The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Depleted Huskies return to Mohegan
No. 6 Louisville next test for UConn squad
The last time UConn played at Mohegan Sun Arena; it won the 2021 Big East Tournament title.
Then-freshman Paige Bueckers led the Huskies with 23 points to earn the program’s 19th Big East Tournament championship in its first season back in the conference since 2013.
But UConn looks completely different now than it did in Uncasville 285 days ago.
For starters, Bueckers is out for the next weeks after having surgery Monday to repair a tibial plateau fracture and a torn meniscus. Sophomore Nika Mühl, who started in UConn’s Big East Tournament championship game against Marquette, is out with a right foot injury and not expected to make a return until after Christmas.
While the Huskies lost Anna Makurat, Mir McLean and Saylor Poffenbarger to the transfer portal — all three of whom played in the championship game — the team welcomed newcomers Azzi Fudd, Amari DeBerry, Caroline Ducharme and Dorka Juhász. However, Fudd is also out with a right foot injury and joins Mühl in likely not returning until after next week’s holiday break.
“It’s been a lot,” coach Geno Auriemma told media Friday after practice. “It’s been overwhelming because it’s not just Paige. Because if it was just Paige and we had Azzi and Nika, that’s two guards that can take a lot of the pressure off the guards we already have. But it’s three guards, so the overwhelming enormity of it is what’s got them down. That there’s no relief. … The reality is going to sink in little by little that this is it, this is what we’ve got.”
UConn (6-2) returns to Mohegan Sun on Sunday to face No. 6 Louisville (9-1) in the Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase (3:30 p.m. on ESPN). The matchup was originally scheduled for this past
December, but UConn had to pull out due to COVID-19 protocols. Louisville played DePaul in place of UConn last year, defeating the Blue Demons 116-75 for the Cardinals’ highest-scoring game in program history.
This year’s Women’s Showcase will also feature a matchup between No. 5 Baylor and No. 13 Michigan (1 p.m. on ESPN).
Sunday will be the Huskies’ third game without Bueckers, Fudd and Mühl, leaving the team just three available guards.
While UConn’s first game with its depleted backcourt ended in a loss at Georgia Tech, the Huskies were able to find better organization two days later in a win over UCLA in Newark. Senior Evina Westbrook stepped up in Bueckers’ place as point guard, while Juhász dominated the glass and Ducharme earned her first collegiate start.
The Huskies finished their first week of full practice without Bueckers on Friday as they continue to adjust to life on the court without last year’s national player of the year.
“I don’t think it comes right away. I don’t think it’s something that immediately shows itself. If it did, we wouldn’t have looked so bad in that Georgia Tech game, would we?” Auriemma said of his team’s new adjustment. “The real test will come after we’ve played a couple games. There was a huge improvement in the UCLA game from the Georgia Tech game. … I think little by little they’ll start to get a feel for what the new normal is for a while.”
Louisville will test UConn’s new adjustments and its limited bench Sunday as the Cardinals have a deep roster featuring eight guards. Seven of the Cardinals’ backcourt players are averaging 12 minutes or more per game, led by Kianna Smith with 12.3 points per game.
The Cardinals also boast a defensive weapon in Emily Engstler, who is No. 21 in the country with 7.1 defensive boards per game. She averages 9.1 total rebounds per game and leads the team with 26 steals and 18 blocks. The senior forward has helped lead Louisville in scoring defense as the team is ranked fourth in the country in the category, allowing opponents just 46.7 points per game.
On Sunday, Auriemma will likely use the same lineup (Evina Westbrook, Christyn Williams, Juhász, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Ducharme) as he did against UCLA. Westbrook will most likely resume floor general responsibilities for the Huskies after leading UConn with 17 points and seven assists against the Bruins.
“I feel super comfortable,” Westbrook said of the new role. “I played the 1 my first years at Tennessee and was 1 before that. But I think (with) my team there’s just a sense of calmness when they know I’m bringing it up, but I told Christyn and Carol (Ducharme), like, y’all gotta bring it up too. Just being out there and obviously having three guards is difficult, but it’s the cards we got dealt and we’re gonna deal with it.”
UConn will look to break Louisville’s nine-game winning streak and go into the team’s holiday break with lifted spirits knowing come its next game (Dec. 29 vs. Marquette), the team will likely have two of its four injured players back.