The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
UConn routs Toronto Metropolitan in Canada
TORONTO — The UConn women’s basketball team stood in line on the court during the singing of “O Canada” and all but one player stood motionless.
Senior forward and Kingston, Ontario, native Aaliyah Edwards stood starring at the Canadian flag hung high inside Mattamy Athletic Centre (the old Maple Leaf Gardens) and mouthed along the words to her home country’s national anthem.
Wednesday’s game against Toronto Metropolitan was purely for her.
“It was a cool moment for me because I’m used to standing on the line listening to the national anthem of the United States of America,” Edwards said. “But it was a surreal moment because whenever I’m at home, I always sing it. So (being) hand in hand with my teammates, it was just a good moment to cherish.”
To celebrate the senior and all she’s done for the program, the No. 17 Huskies traveled to Toronto to play in a game that won’t have any effect on their NET ranking/postseason standing. The score of the 111-34 blowout win almost irrelevant: UConn will count the stats toward its overall records, but TMU (which plays in Canada’s U Sports league) will record the game as an exhibition.
The most important outcome of the game was something even bigger than Edwards — showcasing women’s basketball to a country that’s still developing its own presence within the sport.
“I hope it leaves a big impact on just women’s basketball in Canada,” Edwards said. “I know a lot of people were there to support either myself or of UConn, but I would just encourage anybody just to go watch their local team, just women’s basketball in general and Canada . ... I