With 6:02 left in the third quarter, senior forward Aaliyah Edwards tried to grab a rebound following senior guard Nika Mühl’s missed three-pointer from the left corner. As she reached for the ball, however, she took an elbow to the face.
Edwards held her face and wailed in agonizing pain on the floor following the contact. Mohegan Sun Arena fell dead silent as multiple trainers checked on the All-Big East First Team selection. Minutes after the contact occurred, the crowd gave the senior forward a standing ovation as she headed to the locker room with her hands in her face.
The No. 9 UConn women’s basketball team had made just one field goal—a Mühl fast-break layup—since the U-5 media timeout of the second quarter up to that point. The minor delay and Edwards’ absence flipped a switch and fueled the Huskies on both ends of the floor. With every traditional three-point play they made and every floater that landed, the Connecticut crowd grew louder and louder. By the time the dust settled, the Huskies pushed past the Providence Friars 86-53 in the Big East Quarterfinals.
In Big East Coach of the Year Geno Auriemma’s eyes, that 33-point victory could not have been possible without everyone locking in and stepping up when Edwards went down.
“Players found out that they have got something in them that they are not quite sure they had,” commented after the game.
UConn found themselves in an even grittier battle versus the Friars than the one they were in last weekend at Alumni Hall throughout most of the first half. Outside of a Paige Bueckers triple, Providence’s defense puzzled the Huskies early on, even going ahead by four at one point. Connecticut made nine out of their last 10 shots in the first quarter, but not even that stretch or the redshirt junior’s efficient start kept the Friars at bay.
Senior guard Grace Efosa consistently kept Providence in the game, making a living out of driving down the lane for a deuce. Conversely, the Huskies’ offense fell into heavy decline when the redshirt junior cooled down significantly. Edwards had all four of UConn’s points in the final 4:29 as Bueckers shot 1-5 following a 5-7 start. The Friars’ guard made the Minnesota native pay for one of those misses late, going coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating floater.
Everything that went wrong for the Huskies’ offense carried over into those first four minutes of the second half. It got worse when Bueckers missed both free throws following junior forward Sarah Bandoma’s intentional foul that knocked Edwards out of the game.
But then Mühl made a layup and got the foul with it. Six-time Big East Freshman of the Week KK Arnold had one of her own. Even the redshirt junior picked up one and redeemed herself at the charity stripe. The snowball kept rolling down the mountain from there.
Connecticut outscored Providence 45-18 in those last 16 minutes. The Huskies shot 16-26 from the floor and had almost as many threes in that span as the Friars had all afternoon. Only three of their 15 turnovers came in the second half. Bueckers put herself on the precipice of another 30-piece as her shots started falling again, firing up the majority-UConn crowd with each bucket she made.
Edwards returned to the bench with five minutes remaining and plugs in both of her nostrils. The crowd roared in jubilation with every step she took during that moment, which would have happened even if it were not during a timeout. By then, the Huskies were up 21 and well on their way to the Big East Semifinals. They kept Providence off the board for the final 4:13 for their fifth victory by 30+ in their last eight conference contests.
“The way we responded [in] that second half and how our players performed I thought was tremendous,” Auriemma explained. “We showed a lot of maturity during that stretch.”
It started with Connecticut’s bench. Ice Brady committed three fouls in the first half. As the Huskies’ lone big for most of the second, the redshirt freshman took a gigantic leap forward. Brady fouled just once in 16 second-half minutes and disrupted Providence’s schemes in more ways than one. She complemented that with eight critical points and three rebounds.
Arnold delivered raucous energy in her first Big East Tournament game. She only had one steal to show for it, but the first-year guard was as aggressive on defense as she was on offense. On top of utilizing her speed and making it difficult for the Friars’ guards to find an opening, Arnold restored her trust in her three-point shot. She landed three of her six attempts from downtown, which accounted for nine of her 17 points.
“She took over the game at some parts and just completely dominated,” Bueckers commented about the six-time Big East Freshman of the Week’s impact in her postseason debut.
Efosa, who only had eight points when the teams dueled a week ago, carried the load on both ends of the floor. The senior guard dropped 23 points on 8-14 shooting and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double. UConn’s defense held Olivia Olsen and Emily Archibald to four points and drew them into nine fouls. Providence collectively turned the ball over 19 times and recorded nine assists on their 20 made field goals.
The Huskies won this game for Edwards. No update has been provided regarding the severity of her injury or her availability for the rest of the Big East Tournament. While team doctors do more testing on the senior forward, Connecticut hopes for the best amidst another season wrecked by injuries.
“[The injury bug] has just been numb for us to the point where there was not much that you could say other than ‘this is what we have got,’” Auriemma stated.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Huskies are already without junior forward Amari DeBerry, who is in concussion protocol, on top of their other injuries. Regardless of Edwards’ availability for the rest of the Big East Tournament, UConn’s postseason path does not get any easier as the fifth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles await in today’s Big East Semifinal matchup.
Two forwards, senior Liza Karlen and first-year Skylar Forbes, both finished a few boards shy of a double-double in the Golden Eagles’ 50-48 quarterfinal win over the fourth-seeded Villanova Wildcats. Karlen leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, and depending on Edwards’ status today, she could potentially have a field day down low.
So might Forbes, who has provided key minutes off the bench in her last two games. Her impact on both ends of the floor as a first-year student will not only benefit her long-term development, but could be massive throughout Marquette’s postseason. All-Big East Honorable Mention Mackenzie Hare was the only Golden Eagle guard in double figures with 10 points and two triples. While she will be a major three-point threat, expect All-Big East Second Team selection Jordan King (13.3 PPG) to try and rebound from a 3-10 outing in the quarterfinals.
Marquette has lost to the Huskies in each Big East Tournament since their return in 2020. While Connecticut attempts to advance to their 20th straight conference tournament championship game, the Golden Eagles hope that the fourth time is the charm.
Tip-off is today at 2:30 p.m. EDT on FS