Too Early to Get Too Cocky
The Story: A seven-point win by the No. 2-ranked women’s basketball team over No. 23 USF yesterday sets up a meeting this afternoon against top-ranked South Carolina in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis, but the Huskies will need to eliminate several errors if they’re to dethrone the best team in the country.
FUDD’S RUCKUS: The Huskies won 60-53 on the strength of Azzi Fudd‘s 18 points in 27 minutes off the bench. Fudd, the freshman who was the top-ranked player in her recruiting class, only made shots from 3-point range, took just 2-pointer and shot 6-for-10.
• Fudd is a talented shooter — there’s a reason why nearly everyone described her as the next incarnation of Stephen Curry — but she has shown in her first three games a reluctance to do what she’s been brought in to do. She went just 2-for-9 from 3-point range in her first two games.
• If God ever gave anybody a better shooting stroke in the world, I don’t know who it is,” Geno Auriemma said. “So when I say, ‘Every time you touch it, shoot it,’ I don’t know that there’s a basketball player in the world that could misunderstand that, who could misconstrue what I’m talking about.”
“Every game so far, I have been overthinking, so today, my goal was to not overthink when I get the ball if a defender’s hands aren’t right in my face and just shoot,” Fudd said.Not only will Fudd need to get more in tune with the college game, she’ll have to earn her teammates’ trust. If she continues to make shots, they’ll learn to rely more upon her when she’s on the court — and when those minutes are easier to come by.
OUT OF SORTS: The Huskies didn’t look like the team we’re used to seeing yesterday afternoon. They allowed a lengthy run by their opponent, they didn’t get timely stops on defense and, as happens from time to time (but not often), they were outrebounded.
• USF, which often used a suffocating press and played physical inside, went on an 11-0 run over the final five minutes of the third quarter and took a three-point lead that ended when Paige Bueckers drilled a 3 at the horn.
• The Huskies were outrebounded 34-29, with Dorka Juhasz finishing with six rebounds in 12 minutes. It’s one thing for USF’s 6-foot-2 center, Shae Leverett, to grab eight rebounds, but for 6-foot forward Bethy Mununga to also grab eight and 5-foot-7 guard Elena Tsineke to finish with seven is a bit concerning.
• Bueckers was again fabulous as she finished with 21 points and seven assists in 38 minutes. Christyn Williams, who had a career-high 31 points in the win against Minnesota on Friday, had 10 points with five turnovers against USF, but nobody else, outside of Fudd, scored more than five points.
BIG TEST ON DECK: If the Huskies couldn’t handle the physicality of USF, how are they going to match up against the bigger, stronger Gamecocks? The game, which tips off at noon, will be on ESPN.
• Juhasz, who played big minutes during her time at Ohio State, will again be crucial off the bench — assuming she’s not moved into the starting lineup. Aaliyah Edwards did not score, only took three shots and had just three rebounds yesterday.
• To a broader point, UConn’s rotation, and how it manages its minutes, remains to be seen. Bueckers, Williams and Evina Westbrook have been asked to play darn near close to all 40 minutes in the last season-plus when the Huskies are in tight games. Will Geno find the ability to trust anyone besides Juhasz and Fudd against South Carolina?
• We all remember Aliyah Boston, South Carolina’s dominant 6-foot-5 center who is now a junior. But the Gamecocks also have Laeticia Amihere, a 6-foot-4 forward who had 18 points off the bench in the win over No. 9 Oregon yesterday, and Kamilla Cardoso, a 6-foot-7 center who’s playing 15.8 minutes a game. “I don’t know if we have [an answer to their height] this year,” Geno said. “We’ll have to find different ways.”
• UConn won 63-59 in overtime when the teams met last year and is 9-1 all time against South Carolina, with the only loss in 2020. They will also play in Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 27.
Hurley Has it Rolling
The Story: Dan Hurley has the Huskies rolling, as they are 4-0 after an 87-63 win over Binghamton on Saturday, are ranked in the top 25 and, on the recruiting trail, landed a top-30 recruit from Georgia.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Tyrese Martin led the Huskies with 15 points against Binghamton after their offense struggled in the opening minutes. They missed 13 of 14 shots to open the game. Adama Sanogo scored 12 points and Jordan Hawkins had 11. Still, despite those struggles, the Huskies managed 87 points and earned another big victory, this time by 24 points. UConn has beaten its first four opponents by 20 or more points for the first time since the 1998-99 season. UConn takes its perfect record to the Bahamas this week and will take on Auburn.
CASTLE IN THE SNOW: Stephon Castle is coming north. The 6-foot-6 guard chose the Huskies over Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Ohio State. Castle is a big guard who is said to be an excellent facilitator.
KARABAN COMING SOON? Alex Karaban, who signed with the Huskies earlier this month, is considering joining the Huskies next semester. An elite wing scorer and shooter, Karaban is dealing with a broken wrist and is unable to play for IMG Academy out of Florida. If he can enroll for the second semester, he can heal the wrist and get a head start on next season. That’s similar to what the Huskies are doing with Corey Floyd Jr., who is redshirting this season after he enrolled during the summer.
Morning Reads
• The football team fell 49-17 to UCF on Saturday and is entering the final week of its season, which will end with a home game against No. 19-ranked Houston. (Associated Press)
• The women’s volleyball team will head to the Big East tournament on a high note after it battled back after losing the first two games against Xavier to win in five on Friday. (UConnHuskies.com)
• Defensemen Ryan Wheeler and Jake Flynn scored in the second period as the men’s hockey team got a measure of revenge for their loss against No. 15-ranked UMass-Lowell on Saturday with a 2-1 win at home yesterday afternoon. (UConnHuskies.com)
• It was a winless weekend for the women’s hockey team, which lost to Providence in a shootout on Friday and then fell to Northeastern on Saturday afternoon. (UConnHuskies.com)
• Former UConn QB and Middletown native Tim Boyle, who transferred to Eastern Kentucky for his senior year, earned his first NFL start yesterday for the Lions in a 13-10 loss and, sadly, it did not go well. (MLive.com)
