Bring It, Baylor: Huskies Face Biggest Test of Season

Time to Bear Down: Huskies Ready for Baylor

The Story: The much-anticipated matchup between two of the best freshmen in the country was interrupted on Saturday by Aaliyah Edwards, who one-upped Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark as the No. 1 seed UConn women advanced to the Elite Eight with a 92-72 win over No. 5 seed Iowa. They’ll play No. 2 seed Baylor tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

WHAT’D SHE DO? Dazzle us. Entertain us. And inflict pain upon her opponents. Seriously, Edwards was dominant, scoring 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting in the win. But her impact went far beyond the stat sheet, which is how we’re going to explain away her three rebounds. The biggest thing is that she did the dirty work in the paint, battling Iowa’s Monika Czinano and freeing Olivia Nelson-Ododa to get more touches in the high post, which is where she prefers to play. (Nelson-Ododa, for her part, finished with 11 rebounds and seven assists, even if she only scored four points.) Edwards is now shooting, get this, 84.6 percent in her three NCAA Tournament games as she has missed only four of her 26 shots. We’ve been on the Edwards train since the fall, and we’re not ashamed to admit it. It’s time for everyone else to climb aboard.

HOW ABOUT WILLIAMS? We can’t forget Christyn Williams, who is looking like a woman possessed as the tournament rolls on. Ever since she laid a few mid-February eggs, Williams has been on a tear, rattling off one dominant performance after another. She finished with 27 points on 12-of-23 shooting, but more importantly, she played the biggest role in containing Clark, who went 7-for-21 but still scored 21 points — but only two in the fourth quarter. Edwards said she was motivated by Geno Auriemma calling her “uncoachable,” and while he said he didn’t specifically recall that happening (though he didn’t rule it out), he’s pleased she has received the message.

AS FOR THE FRESHMEN … : We’ll call it a little bit of stage fright for Bueckers and Clark, who struggled early before hitting their strides, but at least their teammates delivered. Bueckers’ star shined brighter as she finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the win. Seriously, though, what a game. It was an excellent endorsement for women’s basketball, and it was even better that it was televised on ABC on a Saturday afternoon. More, please.

UP NEXT: The focus shifts quickly to No. 2 seed Baylor, which is one of the best teams in the country and has a legitimate shot to win the national championship. We’re not afraid to say it: This game scares us. The Huskies opened as 3.5-point favorites, and they’re going to have matchup problems galore between defensive maestro DiDi Richards, super sub DiJonai Carrington and, don’t forget, potential player of the year NaLyssa Smith. Baylor is a scary, scary team, especially because it will slow the game down to a halt and play lockdown defense. Coach Kim Mulkey challenges her players to hold teams under 40 percent shooting, and that’s a tall ask against UConn, but if anyone can do it, it’s the Lady Bears.

WHAT DID GENO SAY? “I think they were under-seeded. Explain to me how they’re a No. 2 seed. These things happen, I know, but I think they deserved to be a No. 1 seed if you look around the rest of the tournament. Not that any of the other No. 1 seeds, including us, don’t deserve it, but I think certainly Baylor is more than a No. 2 seed. How we ended up in the same region, that’s even more shocking.”

OUR TAKE: Watch the game. Seriously. This is appointment viewing. If you’re tired of all the blowouts, looking forward to some competition and hope to be entertained, fandom be damned, tune into ESPN tonight. It is going to be a close, tough game. The fingers are crossed.

Hurley Speaks About the Pain

The Story: The last 45 minutes of the season are still weighing on Dan Hurley. That will be the motivation going into next season with a roster very much in flux.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Hurley spoke to reporters on Friday in what is typically an end-of-season wrap. His takeaway? Everything was great until there were about five minutes left against Creighton in the Big East semifinals. From there? Things went south and culminated with a frustrating game against Maryland in the NCAA Tournament to end the season. The loss left a bitter taste in the mouths of James Bouknight and others.

SO WHAT’S UP WITH BOUK? Is Bouknight happy with how the season ended? No chance. Would Hurley like to have his 6-foot-4 shooting guard back for another season? Absolutely. But Hurley hasn’t heard his decision and right now, Bouknight’s camp is in evaluation mode. If, as expected, Bouknight is going to be a lottery pick — which is a top-14 pick — UConn’s coach doesn’t really see how he can stay.

WHAT ABOUT WHALEY AND POLLEY? Hurley said several things about his seniors that intrigued us. He said, once again, that Isaiah Whaley and Tyler Polley are welcome back for next year. Whaley was the Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Polley was the Big East Sixth Man of the Year. Unlike Josh Carlton and Brendan Adams, who have decided to transfer, they are more likely weighing professional options. We have been going off the assumption that Whaley, and possibly Polley, would be attractive candidates for overseas pro leagues. We love Whaley as a possible G League/two-way NBA player due to his versatility defensively and his improving jumper.

Here’s the thing they are weighing: Are there enough opportunities overseas and in the G League? COVID-19 has restricted the options of all pro players and we may see more players than usual competing for G League roster spots. Also, will there be a normal G League season next year? Everything trickles down from there in the pro universe and roster spots are going to be even more hard to lock down than usual. If a team has players with uncertain pro futures, why don’t they play a fifth year and bide their time? Both could transfer from UConn and play anywhere as grad transfers. Why would they, though? That doesn’t seem to be a smart move. Stay tuned.

Morning Reads

DRUMMOND TO LAKERS: We thought we might get a UConn reunion with Andre Drummond and Kemba Walker in Boston, but the two-time All-Star decided to sign with the Lakers after being bought out by Cleveland. (ESPN)

WSOC ON A HOT STREAK: The women’s soccer team won its third straight game, 1-0 over St. John’s on a second-half goal by Sonia Danyko-Kulchycky. (UConnHuskies.com)

BASEBALL TAKES SERIES VS URI: The baseball team took two of three against Rhode Island over the weekend. (The UConn Blog)

SOFTBALL WINS FIFTH BIG EAST GAME: The softball team finished a three-game sweep of Butler with a 1-0 win behind one hit over five innings from Peyton Kinney. (UConnHuskies.com)

FIELD HOCKEY ROLLS: Sophie Hamilton‘s two goals paced No 8 UConn to an 8-0 win over Quinnipiac. (UConnHuskies.com)

WLAX UNBEATEN IN CONFERENCE: The women’s lacrosse team had 10 players score in a 19-4 win over Butler on Sunday. The team is now 8-2, 4-0 in the conference. (UConnHuskies.com)