WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY
DEPAUL AT NO. 9 UCONN
When: Saturday at 2 p.m.
Where: Gampel Pavilion
Records: UConn (15-3, 7-0 Big East) DePaul (10-9, 2-4)
TV: SNY
Radio: UConn Sports Network, WAVZ-New Haven (1300 AM), WGCH- Greenwich (1490 AM), WATR-Waterbury (1320 AM), WICH-Norwich (1310 AM, 94.5 FM), WILI-Willimantic (1400 AM, 95.3 FM), Fox Sports 97.9 FM Hartford, SiriusXM-983, SXM App 973
KEEP AN EYE ON
Packing the Pavilion: UConn women’s basketball’s first Gampel Pavilion game of 2024 will be in front of a sold-out crowd against one of its most recent Big East foes.
The No. 9-ranked Huskies host DePaul Saturday at 2 p.m. in Storrs for UConn’s second home game out of its last six games.
While the Blue Demons have taken UConn to the wire in Chicago in each of the last few seasons, the Huskies have made quick work of Doug Bruno’s squad when playing in Connecticut. UConn will look to do the same on Saturday and extend its lead atop the Big East.
Similar to Seton Hall, DePaul also lost its star player to the transfer portal during the offseason. Forward Aneesah Morrow left Chicago and transferred to LSU for her final two years of eligibility.
On the flip side of the portal, Bruno, who has coached the Blue Demons for the past 36 years, brought in three new players, including 6foot-3 graduate student forward Brynn Masikewich and two guards from Michigan.
The 2023-24 season also marks the return of graduate guard Jade Edwards, who transferred to DePaul from American in the summer of 2022, but missed the majority of last season after suffering an ACL injury in early November. Edwards is a three-time All-Patriot League selection who led the Eagles as a senior in 2021-22 with 12.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
Like UConn, DePaul also plays with a small lineup and has more underclassmen than veterans on its roster. Graduate guard Anaya Peoples leads DePaul with 17.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
About DePaul: The Blue Demons were part of history this October when they traveled to Iowa City to face Iowa in a historic preseason exhibition game at Kinnick Stadium. Yes, a football stadium. While Iowa won 94-72, the game set a women’s basketball attendance record of 55,646 people as all proceeds went to charity.
DePaul lost three of its first six regular season games and is 0-3 against top-25 ranked opponents.
The Blue Demons won their first Big East game by defeating Xavier in Cincinnati, 76-55, on Dec. 20, yet lost their next four conference matchups. DePaul beat Xavier in Chicago, 79-47, on Tuesday.
Series history: The Huskies are 23-1 all-time against DePaul. The Blue Demons’ lone win over UConn was the teams’ first meeting back on Dec. 12, 1983, winning 70-64. While the two have had some close battles following the Huskies’ return to the Big East in Chicago, the Huskies have blown out the Blue Demons in each of their last two meetings in Storrs (winning by 24 points or more).