On November 19, 2023, Caroline Ducharme scored three points and grabbed three rebounds in 13 minutes against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
It was the last time Ducharme would appear in a game until Saturday afternoon. What started as missing the Cayman Islands Classic with neck spasms turned into sitting out the season to recover from head and neck injuries.
Recently, Ducharme had been warming up with the No. 5 UConn women’s basketball team before tip-off of multiple games. But 461 days after her last game, the 2022 All-Big East Second Team guard checked back in.
Multiple Huskies clapped as Ducharme put on a headband and walked onto the court; Jana El Alfy hugged her once she arrived. The redshirt junior’s long-awaited return highlighted the Huskies’ 86-47 victory over the Butler Bulldogs at a sold-out Hinkle Fieldhouse.
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Although she only snagged one rebound in 2:11, head coach Geno Auriemma greatly appreciated having Ducharme back.
“It has been a long time coming for her,” Auriemma expressed postgame. “She finally got cleared and was hoping that she would get an opportunity. I am glad that we were able to give her that and build on it little by little and see where that takes us.”
Connecticut’s defense mostly shut Butler down. Remove the third quarter, where the Bulldogs scored 25 points, and the Huskies gave up 22 and limited their opponent to 24% shooting. Overall, the Huskies held Butler to a 32.7% clip from the floor and forced 22 turnovers while having four times as many steals.
Redshirt senior Paige Bueckers passed Diana Taurasi for ninth on UConn’s all-time list in scoring Wednesday night. In Indianapolis, the two-time Big East Player of the Year passed Kerry Bascom, Nykesha Sales and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis for sole possession of sixth. Bueckers, who climbed the leaderboard with a second-quarter triple, also secured her second straight double-double with 23 points and 10 assists.
First-year forward Sarah Strong finished one rebound shy of achieving that feat while taking 13 shots against the Bulldogs. Despite it, Strong flirted with a triple-double with 16 points, nine boards and five dimes.
Sophomore guard Ashlynn Shade, meanwhile, delighted the Huskies fans who came to Hinkle Fieldhouse and the nearby Noblesville crowd. Shade specifically took over the final frame, burying three three-pointers on four tries and scoring 10 of her 14 points.
Graduate guards Azzi Fudd and Kaitlyn Chen rounded out UConn’s five double-digit scorers. Fudd did not take a shot until the first half’s final seconds; she ultimately scored 10 points on 5-6 shooting. Chen, meanwhile, also had 10 points, half of which came in the final frame, with four rebounds and five assists.
Belmont transfer Kilyn McGuff and first-year guard Lily Zeinstra paced the Bulldogs’ offense. Each guard scored 13 points, eight of which came in the third quarter, nailed three triples and played over 30 minutes. McGuff also led the team with seven rebounds and two of their three steals.
Sydney Jaynes peppered the paint with four points, three shot attempts and two rebounds in the opening three minutes. Connecticut, down 6-4, upped their aggressiveness in the post when the senior forward checked out.
Chen stole the inbounds pass following Bueckers’ floater, which set up Strong’s wide-open jumper from behind the charity stripe. Those two buckets sparked a 10-0 Huskies run that Makalusky ended with a three-pointer. The two-time WBCA Coaches’ All-American answered on the other end and helped cap off a 17-3 run that lasted the period’s final seven minutes.
Zeinstra halted Butler’s six-minute scoring drought with a corner three-pointer. Another three minutes passed before the Bulldogs buried a two-pointer. When McGuff accomplished that task, UConn countered with two triples and a Fudd floater before the buzzer.
The Virginia native’s last-second jumper gave the Huskies a 42-17 halftime lead. Connecticut extended their advantage to 31 points before Butler called their second timeout. The stoppage and ensuing media timeout woke up the Bulldogs offense.
Butler picked up points on nine of their last 13 possessions. It started with four consecutive three-pointers between both media timeouts. Cristen Carter followed that up with two layups on four possessions before the Michigan native ended the quarter with a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
Despite the Bulldogs’ nearly efficient offense, Connecticut shot 11-18 in the quarter and led by as many points (22) as they scored. Fudd and Bueckers accounted for 14 of the Huskies’ points at a combined 7-8 clip.
Butler cut the deficit to 20 with five points from their freshmen early in the final frame; they did not score again. UConn buried five triples, three of which came from Shade, and they closed the game on a 19-0 run. Ducharme played the final 2:21 as the Huskies finished 10-2 in true regular-season road contests.
Connecticut’s defense played much differently in the fourth quarter compared with the third. Saturday afternoon provided a critical lesson that the Huskies learned with postseason play looming.
“You have to play the full 40 minutes,” the 40th-year head coach said postgame. “I thought that fourth quarter, we responded pretty well.”
UConn still has two pivotal home contests left in the regular season. The No. 23 Creighton Bluejays enter the XL Center on Thursday night. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. on CBSSN.
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