Huskies Ready to Face Red Storm

UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa (L) and Caroline Ducharme (33) block Xavier's Mikayla Hayes last Saturday. Credit: UConn Athletics

The No. 9 UConn Huskies traveled to Queens, New York City yesterday for their sixth Big East Conference game. They are currently ranked No.1 in the Big East with a 5-0 record and are 10-4 on their season. Today in Queens, the Huskies are matched-up against the familiar St. John’s Red Storm. The Red Storm are 1-5 in Big East play and 5-11 on their season. This is the first of two conference meetings this season between the two programs.

The Huskies have found great success in Big East play this season, as they had done last season as well. Many fans or opponents fans say that UConn is in one of the “easier” conferences and these wins do not account for anything. One thing to remember is that UConn’s women’s program won eight out of their eleven National Championships in Coach Geno Auriemma’s tenure. That’s 28 years of Big East play with a constant change of conference members. It is funny to think but fans have been watching UConn play the same conference teams for years. There was a minor break when UConn moved to the American Athletic Conference from 2014 to 2020 and yet UConn still played teams like St. John’s and Seton Hall. For sure, the Huskies used to have harder conference opponents with Rutgers, Notre Dame, and Louisville. These three teams moved on to the American Athletic Conference (ND), Big Ten (RU), and Atlantic Coast Conference (LU).

UConn is still playing many of the same opponents they had for those first 20 plus seasons under Auriemma. It is arguable that UConn basketball should be in a more competitive conference and play against teams who also hold AP rankings. Even with the change during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, this came as a shock to many. This also meant that the location of the Big East tournament would move to Mohegan Sun Area in Uncasville. This is where a number of ACC tournaments were held. The XL Center in Hartford was the original host of the Big East tournaments from 2004 to 2013. With one of the largest women’s college basketball fanbases, this switch to Mohegan Sun would draw a larger crowd of not only UConn fans but fans from across the tournament.

UConn's Paige Bueckers (5) dribbles against St. John's Unique Drake during the Big East Tournament last March. Credit: UConn Athletics

Here is one thing to ponder about: if UConn had sophomore Paige Bueckers at the point, they would still dominate in Big East play. The offensive work and score would be higher with her contributing three-pointers. In all conference games last season, Bueckers alone was scoring close to 20 points per game. Her presence would also draw in more steals, blocks, and assists. Now, if she were able to play, would fans still call these wins “easy” for the Huskies? If Aubrey Griffin and Azzi Fudd also contributed to the overall stats sheets in blowouts, would it be “normal”? Aside from not having three more players, the Huskies have managed to be persistent and win in conference play. If everyone could play, would the criticisms of these wins include more praise?

Now let’s switch to the focus of today’s game. The Huskies have faced the St. John’s Red Storm on a total of 46 occasions. The Huskies led their history with 42 wins and are on a six-game winning streak in all-time meetings. In Big East play last season, the Red Storm did not play the Huskies till early February. UConn took the win scoring 94-62 at Gampel Pavilion. Sophomore Paige Bueckers scored her career-high 32 points to lead the Huskies to victory. She went 5-6 on the arch, 13-20 in the paint, and added 7 assists. Sophomore Aaliyah Edwards added 22 points and 9 rebounds. Sophomore Nika Mühl and senior Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 11 points each with both contributing with steals and rebounds. All players, minus Christyn Williams who could not play, got minutes. The Huskies scored 37 points off turnovers and were almost clean from the stripe shooting at 88.2%.

Their second matchup last season was on February 27th in Queens. The Huskies won 77-32, outscoring the Red Storm in every quarter. UConn was shooting 64% from the paint, scoring 42 points. The Huskies held the Red Storm to shoot 29.2% percent from the paint, 15.4% from the arch, and 40% from the stripe. Senior Christyn Williams led with 21 points, Bueckers with 20, and Nelson-Ododa with 17. Senior Evina Westbrook stayed at the boards grabbing 8 rebounds, had 7 assists, 2 steals, but did not contribute in scoring. Junior Aubrey Griffin came off the bench grabbing 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and added 4 points.

UConn's Dorka Juhász (14) and Aaliyah Edwards fight Seton Hall for a rebound on Friday evening. Credit: Stephen Slade, UConn Athletics.

In the Big East 2021 Tournament, the first ranked Huskies faced eighth-ranked St. John’s on March 3rd. At Mohegan Sun Area, the Huskies pulled off another impressive win over the Red Storm. Going into the conference tournament with seven freshmen, Auriemma was not sure how the first-year players would do. The freshman contributed 38 points, Bueckers led with 17. Edwards added 9, Mühl and Mir McLean added 5, and Piath Gabriel added 2. This young group of Huskies also accounted for 17 rebounds. The Huskies were able to score 32 points off of 21 turnovers by St. John’s. They held the Red Storm, again, to 27.8% shooting from field goals and 22.2% from the arch.

This season, the Red Storm are 5-11 on their season. They beat Temple and Yale, where St. John’s came back after scoring deficits. Seton Hall has been their only Big East win this season before going on a seven-game losing streak. Despite losing five of their six conference games so far, St. John’s was close in scoring. Many games were only lost by 5-8 points as they were being out-scored after the first quarter. This could mean they want to push the game pace, want to play a quick pass in each possession, but tire themselves out. The Huskies will have the height advantage as they did over Seton Hall. Two of St. John’s starting guards are 5’5 and 5’7. If the Huskies keep their same lineup as the Oregon and Seton Hall game, their shortest player is 5’10.

Evina Westbrook (22) goes for the clean layup past Seton Hall's Andra Espinoza-Hunter on Friday. Credit: Stephen Slade, UConn Athletics

In Friday’s Big East matchup, the Huskies shut out Seton Hall’s leading scorer holding Lauren Park-Lane to only five points. Park-Lane was 1-11 for field goals, a 5’6 guard. This was an impressive game for the Huskies to keep Seton Hall from scoring less than 40 points. While the Huskies had their own turnovers, Seton Hall had 14 which led UConn to score 15 points. The Huskies cleared their bench, playing every available player. Christyn Williams is still under Covid protocols and will have to miss today’s game as well. Williams has been a key scorer off of steals in the past few games. Nelson-Ododa had another great game earning a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Fans got to see Mühl have a strong offensive presence when she scored 11 points, going 3-7 on the arch. Mühl added 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists.

Evina Westbrook played all 40 minutes on Friday scoring 13 points. With a bit of a scoring slump, Westbrook is determined to bring back her ferocious energy to today’s game. She also added 4 rebounds and assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. Graduate student, Dorka Juhász also went into Friday’s game with vengeance. After a tough loss Monday to Oregon. Juhász planted herself at the post and had a few early trips to the stripe. She scored 12, grabbing 9 rebounds, and a single assist. We didn’t get to see much of freshman Caroline Ducharme, one of the leading scorers for the Huskies. Early foul trouble for Ducharme brought Edwards off the bench. Edwards snatched 8 rebounds, scored 6, and pushed 2 steals. Gabriel added 5 points off the bench, grabbed 1 rebound, and earned an assist. Freshman Amari DeBerry also played in the final minutes.

The No.9 ranked Huskies are currently 10-4 on the season and first in the Big East. They had a tough loss to Oregon last Monday with the Duck's height advantage. After today’s game, the Huskies travel Thursday to face No.1 South Carolina who had given the Huskies their first loss during the Battle for Atlantis tournament.