Since they last played at Gampel Pavilion three weeks ago, the No. 17 UConn women’s basketball team lost junior guard Azzi Fudd for the season and fell to their lowest spot in the AP Top 25 in 30 years. All four of the Huskies’ matchups in that span came against Power Five competition, but Wednesday’s battle versus senior guard Nika Mühl’s younger sister, Hana, and the Ball State Cardinals refreshed the team.
Well, it was supposed to be a smooth lull in a tough nonconference schedule. Connecticut comfortably beat down the Cardinals 90-63, but several of the team’s shortcomings reared their ugly heads throughout the bumpy contest. Even though they shot 59% from the field and outrebounded Ball State 38-21, the Huskies turned the ball over 17 times and had multiple stretches where they could not buy a bucket.
“We have so many deficiencies that have to be addressed,” head coach Geno Auriemma stated after the game. “The things that are within our control, we are not controlling.”
Despite all the negatives that plagued UConn in their second 90-point game of the season, N. Mühl had the time of her life coming out on top against her younger sister. For the Croatian guard, battling her sibling felt like senior night.
“This moment was so special for so many reasons,” said N. Mühl after the game. “Just seeing my family out there in the stands and how emotional they were…It was a dream for me.”
Freshman guard Ashlynn Shade thrived under Gampel’s lights out of the gate, burying two three-pointers and a deuce for eight points as redshirt junior Paige Bueckers picked up two early fouls. Ball State’s only answer for Shade came in the form of junior guard Madelyn Bischoff, who buried three triples and accounted for all but three of her team’s 12 points in the game’s first five minutes.
H. Mühl checked in for the first time after the U-5 media timeout, and while she did not defend against her older sister, her four points in the final 65 seconds sparked the Cardinals. In between both of the younger Mühl’s baskets, Bischoff went down and required assistance going to the locker room with what appeared to be a severe knee injury.
Aaliyah Edwards beat the first quarter buzzer with a second-chance layup, doing the exact same thing over two minutes into the second for the Huskies’ first points of the frame. The senior forward accounted for all of Connecticut’s offense in the first five minutes, a complete 180 from a 37-point first quarter.
Once the U-5 media timeout hit, however, the Huskies put their foot on the gas. Graduate forward Aubrey Griffin ignited a 10-0 UConn run that put the team ahead by 20 as the defense clamped down on Ball State. Even though the Cardinals’ first timeout of the game halted the offense, the Huskies kept their opponent off the board across the final 5:58 of the first half for a 52-30 advantage.
Bueckers’ floater gave Connecticut first blood in the second half, but Ball State played like the better team early on in the third quarter. Edwards and the redshirt junior guard scored the Huskies’ first 11 points of the frame, turning the ball over three times as the Cardinals again got hot from downtown. Despite having the same number of boards as their counterparts, Shade kicked her offense into second gear as UConn went into the final frame up 23.
Ball State pulled within 20 once in the fourth quarter when senior Annie Rauch converted two free throws, but the Huskies did enough where their five turnovers had no impact on the game. Freshman guard Qadence Samuels became the fifth Connecticut player in double figures, with six points on two triples, matching the efficiency Edwards showed despite being on the verge of fouling out. With sophomore guard Ines Bettencourt and junior forward Amari DeBerry checking in late in regulation, the Huskies’ offense finished off the 27-point win and secured the team’s first all-time series lead over the Cardinals.
Outside of Bischoff’s 12 first-quarter points, H. Mühl finished with nine points and two dimes off the bench for Ball State. Among the other four starters, junior forwards Marie Kiefer and Alex Richard combined for 14 points and six boards, while junior guard Nyla Hampton dropped nine in the second half. The Cardinals scored 63 points, 23 of which came from their bench, despite shooting at a 38% clip with 13 steals and 13 assists.
Going up against her sister, N. Mühl dropped four points with three boards, three steals and two assists in 31 minutes. Making her first start on United States soil, Shade picked up a career-high 17 points at a 3-9 clip from downtown, while KK Arnold scored seven with four assists. Four different players finished with exactly four rebounds, but Edwards did the heavy lifting with 12 rebounds and 18 points for her first double-double of the year.
UConn has run with six starting lineups through their first eight games of the season, including a different one in each of their last five contests. While he has not crafted the perfect formula with the resources he has, Auriemma has started putting the puzzle pieces together with tougher competition on the horizon.
“We have got to mix and match and find our way,” Auriemma noted about the lineup adjustments he has made. “They [the freshmen] are getting more opportunities to play, more opportunities to learn and that is going to pay dividends, as ugly as it looks at times.”
The Huskies’ (5-3) fierce opposition in their nonconference slate continues with an upcoming duel against the No. 24 North Carolina Tar Heels (6-3) at Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday. Tip-off in the finale of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s showcase tripleheader gets underway at 5 p.m. on ESPN.