The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
UConn tops Georgetown, gets back in win column
UConn women's basketball redshirt junior Aubrey Griffin felt the ball hit her backside and immediately turned around.
Georgetown's Kelsey Ransom had purposefully inbounded the ball by throwing it at Griffin's backside in hopes the ball would bounce off Griffin and land near the hoop for her to pick up and score.
But Griffin was quick to catch on to Ransom's plan.
She sprinted toward Ransom and jumped up just in time to block her shot. Griffin grabbed the defensive rebound and ran down the court only to get fouled on her way toward the basket. It was her two free throws with 16 seconds left that sealed UConn's win and saved it from another 30-year streak — the last time the Huskies lost threestraight games was in February 1993.
After losing back-toback games earlier this week for the first time since March 1993, the No. 4 Huskies defeated Georgetown 67-59 Saturday night at the Entertainment & Sports Arena to get back in the win column.
But the game nearly got out of hand. Thanks to UConn's early foul and turnover trouble, the Hoyas were able to shave down a once-16-point UConn lead to four in the game's final 30 seconds.
“We just shot ourselves in the foot so much, you know, like, we can't afford to do that,” Geno Auriemma told SNY after the game. “But that block from Aubrey was just unbelievable, right? And, you know, somehow, someway we were able to just hang in there and get through it, but it wasn't easy by any stretch.”
Dorka Juhász led with her 10th double-double of the season with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Griffin followed with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists and was 8 of 8 from the foul line.
Nika Mühl finished with 10 points and four assists to tie herself with former Husky great Diana Taurasi (2001-02) at No. 4 on UConn's all-time single-season assist record list with 208 on the year. Aaliyah Edwards added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Unlike UConn's last two games, Auriemma was forced to utilize his bench earlier than normal Saturday after the Huskies fell into both foul and turnover trouble.
The Huskies were down by seven early to the Hoyas as Lou Lopez Sénéchal had two fouls less than five minutes in. Georgetown opened the game with an 8-1 lead and kept the Huskies without a field goal for four minutes.
UConn shot 4 of 14 in the first quarter yet was able to get as close as two to the Hoyas.
Auriemma started freshman Ayanna Patterson in place of Aaliyah Edwards in the second quarter. However, with Lopez Sénéchal getting her third foul at 8:40 in the second, Edwards' rest was limited.
“The way our team is constructed right now is that we have all five players that we put on the floor have to play really well every night in order for us to have the kind of success that we've had leading up to these (three) games,” Auriemma said. “... So taking Lou out of the lineup pretty much, we were already struggling, now it's really really difficult.”
Patterson was immediately effective for UConn, grabbing down four rebounds in four minutes.
A steal-and-score from Edwards got UConn back on top of the Hoyas at 6:19 in the second quarter. Mühl followed with a 3pointer before another layup from Edwards capped a 9-0 UConn run.
But turnovers began to pile up. The Huskies were scoreless for the half 's final two and a half minutes and had three turnovers in that span. At halftime, while UConn led on the board 23-7, it already had 12 turnovers.
Despite starting the third with a turnover on its first possession, UConn came out of intermission in full control of the momentum. The Hoyas called timeout less than two minutes into the quarter after a 4-0 UConn run put them behind by seven.
Juhász had six of the Huskies' first eight points of the third quarter and was the team's first player in double figures.
The Hoyas got as close as three to UConn after Lopez Sénéchal was called for her fourth foul halfway through the quarter. However, an 11-0 UConn run got the team back comfortably on top and kept Georgetown scoreless for over four and a half minutes.
But that's when the Huskies' energy began to run dry and fatigue started to set in.
Mühl injured her left ankle at around the 4minute mark of the fourth quarter. The point guard was able to walk off the court on her own power but appeared to be slightly limping as she took a seat on the bench. After readjusting her ankle brace and shoe, Mühl checked back into the game less than a minute later.
Lopez Sénéchal (who finished with five points for just her second game this season scoring in single figures) fouled out with 2:40 left in the game. The Huskies went nearly seven minutes without a field goal as Georgetown got within four with less than 30 seconds left.
Thanks to two free throws from Edwards and Griffin each, and Griffin's block, the Huskies were able to end the game up by eight.
UConn led by as much as 16 and beat Georgetown on the boards 43-23. However, the Huskies finished with 23 turnovers for their third game out of the last four with 19 or more. Edwards ended with a teamhigh eight turnovers.
“I can't explain it. I really can't,” Auriemma said. “The things that are just really hard to deal with, to explain, to live with is the mental and the errors that we make . ... When (the game) ended, it would have been easy for us to come out on the wrong side, given the way things played out today. And you know, even when we got up like 15 or 16, it never seemed safe, you know. Nothing ever seems safe anymore.
“But we got a stop when we needed to get a stop, a bucket when we needed a bucket and some free throws when we needed it. And finding a way to win sometimes is just as valuable as, you know, having somebody that can make shots.”
The Huskies return to Connecticut to play Creighton on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (SNY) at Gampel Pavilion.