Emily Adams, Hartford Courant
·4 min read
STORRS — The UConn women’s basketball team made a triumphant return to a sold-out Gampel Pavilion after 45 days on Saturday, routing DePaul 88-51 for its 12th consecutive win.
Back on her home court, Paige Bueckers had another elite performance with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in just 24 minutes. Fresh off of scoring a season-high 32 points at Seton Hall on Wednesday, the star guard shot 7-of-10 from the field for her 11th game with 20-plus points this season. Bueckers also led the defense with a team-high four steals and drew a charge in the first quarter.
“Her impact is just in so many different ways,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “She just has a knack, a sense of where to be and when to get there and where’s the ball. (She) could probably get 35 every night if she wanted to … She wants to rebound. She wants to try to play physical as much as she can. There’s just no part of the game that takes her by surprise. She’s remarkable in that way.”
The No. 9 Huskies (16-3, 8-0 Big East) immediately took advantage of DePaul’s undersized roster, and All-American forward Aaliyah Edwards had 10 points by the end of the first quarter. She finished with 18 points, three rebounds and three assists, going to the free-throw line 10 times and hitting 100%.
“It’s not really my mindset to get them to foul me, but it’s more just to do what I do and if a foul comes from it then it does,” Edwards said. “When I do go to the line … I’m making sure I sink it, and I practice it and work on it. Anything I can do to help my team and help us get the win at the end of the day.”
Foul trouble limited the Blue Demons (10-10, 2-5) all game, starting with forward Jorie Allen going to the bench with two fouls in the first five minutes. DePaul finished with 24 fouls to UConn’s 14, and the Huskies combined for 23 points on free throws.
UConn, already up by 16 points after a quarter, put the game completely out of reach by halftime. The Huskies went on a 14-0 run that lasted nearly six minutes and forced eight turnovers in the second quarter alone.
Defense buoyed the Huskies as it often has since the start of Big East play. After hitting her first jumper, freshman Ashlynn Shade logged the first steal of the game for UConn and converted on a fast-break layup for four points in just eight seconds. DePaul had 27 turnovers and UConn capitalized with 35 points off of the possession changes.
“I just try to bring a lot of energy when I step onto the court,” Shade said. “That play happened so fast and I was in the moment, but I just try to bring as much energy as I can to support the team.”
After struggling at Seton Hall on Wednesday, Shade put together one of her most complete performances of the season with 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal. She also had the highest plus-minus on the team at plus-41.
“We’ve kind of gotten accustomed to spurts where she just does what she does. That’s who she is,” Auriemma said. “She’s probably had more efficient games, but I like the fact that she’s aggressive. The more that can be encouraged, the better.”
Auriemma experimented with his rotation against the Blue Demons, bringing Qadence Samuels in off the bench first after using Ice Brady in the position for three games in a row. However, neither had a particularly impressive day. Samuels logged five points shooting 0-of-3 from 3-point range with five rebounds and a steal. Brady went 3-of-5 for six points plus four rebounds but turned the ball over five times before fouling out with three minutes left in the game.
Though the production may not have been exactly what he hoped, Auriemma said his goal was to utilize his reserves more than usual. Every player on the roster saw the court for at least 11 minutes against DePaul, and junior Amari DeBerry logged a season-high eight points and five rebounds off the bench. Shade and fellow freshman KK Arnold were the only starters to play more than 25 minutes.
“I went into the game today thinking, if we’re fortunate enough to be able to get more players in the game earlier, I want to try to do that,” Auriemma said. “I just go about it by looking out there and saying what do we need right now? Can we guard them a certain way? On Tuesday it could be different.”
UConn is back in action for a ranked Big East showdown at No. 22 Marquette (15-3, 4-3) on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., SNY) in Milwaukee.
