Slow starts have sort of become UConn women’s basketball’s thing. Though they don’t do it every time, the Huskies are familiar with digging themselves out of early holes. Connecticut was able to get out of Sunday’s successfully, but it was the second time in three games that their offense and defense wasn’t clicking at the jump.
In fact, the only person who seemed to be able to put the ball in the hoop early was Ashlynn Shade. The freshman was in a similar position against No. 18 Marquette last week, one of the few with any scoring touch. This time, she accounted for seven of the Huskies’ first nine points as they trailed 14-7.
Shade finished the contest with 16 points on 10 shots, demonstrating an impressive amount of poise for a freshman. She also blocked a pair of shots, helping more on defense than she often does. As someone who the team relies on for scoring, Shade has been exceptional as of late, emerging as a go-to option when they need a bucket.
Georgetown isn’t a bad team, entering the contest at 12-2, but it was a matchup the Huskies were largely expected to win. ESPNBET had them as 26.5 point favorites, which was ultimately very close to their 83-55 victory.
UConn did a great job moving the ball around, assisting on 23 of their 32 field goals. Nika Mühl was responsible for over a third of those, but that wasn’t the only thing the Croatian guard delivered.
Along with her eight dimes, Mühl poured in a season-high 14 points on remarkable efficiency. The team has needed her to shoot threes, since that’s what the defense generally gives her and she made them pay. Mühl nailed four of her five tries from downtown, displaying tremendous confidence. This also leaked into her defensive play, where she collected four steals.
Those steals were another trademark for the Huskies in the win, as they nabbed 14 to the Hoyas’ two. The swipes helped lead to 33 points off of turnovers, over a third of their game total.
Freshman KK Arnold had the same steal total as Mühl and was an important part of the team’s well-rounded effort. She has been coming into her own lately, contributing 12 points and five assists, including an impressive layup where she deceived a number of defenders. With Aubrey Griffin’s injury status looking unclear, Arnold will need to continue her run of good performances.
One area where Connecticut was subpar was in some of their defensive rotations and rebounding. Thanks to Georgetown’s size, they were able to haul in 44 rebounds to UConn’s 27, including a +13 mark on the offensive glass. UConn isn’t usually outdone on the boards in such a commanding fashion, but it didn’t hurt them.
No matter how many failed rotations the Huskies made, it seemed like Georgetown couldn’t capitalize. The Hoyas’ lulls were just as much their fault as it was defensive intensity from UConn. Connecticut took a series of gambles which paid off, but if the home side was less sloppy, it could have spelled trouble.
After their 14-7 advantage, one such lull came, when Georgetown didn’t score for eight minutes. Thanks to a physical game the Huskies only managed 14 points in that span, but it was still a stretch that altered the flow of the matchup..
Paige Bueckers used a personal 5-0 run to get the lead up to 15 midway through the second period, but then they stalled. An 11-3 Hoya streak helped them enter the locker room down just 12, which was great given their largely weak offensive play.
10 straight from five different Huskies separated Connecticut from danger, a great metaphor for the way the game turned out. The five that scored in that run each finished between 12 and 18 points, perhaps the UConn’s best team effort of the year.
Bueckers and Edwards were among that group, but didn’t shine as bright as they often do. Edwards had trouble in the rebounding department with just six, but did have 18 points. Bueckers had a uniquely inefficient outing, taking 12 shots to get to her 15 points, but she had a few flashy passes on her way to five assists.
Regardless, the team picked up an away win, which is all that matters at the end of the day. It was a solid performance all-around as the team adjusts to life without Griffin. Their next chance to continue to do so comes Wednesday at home versus Providence, who is currently 8-8.