On Sunday, the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team played its first game of the season. The exhibition match against Fort Hays State University was everything the team would have hoped for from the start.
The game could, as kindly as possible, be described as a massacre. The Huskies’ players were quick and lethal, dominating Fort Hays in every aspect of the game. Offensively the team excelled, with eleven of the twelve players who played scoring points, while defensively they severely limited the ball handling and shooting abilities of Fort Hays.
For starters, there was the score; the Huskies won the game with a 111-47 win—a margin of 64 points. Even if they hadn’t scored any points after the first half, they still would have won by 15 points. It was very clear why the Huskies are a ranked team.
Then there were the performances of some of their stars. Christyn Williams scored 20 points with six rebounds, topping the scoreboard for the Huskies. Her teammate, sophomore Aaliyah Edwards, also dominated the field with 17 points and five rebounds.
Nine different players on the team played for at least 15 minutes—a great sign for the team’s versatility heading into the start of the actual season. Dorka Juhász, who transferred to UConn this year, was a powerful force for the team with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Three freshmen—Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme and Amari DeBerry—all played for the first time in their rookie seasons. Ducharme scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, while Fudd had three three-pointers and two free throws for eleven.
They, along with many other UConn players, were merciless even as the game went on; they scored more points in the fourth quarter than the second or third, despite already having a massive lead (which would’ve been more than enough to secure a solid victory).
It’s hard to find any negatives for the Huskies, given they’re the second seed, but this was still about as dominant as a basketball game can be and definitely sets them up for a strong season. It’s also good for the team to see this many players contributing; 11 of the players scored points in the game, while just three players committed three fouls.
The game was a good start for the team, which will begin its regular season campaign next week when it takes on Arkansas at the XL Center. The UConn Huskies are ranked first in the Big East and second nationally, with a world of expectations on their shoulders.
Perhaps the only downside for the team is that there is no situation where they can have a successful season without basically winning every game by forty points. That’s the blessing, and the curse, of such a successful past. Nothing after is ever good enough.
