.
The No. 9-ranked Huskies face St. John’s Sunday at 1 p.m. in New York in what will likely be their final game without the senior as she returns from protocol next week.
The Huskies are 42-17 all-time over St. John’s with their last loss to the Red Storm coming in February 2012 (UConn’s last loss to an unranked team before falling to Georgia Tech in December). In UConn’s return to the Big East last season, the Huskies went 3-0 against St. John’s, beating the Red Storm twice in the regular season and again in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.
“Hopefully that will help us in our ability to understand that this is just another game and that we got to go out there and compete,” St. John’s coach Joe Tartamella said. “There were a couple teams last year that we didn’t even play (because of COVID-19).
“When you don’t get that real, core experience of what it feels like to play against them, whether it be defensively in how they guard you, even offensively, their flow and the way they play, you’re not as comfortable. So hopefully that will help us this year as we meet up with them for the first time.”
Tartamella took over the helm of the Red Storm program in April 2012 after spending the previous 10 years as an assistant under former head coach Kim Barnes Arico. He is currently two wins away (175) from passing Arico as the program’s all-time winningest coach.
With UConn returning to
the conference last year, Tartamella said the league has gotten more national exposure despite the increase in competition among programs.
“It was kinda just back to normal in some ways for me,” he said about the Huskies’ return. “On the downside, obviously you’re adding a top-5 team in the country, if not the best. Which certainly, makes it more difficult in some ways too. But I think overall for strength of the league, the ability to have Geno (Auriemma) back in there and have a team that is obviously going to have exposure nationally and play teams out of conference to strength our RPI, I think all those things were a positive as a whole.
“Of course, as a coach it’s always great to have a challenge even though it’s a tall task. I think everybody in the league was probably pretty pleased that they came in with also knowing the challenge that was going to be ahead of us.”
While Sunday might be the Huskies’ last game without Williams, UConn is still without specific timelines for the returns of freshman Azzi Fudd and sophomore Paige Bueckers. Auriemma said Fudd (foot) is back to working out individually on the court but has yet to join the team for practice. Meanwhile, Bueckers isn’t expected to return until sometime next month.
After facing Bueckers three times last season, Tartamella compared watching her play live to watching some of UConn’s former all-time greats who he coached against as an assistant with the Red Storm.
“I’ve seen a number of players who have been there. But I probably haven’t seen a freshman have to be able to do the things she needed to do for her team to be successful as far as how much was on her shoulders. It was really impressive to watch her be able to do that,” He recalls. “I’ve seen Maya Moore, I’ve seen (Diana) Taurasi, (Sue) Bird all those guys, so she’s as good as probably those guys that I’ve seen in person. Just an impressive kid, confident, runs her team. To be a freshman and to be able to lead the way she did was impressive.”
St. John’s (5-11, 1-5) is led by junior guard Leilani Correa, who is averaging 20.4 points per game. The 2020 Big East Sixth-Woman of the Year was named an
All-Big East First Team Selection last season. She is the only player in St. John’s history to record 30 or more points at least eight times in a single season, including three in a row.
“She’s shot the ball extremely well this year compared to probably her first two years,” Tartamella said. “She’s also probably in the best shape she’s been in too, physically feels good about where she is there. Mentally, I think same thing. She’s just a gifted scorer and I think her ability to make shots on the outside has opened up everything else for her in the game. She’s obviously a big part to what we do and obviously an All-Big East player for a reason.”
The Red Storm enter Sunday’s matchup on a seven-game losing streak with its last victory being a 83-70 win over La Salle. St. John’s lone conference win was against Seton Hall, 88-75, on Dec. 5.