Outside of a lackluster 6/18 mark from the field in the first quarter, the sixth-ranked UConn women’s basketball team (19-2, 10-0) played its typical style of basketball in its 11-point win over Creighton.
Sarah Strong patrolled the glass on both sides of the floor, KK Arnold was a pest in UConn’s backcourt defense and Paige Bueckers drilled eight second half field goals as the Huskies took sole control of first place in the Big East on Saturday.
Strong recorded her fourth double-double of 20-plus points on the season (and fifth overall), as the seven-time Big East Freshman of the Week put her bid in for an eighth selection after scoring 26 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and nabbing five steals in the win.
Bueckers caught fire in the second half, taking the reins from Strong (who scored 16 first half points). The redshirt senior scored 19 of her 22 points in the second half, including a stretch of pullups from the top of the key that aided in the Huskies’ second half surge.
Arnold also got involved on the offensive end early, hitting the team’s first three-pointer of the game from the right wing. The sophomore made her mark – as she usually does – on the defensive end by grabbing four rebounds, snaring two steals in her time off the bench.
Arnold, however, was not the sixth man, as freshman Morgan Cheli was the first off the bench for head coach Geno Auriemma. Arnold, Ashlynn Shade and Ice Brady all checked in shortly thereafter.
Creighton started the afternoon’s scoring with a triple from first-time starter Jayme Horan. Connecticut swiftly took the lead with baskets from Strong and Azzi Fudd, never giving it back as the Huskies climbed further away from the Bluejays each quarter.
The two best – and most efficient – offenses in the Big East started a combined 5/16 from the field as the first quarter media timeout commenced. After Creighton scored a quick four to knot things up at 11, UConn found baskets from Strong and Arnold down low to re-claim its four-point lead.
Bueckers and Chen missed 3-point looks as the Huskies started 0/6 as a team in the period. The first-quarter shooting blunders allowed Creighton to stick around offensively, and Morgan Maly found her first points as the quarter expired with a teardrop from the block to bring the Jays within two.
Kaitlyn Chen missed a look from deep to open the second quarter before Arnold ended the drought from three on her fourth make of the season to put the Huskies up five. Strong and Bueckers combined for the team’s next five, stretching the Husky lead to six before the second quarter media timeout.
Both the Huskies (9/27) and Blue Jays (8/24) started 33% from the field and were tied in rebounds at 18 a piece at the mid-point of the second. The Huskies were generating open looks offensively but could not hit, clanking shots off the rim from deep when not finding open looks under the basket with Strong.
Creighton was struggling to free up leading scorers Maly and Lauren Jensen, with Arnold holding Jensen to a 2/6 start from the field in the first half.
The “Two-Jays” (Maly and Jensen) averaged over 35 points per game coming into the night but were held to a combined 18 on 10/27 shooting.
Out of the break, Chen read a Bluejay screen and poked the ball free before taking it to the rim at the other end to reach 1,400 career points. The basket was the catalyst in UConn’s 11-0 run that was made up of fast-break layups under the rim.
Connecticut ended the half on a 15-2 run over the final 7:09, holding the Blue Jays scoreless for periods of three minutes twice while forcing eight turnovers – 12 overall – and taking a 33-19 lead to the locker room.
Bueckers surged in the third period – scoring the team’s first seven points of the half – behind a 12-point, 5/8 mark from the field – as the Huskies hung its lead as high as 20 points before Creighton band-aided it to 18 at the end of the quarter.
Connecticut upped its shooting percentage by over 15% from the middle of the second quarter, reaching as high as a 42% mark from the field on 53 attempts. Bueckers and Arnold scored pivotal baskets that swung momentum in Connecticut’s favor, including an and-one off a fast break for Arnold that upped the lead to 18.
The fourth quarter saw Connecticut hold off the Blue Jays while trying to run down the clock offensively, with Strong, Bueckers and Chen combining for all 15 Husky points.
UConn defeated Creighton by 11 points to remain perfect in Big East play (10-0), marking only the second time the Huskies have won by less than 20 in conference play.
Connecticut will next be in action on Jan. 29, traveling to Chicago to take on the DePaul Blue Demons at 7 p.m.