When a basketball program is without their star player, the question arises of who will fill that void come game time.
The top-ranked UConn women’s basketball team was down five players Saturday afternoon for their matchup against Butler, including their leading scorer, Sarah Strong.
“Just trying to make sure whatever tightness she feels doesn’t go any further. If she had to play today, she would’ve played,” head coach Geno Auriemma said when asked about the decision to rest Strong. “I mean, that’s not a problem. But we’ve got a long way ahead of us.”
Despite being without one of their most integral roster members, UConn took care of business, defeating Butler 80-48.
In addition to Strong, UConn was without freshman Blanca Quiñonez (shoulder), Caroline Ducharme (migraine), Morgan Cheli and Ice Brady, who have been sitting out for most of the season due to an ankle injury and knee inflammation, respectively.
Even with five players out, the entire roster took it upon themselves to fill those voids.
Senior Azzi Fudd led her squad, scoring 17 points and dishing four assists. In addition, Allie Ziebell and Jana El Alfy achieved new career highs with four steals and 11 rebounds, respectively.
“I think sometimes less is more if you stick to ‘I need to be a better defender,’ ‘I need to be a better rebounder,’ ‘I need to be a better screener,’ ‘ball handler.’ Then, you know, whatever points are there, you’re going to be able to take advantage of those.” Auriemma said when asked about El Alfy, who has been working on her confidence as a contributor off the bench as of late.
Every starter including Fudd, KK Arnold, Ashlynn Shade, Serah Williams and Ziebell, who started in place of Strong, finished with points in the double digits.
As the game kicked off, the Huskies’ offense was stagnant, making the absence of Strong and Quiñonez transparent.
“Especially the first half, I felt her absence when just I felt like we weren’t attacking enough,” Fudd said postgame when asked about when her squad felt Strong’s absence the most. “But I thought all of us just know it’s hard to pick up when someone like Sarah Strong’s out. But I saw all of us just trying to do a little bit more.”
In the second quarter, the Huskies started to get more comfortable on the offensive end, forcing the Bulldogs to only put up six points.
At the end of the first half, the Huskies led 44-19.
With such a sizeable lead, Auriemma utilized the depth of his bench to his advantage, including players like Kelis Fisher to wreak havoc on the defensive end.
“The great thing about Kelis [Fisher] is that she’s so explosive and she can just singlehandedly change a game and we have to weigh all the time, ‘What percentage of the time is she helping our team,’ and ‘What percentage of the time is she helping the other team?’” Auriemma said postgame, “Every day she’s getting better, every day, every day she’s learning more, every day she’s communicating better.”
Fisher finished the afternoon with a total of six points and three rebounds, leading UConn’s defensive charge in the second half.
Throughout the game, UConn capitalized, contributing 37 points to their final score off the 23 turnovers they forced on Butler. In addition, the Huskies racked up 42 total points in the paint.
With this win, Connecticut will extend their winning streak to 41 games and in addition to it just being a regular season game, the Huskies played for more than just basketball.
The Huskies held their annual Play4Kay game, honoring those who have been affected by cancer.
“I imagine everyone has someone their life that’s been affected by cancer,” Fudd said postgame, “I know I have, so to play in this game, to play for them — I mean, we play every game for the name on our chest, but then today, to play for all those other people, it’s an honor.”
UConn will pivot their focus to the second game of their conference homestand. The Huskies will gear up to take on the Creighton Bluejays at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday evening.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans can tune in to the game on Peacock.