STORRS, Conn. — Through all the adversity the No. 8 UConn Huskies have been through this year, they’ve tried to embrace a mentality that someone’s absence provides another player the opportunity to step up, and that as long as they have five players on the floor, they have a chance to win the game.
UConn hasn’t always held true to that idea this season, but it did Friday night with two (really, three) of its starters sidelined. Without Olivia Nelson-Ododa (groin) for the second straight game and Caroline Ducharme (head) for the third, UConn avoided back-to-back losses, which it hasn’t suffered since 1993, for the 1,044th consecutive game behind a resounding 84-60 win over conference foe DePaul.
After barely making an impact Wednesday in UConn’s loss to Villanova (a combined six points and two rebounds), sophomore Aaliyah Edwards and graduate transfer Dorka Juhász showed up massively with a combined 43 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to propel the Huskies to victory. Senior Christyn Williams added 16 in the second half (20 overall) to help UConn put the game away.
After a disastrous defensive outing Wednesday, UConn managed to hold the top scoring team in the country to just 60 points on 33% shooting, including 7-for-31 shooting on 3s, and turned 14 Blue Demons turnovers into 20 points on the other end. The Huskies owned the paint, scoring more points there (62) than DePaul put up entirely.
UConn looked strong on both ends out of the gate, jumping out to a 25-14 lead before Lexi Held’s jumper cut the deficit to nine to close the first quarter. The Huskies dominated the paint, where they scored 22 points in the first alone, eight of which were from Edwards. UConn dared the Blue Demons to hit from 3, where they sank just 2 of 12 in the first 10 minutes.
After Deja Church’s layup brought DePaul within six midway through the second, Juhász hit a 3 to push UConn’s lead back up to nine. Her trey initiated a 10-0 run that extended UConn’s advantage to 16 late into the half, a burst that was capped by another 3 from the graduate transfer. Church’s 3 made it a 42-29 game going into the break.
The Huskies took care of the ball on their end, while their active defense forced eight first-half turnovers from the Blue Demons. UConn turned that into nine points on the other end.
Aneesah Morrow, the presumptive favorite for Big East player of the year, compiled her 18th consecutive double-double by the end of the first half with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
UConn largely picked up where it left off out of the locker room, storming ahead by 19 off Williams’ jumper. DePaul briefly pulled within 14, but any Blue Demons momentum was erased with a 13-4 UConn run with which its lead climbed into the 20s. Williams finally got going with 10 third-quarter points, and Edwards had a big transition and-one that shifted things back in the Huskies’ favor for good. They went into the final frame ahead 69-49.
UConn didn’t let up in the fourth to lead by as many as 25.
