Women’s Basketball: What does the loss to No. 1 South Carolina mean for UConn?

On Sunday, the No. 15 UConn women’s basketball team faced off against top-ranked South Carolina. Few expected it to go well for the Huskies. And it didn’t. It’s not hard to see why the Huskies were blown out by 18 points (it wasn’t even that close). I won’t go into detail about the game though. I’ve already done that. Today’s goal is to assess where the Huskies stand after that loss and what it means for the rest of their season.  

To set the tone and answer the question that the title poses, the game told us very little about Connecticut. Even with South Carolina’s best player, Kamilla Cardoso, out for Olympic qualifiers, UConn still looked outmatched in a way they haven’t been in quite some time. It never really felt like they were in position to make a comeback either.  

Broadly speaking, it’s not fair to ask the Huskies to make a national championship run this year. Their roster is not going to get any healthier. They have nine games left until the NCAA tournament, assuming they win out, and they aren’t playing with enough depth that they’ll be well-rested for the tournament.  

Aubrey Griffin, Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Ayanna Patterson and Jana El Alfy are all out for the season. Healthy, that could easily be a starting five for a team in the top 25. But that’s the list of who UConn is missing. In lieu of this, coach Geno Auriemma has been forced to give really big minutes to his starting five, while his two primary reserves have provided limited minutes.  

For reference, against the Gamecocks, Auriemma used his starters for 178 of the available 200 minutes, good for 89%. Qadence Samuels and Ice Brady played a collective 22 minutes, partially because Edwards was shaken up in the first half.  

A national championship team needs depth. When the team’s star is off, they need a cast of capable reserves to help out. This year’s team does not have that, but it’s not their fault. Their forwards not named Aaliyah Edwards aren’t developed enough to make an impact. Samuels is young and needs time. She’s shown flashes here and there, but wasn’t expected to do much heading into the season.  

Ice Brady isn’t ready either. Once a top five recruit, it was hoped she could anchor UConn’s frontcourt alongside Edwards, with her ‘old school’ game. Brady was forced to sit out last year with a knee injury and has not looked ready to contribute this year. Amari DeBerry appears to be perfectly healthy, but has not found minutes in any of her three years. It’s unclear what El Alfy would have brought to the team if she was healthy, but perhaps that would have taken the pressure off Brady. On top of that, having a healthy Griffin and Patterson would have been a nice way to fill in the gaps on the forward slots.  

Instead, they’re stuck with Edwards, who has been phenomenal, and the freshmen. Edwards is producing at a comparable rate to last year’s All-American season, but the others either aren’t ready or don’t have enough talent to sufficiently help out. That frontcourt couldn’t contain the Gamecocks. Even missing their star center, South Carolina still managed to outscore them 34-22 in the paint.  

The guards have been thin too. Paige Bueckers has been great, but it’s becoming easier for opposing defenders to hone in with the fatigue she’s experienced along with the lack of threats  she has to pass to. It’s nearly impossible to ask her to succeed in an environment like this, especially since her game hinges on ball distribution and finding her teammates first.  

Nika Mühl has been okay, though has frequently dealt with turnover problems. She hasn’t been able to duplicate her efforts from last year when the team had more continuity throughout the season and she didn’t have two other ball-dominant guards on the court. Aside from 3-point percentage–which she doesn’t shoot many of–most of her key figures have dipped from last year.  

KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade have been great for what they needed to do. Auriemma tends to avoid relying on freshmen, but he’s been forced to this year. Sometimes they’ve looked more ready than other times. The good side of Arnold’s Sunday performance was her seven boards and four assists. The bad was her two points and the handful of shots she had swatted. Shade is looking like the frontrunner for Big East freshman of the year, but dropped a 6/19 shooting line Sunday.  

None of that was to diss the team. It’s more to explain why it is not fair to ask them to do historic things this year. Auriemma’s 12th title will have to wait. Nothing is wrong with that. This squad has lost to any team they played ranked No. 14 or above in NET. They’ve beaten every team opponent below No. 20. On top of that, they haven’t had a game decided by single-digits. With that said, they’re pretty securely in the No. 15-20 zone.  

Given everything they’ve been through, that’s just alright. In a year like this, it’s critical to simultaneously accept that it’s going to be a year to forget and not be upset by it. A Sweet 16 appearance would be great. If they truly are a borderline top 16 team, hosting the first round is not definite (though it almost certainly will happen because they will likely win out and the teams ranked around them will lose games).  

But say they end up as a No. 4 seed, they will easily beat the No. 13 seed. Then they should be able to eke by the five. Come the second weekend, they’ll be up against one of the top four teams in the country. If that team is anything like South Carolina, I don’t like UConn’s chances.  

The rest of the Big East season will be enjoyable; they will win games, many by a lot. But trust me: if you watch this season without expectations, it’ll be easier on the eyes come the second weekend and late March. Because this team is one of the unluckiest in the sport.