HARTFORD, Conn. — Sunday’s win over Tennessee may have represented the promise of this UConn women’s basketball team, but a mere three days later, on the same court in Hartford where the Huskies demolished a then-top-10 team, Wednesday featured an unraveling.
Aside from a valiant fourth-quarter comeback attempt, No. 8 UConn played to its floor against a hot Villanova team, ultimately falling, 72-69, and snapping its tremendous streak of 169 consecutive conference wins dating back to Dec. 29, 2013.
The Huskies (15-5, 9-1 Big East) trailed by as many as 19 before a late run thanks to the heroics of freshman Azzi Fudd (career-high 29 points, 13 in the fourth) made it a two-possession game with 36.2 seconds to play, and senior Christyn Williams (24 points) sank a pair of free throws to pull UConn within four with 26.2 to go. Even after Villanova’s Brianna Herlihy missed four free throws down the stretch, the Huskies couldn’t capitalize, and Williams failed to get off a last-ditch shot attempt in time to count.
UConn’s bad luck with injuries and illness struck yet again, as not only did freshman Caroline Ducharme remain out with a head injury but senior Olivia Nelson-Ododa was a late scratch. SNY reported that she wasn’t feeling well before the game, though she was in uniform and remained on the bench along with her teammates. It was the first time Nelson-Ododa didn’t play in her UConn career.
Without Nelson-Ododa’s inside presence and facilitating on offense, the Wildcats’ offense ran rampant and they dominated the glass, as they shot 51.8% and hit 10 for 22 from 3. The Huskies were bested on the boards, 37-21.
“For us, I can speak to them just being in their second year in the Big East, you forget that with the American what they’ve done and where they stand,” Villanova head coach Denise Dillon said. “I think it’s just us trying to embrace opportunity when it presents itself and we feel that we’re on course with our group.
“I think we’ve got a four-hour bus ride back to kind of reflect and digest what just happened, the big picture of it, but in the immediate, it is about these guys and and the group we have in front of us.”
Aside from Fudd and Williams, no other UConn player had more than six points (Nika Mühl). Lior Garzon led the Wildcats with 19 points (5 for 10 from 3), while Maddy Siegrist and Herlihy chipped in 17 and 15, respectively.
Dillon became the second coach, joining South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, to beat UConn as both a player and a coach. She’s in her second season as head coach at her alma mater. Villanova (16-6, 10-3) has now won 13 of its last 14 games.
Villanova burst ahead 25-15 by the end of the first quarter after hitting 5 of 11 shots from deep. Even when UConn started to figure things out offensively in the second, with Williams and Fudd each reaching double figures, the Huskies still struggled to get enough stops defensively. They cut the deficit to five multiple times but soon after allowed Villanova to score on the other end, too.
UConn trailed 41-34 at the break, with Villanova shooting 58% from the field and scoring 22 points in the paint. The Wildcats’ 41 first-half points were the most the Huskies have allowed in the first 20 minutes this season.
Williams’ 3 made it a two-possession game early in the third, but Villanova quickly extended its lead back to double figures. Fudd’s 3 cut the deficit to 10 before the Wildcats hit three straight 3s to jump ahead by 19, forcing UConn coach Geno Auriemma to call a timeout. Outscored 21-11 in the third, the Huskies managed to get it within 17 going into the final frame.
UConn couldn’t get anything going offensively for most of the fourth. Fudd’s outburst (eight points) and improved defense all around allowed the Huskies to outscore the Wildcats 24-10 in the final 10 minutes.
