Paradise Lost: Huskies Struggle Against Gamecocks

Huskies Learn Importance of Big Rebound

The Story: The women’s basketball team learned what it’s going to take to compete at a national championship level yesterday afternoon when it lost 73-57 to top-ranked South Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis title game.

REBOUNDS NEEDED: The Huskies’ inability to grab rebounds was a major reason why they lost. South Carolina had the 42-25 advantage on the boards and outrebounded UConn 19-6 on the offensive glass. We knew South Carolina would actively rebound, but the difference in the teams was striking.

• Paige Bueckers matched Olivia Nelson-Ododa with a team-high five rebounds. Bueckers may be the best player in the country, but if she’s leading the Huskies in rebounding, something has gone awry.

• Aaliyah Edwards and Dorka Juhasz, who replaced Edwards for long stretches of the game, each had three rebounds. Edwards, who appeared lost in the first half and didn’t start the second, played 22 minutes. Juhasz, who also made a few confusing plays, was on the court for 19 minutes.

• South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, a 6-foot-5 junior center, had 22 points and 15 rebounds, including seven offensive rebounds, in what coach Dawn Staley called “a big-ass game.” As expected, she was a force. “It’s time for Aliyah Boston to be the dominant player she is,” Staley said.

• The Gamecocks scored 17 second-chance points off those 19 offensive rebounds. UConn had just two. It’s not like South Carolina wasn’t missing the basket: It shot 46.3 percent.

• Geno Auriemma said rebounding is “always fixable.” Although the Huskies don’t have a ton of size, their lack of rebounds generally appeared to come down to positioning and tenacity. Those two things can be coached.

PLAYING THEIR GAME: The Huskies held a 13-point lead at one point in the first half because they were able to force turnovers and score on the fast break. But when South Carolina locked down on defense, UConn struggled.

• The Huskies were up 28-15 with 7:57 left in the second quarter following an 8-1 run. The big reason they built that lead was because South Carolina’s Zia Cooke sat with two fouls, but once Staley gambled and put her back in, the Gamecocks were humming. (It was a worthwhile risk: Cooke didn’t pick up her third foul until the second half.)

• Bueckers scored the final 13 points, including all nine in overtime, when the Huskies beat South Carolina last year. It looked like the Huskies expected Bueckers, who finished with 19 points on 8-of-19 shooting, to bail them out late again. She couldn’t.

• “I don’t think she was any good today, to be honest with you,” Geno said. “I don’t know if whether she just got tired or worn down, but it wasn’t the same Paige that we’re used to seeing. … She just didn’t get enough help today. You’re really good when the other players around you are really good, and today, I don’t think we were at all.”

• UConn scored just three points in the fourth quarter and didn’t score in the last 5:01. South Carolina, meanwhile, went on a 19-3 run to close the game.

• The Huskies survived six turnovers in the first quarter because South Carolina was committing them, too. But they were not going to survive seven turnovers in the last quarter.

• Are there concerns about the Huskies’ ability to score in the halfcourt? It’s early, but it will surely be an area of focus.

DIFFICULT CHALLENGE: It wasn’t ideal that the Huskies started the season with a game against Arkansas, then headed to the Bahamas for three games in three days — including against two ranked teams.

• The Huskies won’t play a more challenging team until Jan. 27. That’s when they play South Carolina again — and they’ll be on the Gamecocks’ home court. Geno has said he coaches in November for March, but it sounds like he’ll be coaching in December and January for the Gamecocks. He’ll learn a lot from this one.

• Edwards was dominant at times last season, especially late, but she has looked out of sorts through the first four games of her sophomore year.

• Azzi Fudd didn’t make the slightest impact after she scored 18 points on Sunday against USF. She played 10 minutes and took one shot. Geno went to Mir McLean and Nika Muhl before Fudd as he searched for defense in the second half, and when she entered, she was a non-factor.

• Nelson-Ododa quietly had a solid game, especially in the first half, but she should be scoring more inside and playing more of a role on the boards. Her inability to do those things makes much of the fawning over her performance during the game a bit hollow.

• UConn has been without Aubrey Griffin as she recovers from a sprained ankle. Her length and defense would have been incredibly helpful against South Carolina.

• “The combination of their defensive pressure in the fourth quarter and our inability to handle that pressure is basically the game,” Auriemma said. “For 30 minutes, I thought we were really good. The last 10 minutes, they were better than us … defensively, offensively, rebounding the ball. They’re the better team than us right now. A little deeper.”

IT’S NOT ALL BAD NEWS: Even though they lost, the Huskies received a commitment after the game from Kamorea “KK” Arnold, a 5-foot-6 point guard from Germantown, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee. She is the No. 8 prospect in the Class of 2023 according to ESPN HoopGurlz and the first player in the junior class to commit to UConn.

• “I wanted to be a part of something great and something to build my game to the next level beyond college basketball, but also building my legacy in college basketball, too,” Arnold said.

• Arnold may have chosen the Huskies over nearly a dozen schools, including South Carolina, but it kind of looks like she had her heart set on UConn for several years, no?

UP NEXT: The Huskies will take a break off for Thanksgiving, then play at Seton Hall on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.

Morning Reads

• The men’s basketball team has had quite a few highs lately, including reaching No. 22 in the Associated Press poll, and it will be challenged for the first time beginning tomorrow at the Battle 4 Atlantis. (Hartford Courant)