UConn is starting to look like UConn again

By Laken Litman
Published

Don't look now, but UConn could make a Final Four run in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

Go ahead and roll your eyes because Geno Auriemma's program has won a record 11 national championships and gone to an unprecedented 14 consecutive Final Fours, but there was a point in the season where the Huskies looked vulnerable.

On Saturday, No. 2 UConn looked like itself again, as the Huskies rolled over No. 15 Vermont, 95-52, on their home floor. While the result itself wasn't shocking, there was an overwhelming feeling of "UConn is back" after struggling with an inordinate amount of stress and adversity this season.

First, there were the injuries. Several of them, including to star players like Paige Bueckers (ACL) and Azzi Fudd (knee), as well as Ice Brady (dislocated patella), Carolina Ducharme (concussion) and Dorka Juhasz (broken thumb, sprained ankle). The Huskies' depth was so depleted that at times, they could only use a six- or seven-player rotation. One of those games was on Feb. 5 when Auriemma had seven players to take on No. 1 South Carolina. UConn nearly won that 2022 national championship rematch, which was played in Hartford, Conn., but came up short in an 81-77 loss.

Then there was Auriemma, who had health issues of his own following the death of his mother in December. The coach missed multiple games while feeling "under the weather and run down."

Things started falling back into place as some players returned from their injuries. Perhaps none was more notable than Fudd, who came back in time to help lead her team to the Big East tournament title. The former No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2021 missed 14 games this season because of that pesky knee. When she first hurt it in a Dec. 4 loss to Notre Dame, Fudd missed eight games. She returned for a Jan. 11 win over St. John's, but was reinjured four games later and missed the rest of the regular season. In Saturday's win over the Catamounts, she scored just five points in 28 minutes. Though she's still getting back into a groove on the court, her presence alone gives UConn an advantage.

"Spacing, spacing, spacing," said Aaliyah Edwards when asked by the ESPN broadcast crew what it means to have Fudd back in the lineup.

Speaking of Edwards, she was unstoppable in the first-round matchup. She scored a career-high 28 points on 13-of-15 shooting, plus seven rebounds and five assists. At halftime, UConn led 53-20 and Edwards already had 18 points on perfect 8-of-8 shooting; Vermont's whole team combined for 20 points on 8-of-28 shooting at the break.

[The Caitlin Clark show is off and running at the NCAA Tournament]

Edwards showed off her versatility as her shots came from all over the floor, hitting jumpers, driving inside the paint, getting putbacks and scoring in transition. She, along with Juhasz, who had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds plus six assists, spread the floor and made the Catamounts uncomfortable. Ducharme added 12 points and five rebounds while Nika Muhl had nine points and 10 assists.

As a team, UConn shot 61.9% from the field while holding Vermont to 33.3%. The Huskies also held a significant edge in assists (27-13), points in the paint (54-10) second chance points (15-5), and rebounds (43-19).

Point here, UConn had some big wins at the start of the season against Texas, NC State and Iowa, all of whom were ranked in the top 10 at the time. Then Fudd went down in December and a promising season took a turn with Auriemma's health and a few uncharacteristic losses sprinkled here and there.

Now, when it matters most, the Huskies have their depth back and look like the almighty UConn teams we're used to seeing every year. And so it seems like a deep tourney run is imminent.

What else we're watching 

–Maddy Siegrist did Maddy Siegrist things as she led No. 4 Villanova to a 76-59 win over No. 13 Cleveland State. Siegrist, who is the nation's leading scorer and went off for 50 points in a game earlier this season, had 35 points on 15-of-28 shooting. She's now the fifth player ever in women's Division I history to score 1,000 points in one season. 

–No. 6 North Carolina beat No. 11 St. John's 61-59 after a wild ending. With the game tied at 58 with 6.5 seconds left, UNC's Deja Kelly took the inbound pass and went right to the hoop and drew an and-1. After she made the free throw to give her team a three-point lead, Teonni Key fouled St. John's Danielle Patterson's three-point attempt. Luckily for the Tar Heels, Patterson missed two of three free throws with 1.5 seconds left to close out the game.

–No. 9 Miami upset No. 8 Oklahoma State, 62-61, in one of the most exciting and closest tournament games so far. Led by Haley Cavinder, who scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and sank a fateful free throw with 8.9 seconds remaining, the Hurricanes came back from a 17-point deficit to pull off the win. The comeback was actually tied for fifth-largest in NCAA Tournament history.

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.

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