New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Setting the pace
UConn holds off Villanova, extends lead in Big East
VILLANOVA, Pa. — The UConn women’s basketball team entered Saturday’s matchup at Villanova with two losses in its last four games, all of which were wire-to-wire close matchups.
On Saturday, it was no different.
The No. 6 Huskies defeated No. 14 Villanova 60-51 in front of a sold-out crowd at Finneran Pavilion. Despite the Wildcats cutting UConn’s once double-digit lead down to a onepossession game, the Huskies were able to slow down Big East star Maddy Siegrist and finish the game on top. It gave UConn a two-win edge over the Wildcats atop the Big East standings. Both teams have three regular-season games left before the conference tournament next month at Mohegan Sun Arena.
UConn’s win also maintained its streak of 10 years without losing two conference regular-season games. The Huskies’ final three games are against St. John’s, DePaul and Xavier.
The Huskies held Villanova (23-5, 14-3 Big East) to a seasonlow 25 rebounds and kept Siegrist without an offensive rebound. Despite giving up 16 points off 22 turnovers, UConn (24-4, 16-1) outrebounded the Wildcats 47-25.
Lou Lopez Sénécahl led all players with 22 points followed by Siegrist with 21. Both Aaliyah Edwards (13 points, 14 rebounds) and Dorka Juhász (14 points, 10 rebounds) recorded their respective 10th doubledoubles of the year. Nika Mühl finished with eight assists.
After beating Creighton 6260 on Wednesday and Villanova on Saturday, the Huskies concluded their toughest stretch of conference opponents thanks to their grit and toughness. Plus, the team had nine available players with the return of Caroline Ducharme for the first time since Dec. 21. While they have nine bodies
available, the Huskies aren’t yet 100% healthy. Ducharme is still suffering symptoms after missing over a month due to a concussion and Juhász played 35.5 minutes Saturday after spraining her ankle in practice on Friday.
The Huskies also continue to struggle with both foul and turnover trouble. Both Mühl and Lopez Sénéchal entered Saturday’s fourth quarter with three fouls each.
Geno Auriemma said he kept Mühl (who recorded all three fouls by halfway in the second quarter) in the game to help her learn how to stay poised while playing a tight game in foul trouble.
Both her and Lopez Sénéchal remained calm.
Lopez Sénéchal opened the fourth quarter with a pair of free throws. A little less than a minute later Mühl assisted the grad transfer on a 3-pointer atop the arc to give UConn its first doubledigit lead of the game.
After extending its lead to 12, Lopez Sénéchal was called for her fourth foul at 6:38. The Wildcats took advantage and went on a 10-0 run to close the deficit to two with less than four minutes remaining after Ducharme took a seat on the bench after getting hit in the face. UConn suffered a fourminute scoring drought with four turnovers during that span.
Siegrist made one of two free throws to make it a one-possession game after Edwards was called for her third personal foul and Mühl got called for her fourth.
Lopez Sénéchal sparked UConn’s turnaround with a jumper
with 1:02 left in the game to put UConn up by five. The Wildcats couldn’t make a move and missed their next three shots to seal UConn’s win. The Huskies ended the game on an 8-1 run thanks to four points from the foul line.
UConn’s turnover trouble started immediately on Saturday with backto-back turnovers within the game’s first minute.
The Huskies led by as much as nine in the first quarter and shot 64% from the floor compared to Villanova’s 44%. However, the Wildcats began to claw their way back and immediately began their full-court press to
start the second quarter.
The physicality was too much for UConn, which had four turnovers in the first two minutes of the quarter. With five minutes left of the half, the Huskies had 10 turnovers and Lopez Sénéchal had joined Mühl in foul trouble.
UConn led for nearly 16 minutes before a 3-pointer from Maddie Burke tied the game with a 6-0 Villanova run.
Despite heading into halftime with a two-point lead, the Huskies shot just 3 of 14 in the second quarter.
Siegrist tied the game again halfway through the third quarter with a layup. Both teams struggled to get shots to fall in third. With 3:36 remaining in the quarter, the Huskies were 2 of 6 while Villanova was 3 of 10.
Ducharme (who returned from a concussion on Wednesday) was UConn’s lone sub off the bench Saturday. She played nine minutes of the second quarter, six minutes of the third and seven in the fourth. She finished the game with six points and six rebounds.
The Huskies return home to Connecticut and will play their final game at the XL Center this season on Tuesday when St. John’s comes to Hartford (7 p.m. / SNY).