SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
Well, well, in came March Madness and out came the University of Connecticut women with what they do best.
This overwhelming and somewhat surprise sweep of Georgetown, 69-39, Marquette, 81-52, and now picking up their 20th conference title, this one in the Big East, the others in the Atlantic American, by putting a 67-56 cap on Villanova Saturday afternoon.
That added up to a grand total of 217 points for the Huskies and 147 allowed. It upped their overall record to 28-5 and the possibility of another jump down in the top 25 where Monday’s rankings had them go from No. 9 to No. 7.
Now it could take another step down as UConn tries to get within perhaps the 4-5 national seed. Coming into the Big East tourney, it wasn’t playing well, in fact in its last eight starts had not won a game by more than 8 points, and it was a herd of turnovers as a big factor.
But what a compete turnover.
Said Auriemma: “Well, you know, it’s March, they’re into March Madness, and have called on what they are capable of doing. We have more balance now with Azzi (Fudd) back, playing a lot better on offense and defense, and it looks good.”
Yup, sure does, and that final score in the finals against Villanova wasn’t exactly the way it went. Doing a masterful job on the Wildcats’ Maddy Siegrist, the leading scorer in the country, The Huskies turned a 33-24 halftime lead into an increase of 60-39 after three quarters.
They shot well from the field, 27-55, were 4-for-13 from beyond the arc, took down 37 rebounds and handed out 16 assists.
As for the 6-2 senior forward Siegrist, she had been averaging 25.4 per game, but she could manage only 22 this time on 9-for-21 shooting from the floor and 1-of-4 from the 3. She did have nine boards.
Second leading Nova scorer, senior Lucy Olsen, turned in only six points and was a dismal 4-for-20 from the field and 1-for-9 from 3-point range.
But most everything dropped in for
UConn at Mohican Sun Arena in Uncasville before a huge supportive crowd.
Huskies’ junior forward Aaliyah Edwards, named the Most Valuable Player, tallied 20 points, brought down 14 rebounds for a double-double, and dished out four assists.
Graduate senior Dorka Juhasz also had a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards.
Sophomore guard Azzi Fudd had her best game since being sidelined for three months after a knee injury, tossing in 11 points in her third contest back. She was 3-for-7 from the 3.
Senior guard Lou Lopez Senchal scored 14 while making good on 5-of-8 tries from outside and converting 4-of-4 free throws.
Junior point guard Niki Muhl, maybe the best in the land at that position, tossed in five points, took down six rebounds, and gave out eight assists.
There, a job well done at just the time to do it. Now comes the selection committee announcement Sunday to see where UConn goes next.
