Edwards Out; Title Charge Continues
The Story: The top-seeded UConn women advanced to the Big East championship game for the fourth time in the four seasons since they returned to the conference, but they’ll have to defend their crown tonight against No. 6 seed Georgetown without Aaliyah Edwards (7 p.m., FS1).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Edwards broke her nose in the 86-53 quarterfinal win over No. 9 seed Providence on Saturday when she took an elbow to the face from the Friars’ Sarah Bandoma with 6:02 left in the third quarter.
• Edwards received a loud ovation from the Mohegan Sun Arena crowd when she returned to the bench in the fourth quarter. She did not play in yesterday’s 58-29 thrashing of No. 5 seed Marquette, and Geno Auriemma said after the game that Edwards wouldn’t play tonight against Georgetown, either, but she’ll be ready for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
• “People think you just slap a mask on and you’re good to go, but you have to be able to breathe, and you have to not have headaches,” Geno said. “No concussions [for Edwards], which was great. Now, it’s just a matter of when [she’s] comfortable. Is it [against Georgetown]? I don’t know. I doubt it. But who knows.”
• Edwards, if you’ll remember, broke her nose in summer 2022 and played the entire season with a plastic mask to protect it — even though she didn’t need it past October. She did it for good luck and superstition; and if that was the case, the Huskies could need more good luck once she returns.
FLIGHTLESS BIRDS: UConn (28-5) is on course to win a 29th conference title and its 22nd Big East title tonight after Paige Bueckers scored 27 points — nearly singlehandedly outscoring Marquette — and had a season-high 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season in a 58-29 win.
• Ice Brady, starting in place of Edwards, had 10 points and five rebounds in her first 40-minute performance, and Ashlynn Shade had nine points while also playing the entire game.
• Marquette cut UConn’s lead to 11 points at 40-29 with 4:49 left in the third quarter and, remarkably, didn’t score again. The Huskies closed the game on an 18-0 run as the Golden Eagles went 0-for-15 with eight turnovers from that point on.
• UConn shot 47.9 percent, including 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from 3-point range, while Marquette shot 22.2 percent. The Huskies had a 38-30 edge in rebounding and a 26-6 advantage in points in the paint, even with Edwards out.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “When you’re winning, it’s easy to make shots. But I think the fact that we came out the way we did and we kept the pressure on, it made every jump shot, every shot that they took crucial for them. And it’s hard to go through a whole game like that, and our defense, we sustained it for an entire 40 minutes.”
UP NEXT Upstart Georgetown, which smothered No. 2 seed Creighton yesterday to pull off the 55-46 upset.
• The Hoyas (22-10, 9-9 Big East) are appearing in the Big East title game for the first time and are the lowest-seeded team to make it to the final since Creighton, then a No. 7 seed, made it in 2016.
• UConn won 83-55 at Georgetown on Jan. 7, then completed the regular-season sweep with an 85-44 win at Gampel Pavilion on Senior Night on Feb. 16.
• It’s been a heck of an emotional journey this season for the Hoyas, whose first-year coach, Tasha Butts, died on Oct. 22 after battling breast cancer. Darnell Haney has been the interim coach ever since, and the job he’s done is remarkable, as the Hoyas were picked to finish 10th out of 11 teams in the Big East preseason poll.
— Zac Boyer
Newton, Spencer on All-Big East First Team
The Story: Tristen Newton was a unanimous selection by coaches and Cam Spencer joined him on the first team as the No. 2 UConn men were well represented in the All-Big East teams.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: In addition to first-team honors for Newton and Spencer, Stephon Castle was, predictably, named Big East Freshman of the Year after setting the record for the most Big East Freshman of the Week awards. And, Donovan Clingan was named honorable mention.
• Newton joined Marquette’s Tyler Kolek, Creighton’s Baylor Schierman and Providence’s Devin Carter as unanimous selections to the squad. One of those four will be Big East Player of the Year, which will be announced tomorrow.
