Ducharme Saves the Huskies’ Day

The Story: Caroline Ducharme returned after missing 13 games because of a concussion and knocked down a pair of free throws with 4.8 seconds left to give No. 6 UConn a 62-60 win over Creighton at Gampel Pavilion last night.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Huskies (23-4, 15-1 Big East) gained possession with a little more than 16 seconds left after Creighton’s Morgan Maly was called for charging on Lou Lopez Senechal. Ducharme drove the lane and Carly Bachelor was whistled for a remarkably ticky-tack foul on Ducharme’s underhanded layup attempt.

• After Ducharme coolly made both free throws, Creighton (18-7, 12-5 Big East) called timeout to advance the ball to midcourt. Lauren Jensen, defended above the arc by Aaliyah Edwards, took advantage and drove to the hoop for a layup but was fouled by Edwards with 0.7 seconds left.

• Jensen, a 92 percent free throw shooter on the season, missed the first attempt. Her second attempt, which she was clearly trying to miss, bounced off the backboard and to Edwards to let the Huskies hold on to the win.

SWEET CAROLINE: Ducharme scored all 10 of her points in the fourth quarter and went 3-for-9, including 1-for-5 from 3-point range, with two rebounds.

• Geno Auriemma told SNY after the game that Ducharme was on a minutes restriction and could only play 10 minutes in each half. She was on the floor for 21 minutes. “If we were going into overtime, I wouldn’t care,” Geno joked.

• Ducharme entered the game for the first time with 1:43 left in the first quarter. She stayed in until she fell hard following a block by Rachael Saunders with 8:15 left in the second quarter, but was back in five minutes later.

GUTTING IT OUT: Though the Huskies led by nine, 30-21, with 3:34 left in the second quarter, they opened the third quarter on a cold snap and quickly found themselves down 40-31 just over two and a half minutes in.

• UConn was outscored 19-8 in the third quarter, went 0-for-6 to start it and didn’t score until Dorka Juhasz knocked down a 3-pointer to pull within 42-34. The deficit hit 11 points early in the fourth quarter before Ducharme and Nika Muhl took over.

• Who cares that the Huskies are back to eight healthy players? Not Geno, as Ducharme was the only player off the bench. Edwards and Muhl each played 40 minutes and Lopez Senechal played 39.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Both teams oddly went 22-for-58 (37.9 percent), though Creighton went 12-for-33 (36.4 percent) from 3-point range and UConn went 6-for-20 (30 percent). But the Huskies went 12-for-14 from the free throw line while Creighton went just 4-for-6.

• UConn, astoundingly, had just seven turnovers, whereas Creighton, a team known for ball control, was forced into 15. In fact, the Bluejays, who entered with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.5 — one of the best marks in Division I — finished with only 14 assists.

• Lopez Senechal led the Huskies with 17 points, Edwards had 12 points and nine rebounds and Juhasz had 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

• Maly led Creighton with 15 points and eight rebounds and Jensen and Saunders each had 13. Emma Ronsiek, Creighton’s third-leading scorer, was held without a point on six shots.

WHAT DID GENO SAY? “Well, No. 1, you see how much we missed Caroline. No. 2, I thought we got some great stops when we had to. We made some big shots when we had to. Like, we didn’t do a whole lot right except win the game. That was probably the biggest thing we did right was win the game. We gutted it out. These kids, I don’t know where they got it. Playing defense the way we did, I’m just really proud of them right now.”

UP NEXT: UConn will be back in action on Saturday as it travels to Philadelphia to face No. 14 Villanova. Should the Huskies win, they’ll essentially wrap up the Big East regular-season title.

— Zac Boyer

Morning Reads

• NBA scouts think Jordan Hawkins is a lock to be a first-round NBA Draft pick in June, but they’re not particularly bullish on Adama Sanogo or Andre Jackson. (Hearst Connecticut Media)

• The women’s lacrosse team opened the season with an 18-17 home win over Fairfield yesterday afternoon when Rayea Davis scored with 45 seconds left in overtime. (UConnHuskies.com)

Top photo: Caroline Ducharme shoots a 3-pointer during the Huskies’ First Night event at Gampel Pavilion. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)