The seventh ranked UConn women’s basketball team (22-3, 13-0) will play host to St. John’s (13-10, 3-9) inside Gampel Pavilion this evening at 7:30 p.m.
Connecticut won the first meeting between the two Big East foes this season 71-45 on Jan. 15. The Huskies welcomed Paige Bueckers back to the lineup, who scored 12 points after missing the better part of two weeks with a knee injury.
UConn leads the all-time series against St. John’s 48-5 dating back to 1988, never having won by less than two possessions and averaging 79.3 points per game against the Johnnies.
All three of Connecticut’s losses have come to non-conference opponents (Notre Dame, USC and Tennessee), as the Huskies head into Wednesday sporting a 33-game Big East regular season game win streak.
The last Husky Big East regular season loss? A five-point defeat in February 2023 to St. John’s. The Red Storm held the Huskies to a 35% mark from the field, downing UConn 69-65 in the XL Center.
The blueprint to defeat the Johnnies is readily available this time around, however. St. John’s ranks last in the Big East in effective field goal percentage allowed (53.2) and two-point defense (53.9), per Bart Torvik – perhaps a function of its small-ball lineup.
Conversely, the Huskies rank second – nationally in EFG% (57.6) and two-point offense (58.2). Finding open shots (much like Azzi Fudd did during the teams’ first meeting) and cashing them in will open this game early.
The Johnnies’ leading scorer, Lashae Dwyer, scored just two points when the Huskies visited Queens in January – tying her season low and marking just the third time she had not reached double-figures up to that point.
Only one Johnny managed to score double-digit points that night; guard Ber’Nyah Mayo. The team shot a rocky 32.7% from the field and 20.8% from three in the 26-point loss.
The Red Storm prefer to slow the tempo offensively, running the Big East’s slowest offense per Bart Torvik, yet continuously attempted to push the pace against the Huskies back in January.
Which SJU offense will Geno Auriemma see? Considering the Johnnies are 3-9 in their last 12 and haven’t scored above 70 points since Dec. 15 (Fairfield), it isn’t completely off the table that the Red Storm will accelerate the tempo in hopes of an offensive renaissance.
Keys to Victory for No. 7 UConn:
Instituting the full court press will go a long way in making the Red Storm uncomfortable, make everything difficult for an offense in a clear slump and force turnovers.
Find the playmakers. Bueckers, Strong, Fudd and Chen must all get premium looks early. Build an early lead and make the SJU offense play from behind.
Don’t get ahead of Wednesday. Sunday is Sunday – focus on the Gamecocks then.