An explanation of the Notre Dame upset’s negative effects on UConn women’s basketball.
Coach Geno Auriemma was persuaded that the UConn women’s basketball team had everything under control after the squad went on a 13-game winning streak at the beginning of Big East play.
When rival Notre Dame (15-4) defeated the eighth-ranked Huskies (17-4) 82-67 on Saturday, that notion fell apart. Though UConn had not lost in the series at Gampel Pavilion in over ten years, the No. 15 Irish came away with only their fifth victory in Storrs history. There were four national championship teams that had graduates from the Huskies, including Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and Breanna Stewart, which only served to aggravate the situation.
Auriemma remarked, “I thought we had it all figured out, but it broke down an awful lot.” “I believe that for us, the game really boiled down to us getting up 12 points at the other end and then abruptly stopping.” We didn’t capitalize on the runs we had for whatever reason, and you don’t have many opportunities when playing a truly good club.
By the end of the regular season, UConn will be lucky to have defeated a ranked team once more, as they are currently 0-4 against teams in the top 15. Marquette (16-4) lost at Villanova on January 17 and fell out of the rankings. Prior to their rematch in Hartford on February 19, the Huskies will need the Bluejays to continue winning. Creighton (16-3) was ranked No. 21 in last week’s poll. If not, UConn’s last regular-season Top 25 match could take place on February 11 at No. 1 South Carolina in front of a sellout crowd.
Paige Bueckers’ ineffective signature
Even NBA players have bad nights occasionally, but UConn’s timing couldn’t have been worse following three straight games in which Paige Bueckers scored 20 points or more. The star player for the Huskies is averaging 55.1% from the field and 48.9% from 3-point range, but her 5-of-17 field goal percentage was her lowest of the season.
Despite playing every minute of the second half, Bueckers never seemed to get comfortable, and Auriemma believed she was “out of it” after being poked in the eye during the first half. With 12 attempts in the second half compared to five in the first, her shot selection became more and more desperate, and none of UConn’s other scoring threats were connecting. In just its sixth game, the squad made less than 30% of their 3-point attempts, finishing with a combined 4-of-14 record.
“I felt that tonight, especially in the first half, (Bueckers’) movement without the ball was not as good as it has been.” I felt like she really battled in the second quarter, according to Auriemma. “On those nights, other individuals need to stand up and make shots, but tonight’s offensive collapsed. It was the first time in around a month and a half that our work had very little flow.
Even when the star guard is productive, elite teams are starting to use Bueckers’ efficiency as a guide to stop the Huskies. This season, she has shot less than 40% in four games, three of which were losses against the Irish, No. 10 Texas, and No. 2 UCLA.
UConn is unstable due to Nika Muhl’s foul issues
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Due in large part to Nika Muhl sitting the majority of the game out, the Huskies suffered greatly from Bueckers’ bad night. The senior point guard played a season-low 19 minutes before picking up three fouls early in the second quarter and fouling out with over nine minutes remaining in the contest. Without Muhl’s 43% shooting from beyond the arc, UConn severely lacked another outside threat. Her two field goal attempts, both of which missed, were also a season low.
On the defensive end, though, Muhl was most missed by the Huskies. The senior guard ought to have started as Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo’s primary substitute, and Muhl was a key component of every one of UConn’s biggest runs. With the exception of Bueckers, she had the greatest stop % of any player and secured three of the Huskies’ thirteen steals during her little playing time. With Muhl in the starting lineup, the team was plus-13; without her, it was minus-28.
In their first significant rivalry game, Muhl’s foul trouble highlighted UConn’s lack of depth and put more pressure on the Huskies’ freshmen players. With KK Arnold assuming a more prominent role in the game against Hidalgo, Ashlynn Shade made all six of her shots from outside the three-point arc but missed all of her attempts inside.
“KK and Ashlynn had to play much too many minutes for a game like this without Nika in the game, so I’m not worried about them.” stated Auriemma. “I believe that the more times we face these challenges, the more adeptly people will decipher them. It should get easier for KK to play without Nika as she becomes more accustomed to our offense. There are a lot of offensive things going on right now that we find unsettling.
Down the stretch, Aaliyah Edwards leaves the Huskies
Aaliyah Edwards, an All-American forward, was UConn’s most effective offensive player in the first half and kept the team afloat. After finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, a block, and a steal, she achieved her tenth double-double of the year.
Even though UConn was only behind by three points at the half, it lost by fifteen points after being outscored 22–10. In the fourth quarter, Auriemma was somewhat to blame for Edwards’ lack of shooting. The Huskies had trouble making 3-pointers, and the shots never began to fall as Auriemma had intended. As a result, Notre Dame’s defense was able to easily crowd the paint.
After a while, there were just too many people in the lane, and Auriemma described it as like daring her big guys and other guards to make some outside shots, but we failed to do so and were unable to remove the crowd from the lane. We ought to have visited that more frequently, but after a while there was no more space. That was a poor choice on my part. We didn’t find any offensive identities tonight, despite looking for them all night.
The battle to protect star guardians is never-ending
Although Hidalgo is merely the most recent outstanding guard to dominate against the Huskies, Muhl’s absence undoubtedly highlighted the issue. First it was Saniya Rivers of NC State, then Charisma Osborne of UCLA, and finally Rori Harmon of Texas. Hidalgo broke the record for scoring by a freshman in a game for Notre Dame with his 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Auriemma believed that after UConn’s previous losses, the communication problems were mostly to blame for the problems against the Irish.
“We didn’t do a fantastic job with it today on the defensive end for our young guys. There were a lot of things that we had been doing really well the last 12 or 13 games,” he said. “Our big guys and our guards had a lot of miscommunications today, and they got us pretty much every time we made a mistake.”
Less than two weeks remain until UConn takes on South Carolina, where Te-Hina Paopao, the country’s most accurate 3-point shooter, and MiLaysia Fulwiley, another freshman sensation, will test them. Long term, Auriemma hopes his younger players will benefit from the agonizing defeat.
For our younger guys, it was a really beneficial learning experience, but the onus is on us. Better coaching is required of (them),” Auriemma stated. “Most communication breakdowns occur in the early stages of life. Things are happening quickly and the game is progressing quickly. How do you pick things up and develop your playing skills? All you need to do is keep playing games.
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