The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Front and center
Defense, physical play helps Huskies dominate DePaul
STORRS — Two weeks ago, UConn women’s basketball was down to just six available players. The team was below the Big East minimum of healthy players and was forced to postpone its initially scheduled matchup against DePaul.
On Monday, the No. 5 Huskies had eight healthy players and used each one to easily defeat the Blue Demons 94-51 at Gampel Pavilion.
“They pay attention to what the game plan is; who has to be guarded which way and who doesn’t have to be guarded,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “When you challenge them, they respond.”
UConn (18-2, 11-0 Big East) had eight available players for the first time in over a week thanks to Ayanna Patterson’s return from concussion protocol. The freshman missed the last four games and returned to practice last week. The team is still waiting on the returns of Caroline Ducharme (concussion) and Azzi Fudd (right knee).
The Huskies also welcomed a new player to the team on Monday. Jana El Alfy, one of UConn’s 2023 recruits, enrolled a semester early and was present on the bench against DePaul. The 6-foot-4 center started classes on Monday after arriving from Egypt on Sunday. While El Alfy will participate in practices and travel with the team, she is not expected to play this season.
Junior Aaliyah Edwards led on Monday with her ninth doubledouble of the season with 23 points (10 of 13 from the floor) and 10 rebounds (also with four assists). Aubrey Griffin finished with her fourth double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
While Dorka Juhász and Lou Lopez Sénéchal had 19 and 20 points, respectively. Nika Mühl had 10 assists (her eighth game with double-digits). Patterson finished with six points and five rebounds.
“While there may not be a Diana (Taurasi), a Maya (Moore) or a Stewie (Breanna Stewart) here, this is still a UConn program that’s got some of the best players in the country playing for it,” DePaul head coach Doug Bruno said. “It’s one of those things where we tried to slug it out as long as we could. We just made too many mistakes in the first half.”
Despite the extended bench, Monday’s matchup was physical, chippy, and
messy.
The game started with DePaul’s Anaya Peoples tipping away Juhász’s pass to Mühl from the tipoff. Peoples sprinted down to catch up with the ball, but Mühl was immediately ready with a block to prevent DePaul (11-10, 4-6) from getting on the board first.
UConn’s defense kept it afloat in the first quarter.
Edwards and Juhász double-teamed DePaul power forward Aneesah Morrow, who was the Big East Freshman of the Year last season. UConn forced DePaul into five turnovers within a two-and-a-halfminute span.
While UConn finished the first period with 14 of its 27 points off DePaul’s nine turnovers, the Blue Demons weren’t backing down.
The Blue Demons rushed the Huskies’ offense as it had two turnovers in the first minute of the second quarter. UConn wasn’t able to build a 10-plus lead until 6:03 in the second.
Edwards remained on top of Morrow the whole half. The two forwards battled it out in the paint for rebounds and layups. The two got physical, yet Edwards remained calm and even put herself into crowded lanes to fight for rebounds.
“There isn’t anything that she hasn’t done since the season started,” Auriemma said about Edwards. “Today was just another example of it. In a lot of different ways. … There isn’t an aspect of the game where she’s not playing at an All-American level.”
Morrow appeared to have tripped Lopez Sénéchal
halfway through the second quarter and Edwards had to hold Lopez Sénéchal back.
But despite the physicality, the Huskies remained in control. UConn ended the half with an 8-0 run. DePaul made just one of its last 13 shots and was scoreless for over threeand-a-half minutes.
At halftime, UConn had led by as much as 17 and had outscored DePaul in the paint 24-6.
Morrow got called for her third foul less than two minutes into the third as guard Jorie Allen sat early with four fouls. Meanwhile, the Huskies opened the quarter on an 18-3 run, including 16 straight unanswered points to lead by 30.
“As a team, collectively, we just limited her touches and I think that we did a great job and then we turned their turnovers into transition points for us,” Edwards said. “I think we had a good team defense tonight . ... I take pride in my defense so to play against her was great and to help better myself individually.”
UConn outscored DePaul 27-13 in the third quarter.
Edwards and Juhász completely shut down DePaul’s frontcourt as they led UConn to outscore DePaul 58-18 in the paint. The Huskies outrebounded the Blue Demons 59-32. Morrow, the nation’s No. 4 leading scorer, led DePaul with 20 points (on 8 of 26 shooting) and 12 rebounds.
“They’ve got a really good connection. They’ve got really good chemistry. They’re both pretty good at finding each other,” Auriemma said about Edwards and Juhász. “… There’s been a lot of maturity on their part. They stay grounded. They don’t get too high, they don’t get too low.”
The Huskies will go on their last nonconference road trip this week when they face longtime foe Tennessee on Thursday (8 p.m./ ESPN) in Knoxville.