As we progress further and further from UConn women’s basketball’s most recent national championship in 2016, the levels of parity only increase. The women’s basketball world is getting deeper, as teams ranked lower are getting closer in talent to those at the top. This past week, the No. 11 UConn Huskies fell victim to this increased depth.
After walloping a sliding Marquette squad, they suited up at home against No. 14 Notre Dame, who recently had been swept by No. 21 Syracuse. They were up by 12 points in the second quarter, but completely fell apart after that. Every time something would go right, they abandoned it, which did not mix well with their surprisingly poor defense.
Part of the rough effort on both ends was because starting point guard Nika Mühl was in foul trouble for much of the game and fouled out just seconds into the fourth quarter. She anchors the defense and helps the offense flow. If she was not in foul trouble, perhaps star freshman Hannah Hidalgo would not have notched 34 points for Notre Dame, but there’s no way to know.
In all, it was not an impressive performance. It was a glaring demonstration of how the Huskies can be very beatable when things go awry. While they still do have what it takes to win in March, the line they will need to walk to get there is thin. However, this Villanova game gives them the opportunity to get back on track – and they shouldn’t have much trouble doing so.
The Wildcats have had a bizarre season in their first year post-Maddie Siegrist. They’ve shown flashes with a big victory over Marquette, but have struggled to win consistently. Villanova dropped games to St. Joe’s, Columbia and current No. 25 Princeton. After losing to St. John’s to open up their conference slate, they picked up five straight victories, placing in the Big East top three. However, they’ve lost two of their last three and this UConn game is not going to be easy.
The team does have some star power in the form of Lucy Olsen. Once the Robin to Siegrist’s Batman, Olsen has now taken the reins as one of the premier players in the country. Averaging 23.7 points per game, she ranks sixth in the nation in scoring while leading her Wildcats in assists. Her 3-point shooting has taken a 6% nosedive thanks to increased volume, but she still is very much a threat from deep. Olsen has been the team’s leading scorer in 70% of their games, which is impressive individually, though the team lacks any other consistent scorers.
As a squad, Villanova hits just 30% of their threes, which places them in the bottom half of the country. Adding to their offensive troubles, Olsen is their only player who averages double-digits. Along with their scoring issues, they also aren’t a very good rebounding team. Christina Dalce is in the top 20 nationally on the glass, but that doesn’t lead to success across the group. The Wildcats are in the bottom third nationally in the rebounding margin, which is great for the Huskies. Connecticut has lost the rebounding battle in each of their four defeats by a combined 33 boards.
That will be one of the keys to the game. If forward Aaliyah Edwards can dominate on the boards, then UConn won’t have a difficult time winning. Putting the ball in the hoop has not been an issue for the Canadian, but she has been a less consistent rebounder. The past two games have been excellent in that department, as she’s combined for 23. It’ll be the rest of the team that’ll need to help out, as Edwards is the only active player with more than five per game.
The biggest thing for the Huskies will be getting back into a winning mentality. Losing in the fashion they did at home is not easy. If they can put together a feel-good win, that would do wonders for their psyche. Abandoning their issues from Saturday would put them back in the right headspace as they begin to gear up for their matchup against No. 1 South Carolina.
The contest will tip off at 6:30 p.m. and can be viewed on SNY.