KARABAN SNUBBED! Did Alex Karaban steal something from the Big East coaches? A year after he was snubbed as Freshman of the Year, the forward was not selected to the All-Big East first or second teams — and didn’t even earn honorable mention.
• Karaban is averaging 14.2 points per game and, like Spencer, is a 50-40-90 candidate, meaning he’s in line to shoot 50% overall, 40% from 3-point range and 90% from the foul line. That type of shooting has been accomplished about a dozen times in the last 30 years, yet, the Huskies potentially have two players who could do so.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “[Karaban’s] a future first-round draft pick, because the right people see the value in all the different things he does on the court. He’s a perfect player for the modern game with the shooting and the passing.”
HUSKIES DESTROY PROVIDENCE: UConn (28-3, 18-2 Big East) set a conference record with its 18th win on Saturday night when it destroyed Providence, 74-60.
• The Huskies withstood an opening 15-2 rally to lead by 18 at the half and held as much as a 26-point lead.
• Karaban led the Huskies with 16 points and Castle added 14.
• The Big East Tournament starts Wednesday, but UConn will play its first game Thursday at noon against No. 8 seed Xavier or No. 9 seed Butler. A potential semifinal matchup on Friday would come against No. 4 seed Seton Hall or No. 5 seed St. John’s.
— John Silver
Huskies Punch First NCAA Ticket
The Story: The women’s hockey team will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time after sophomore Megan Woodworth redirected a shot by redshirt senior Ainsley Svetek into the net with 35 seconds left in overtime to beat No. 2 seed and six-time defending conference champion Northeastern 1-0 at the Toscano Forum on Saturday afternoon to win the Hockey East title.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Huskies (25-7-5, 19-4-4 Hockey East) entered the conference tournament as the top seed and has been ranked in the USCHO poll virtually all season — and every week since Halloween.
• The NCAA Tournament has expanded to 11 teams this season, and UConn will take on Minnesota-Duluth (20-13-4) in one of the three “first-round” games (think of them as a play-in) on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Ohio State. Should the Huskies win, they’ll face the Buckeyes, the No. 1 seed, on Saturday at 4 p.m.
WOODWORTH THE HERO: After three 20-minute periods, and nearly 19 and a half minutes of overtime, Woodworth came through by tipping Svetek’s shot to the far post past Northeastern goaltender Gwyneth Philips.
• The Huskies erupted in celebration, tossing their sticks and gloves everywhere, but a lengthy video review left the celebration somewhat muted. At stake was whether Woodworth’s skate entered the crease before she touched the puck; it was close, and it probably did, to be honest, but the officials allowed the goal anyway.
• Philips withstood an astonishing 51 shots, while UConn’s goalie, junior Tia Chan, who represented China in the Beijing Olympics in 2022, turned away 38.
• It was the Huskies’ sixth appearance in the Hockey East title game and first since 2022.
WHAT DID CHRIS MacKENZIE SAY? “We finally got one. If you’re here enough, you’re going to come through, and that’s what our program just did.”
— Zac Boyer
Morning Reads
• Nothing went wrong for the softball team over the weekend as it spent nearly five days in Hawaii and won all six games it played against Hawaii, New Mexico and Cleveland State, including an 8-3 win yesterday, as part of the Rainbow Wahine Classic.
• It was another tough weekend for the baseball team, which headed to California to take on No. 25 UCSB and was swept in a three-game series, including a 12-1 defeat yesterday afternoon.
• The women’s lacrosse team fell 17-6 at in-state rival No. 18 Yale on Saturday afternoon.
• Former UConn shortstop Nick Ahmed, who joined the Giants on a minor-league contract last month after 10 seasons with the Diamondbacks, appears to be the frontrunner for a starting gig.
Top photo: Aaliyah Edwards shoots during the Huskies’ game against Louisville. (Courtesy of UConn athletics)
