As the sun begins to set later and students begin the spring semester, one thing becomes clear: the No. 9 UConn women’s basketball team is hitting their stride. Even as they continue to sustain hits to their rotation with a non-stop barrage of injuries, they’ve never looked as good this season as they do right now.
After starting the season 4-3 and putting themselves at risk of exiting the AP Top 25, they’ve found consistency in a lineup primarily composed of freshmen and seniors. The mix of youth and experience has helped them to a 10-game winning streak, with four coming against ranked opposition.
The Huskies are slated to hit the road for the fourth time in five games on Wednesday, this time against Seton Hall. The Pirates have been solid in the first year of the post-Lauren Park-Lane era, who elected to use her COVID year to transfer to Mississippi State. The 1,905 points and 698 assists that she amassed over her career left large holes to fill, and all said, they’ve done a pretty good job doing so.
Given that it’s impossible to replicate all of the production in one player, different contributors have helped in their own way. Sophomore Micah Gray has done her best to add scoring to the backcourt, posting 13.7 points per game on 35% shooting from downtown.
In terms of everything else that Park-Lane contributed, Amari Wright has it covered. Though not a scorer, Wright adds excellent passing and is currently 12th in the nation at 6.2 assists per night. Seton Hall also boasts a stingy defense that allows the 15th fewest points in the country. Wright is the leader there too, averaging 2.5 steals.
Even with their backcourt by committee, the Pirates’ scoring is led by forward Azana Baines. The Jersey native isn’t the biggest, but she pours in over 15 points and six boards. Even with the Huskies’ short frontcourt depth, the size that they do have will be helpful in containing Baines.
Seton Hall’s results in nonconference play were encouraging. Aside from a loss to a good Columbia squad, their two other defeats came in double overtime at No. 25 Princeton and by 10 on a neutral floor to No. 8 USC. Even more impressive was their 30-point steamrolling of No. 23 UNLV. Things were looking up for them until they dropped a home contest to Providence, a squad that UConn recently beat by 44. And a game to Villanova. And another to No. 23 Marquette, who the Huskies walloped by 31. This leaves them at 3-3 in the Big East, with all their wins coming over bottom-four squads.
Based on these results, it shouldn’t be too tricky for Connecticut to pull out with a win. A large margin is also likely. With Azzi Fudd, Ayanna Patterson and most recently Aubrey Griffin out for the year, coach Geno Auriemma is left with seven players he is willing to put on the floor.
At the bottom of that seven is Ice Brady, who clearly looked the weakest in the team’s first 16 games. She showed flashes here and there, but nothing that indicated she could be the answer to UConn’s frontcourt depth problem. With an excellent performance against St. John’s that saw her post 17 points, Brady seems to be making progress. Seton Hall isn’t going to challenge her in a way that’ll emulate nationally ranked competition, but it’ll be a nice opportunity for the forward to continue her momentum. The Huskies desperately need the redshirt freshman to overperform if they want to contend for a title.
Another player to watch is Paige Bueckers. In her two career games at Walsh Gymnasium, the former national POTY is averaging 24 points and has been on a tear lately. She’s shooting 48% from beyond the arc this year and scores 19 points per game. With the development of Nika Mühl and KK Arnold, she’s had to do less in the passing department, but has remained her unselfish self while still getting her own.
The matchup can be viewed regionally on SNY and will tip off at 8:30 p.m..