After two quarters, a high-stakes shootout was developing inside Mohegan Sun Arena. The top-seeded UConn Women’s Basketball team led 47-37 at halftime in the Big East Tournament Semifinals against the fifth-seeded Villanova Wildcats.
Until Sunday afternoon, no Big East team had scored more than 35 points against the Huskies in the first half all season. Behind their backcourt of Maddie Webber, Maddie Burke and Jasmine Bascoe, Villanova shot 43.2% through 20 minutes.
Connecticut shot 63.3% from the floor in that span but only went 11-28 in the second half. Yet the Huskies more than doubled up the Wildcats’ offense in the last two periods because of their tight defense.
UConn allowed just 17 points in the second half, 10 of them on free throws, as they walloped Villanova 82-54 in Uncasville.
The Wildcats did not make a field goal for over 15 minutes while giving the ball away seven times in those two quarters. Pesky as the Huskies’ defense was, the first half served as a “wake-up call” with multiple tough postseason contests looming.
“We cannot have any other halves, any quarters, any little stretches with our defense being like that,” graduate guard Azzi Fudd explained postgame. “We need to continue to take pride in our defense for a full 40 minutes.”
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Even with the defensive lapses in the first half, Connecticut could count on redshirt senior Paige Bueckers. The three-time Big East Player of the Year scored 20 points against the No. 8-seed St. John’s Red Storm yesterday. Bueckers outscored herself in the first half alone with 21 points on 9-13 shooting.
“When [Villanova] took the lead, I think that was the turning point for her because she started playing and started taking it upon herself,” head coach Geno Auriemma said about the 2021 National Player of the Year, who went on to score 23 points, record six assists and reject a shot. “I did not have to do anything; she just instinctively has to know these things.”
Big East Freshman of the Year Sarah Strong possessed that same mindset. Despite not making a three-pointer, Strong posted another dominant double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds. The reigning McDonald’s All-American Game co-MVP shot a more efficient 8-14 from the floor while dealing out four assists. Defensively, Strong set a new career high in rebounds while picking up two blocks and three steals.
Fudd spread out her impact across the entire game. The All-Big East First Team selection scored at least two points each quarter, ultimately finishing with 14 and two three-pointers. But beyond her offense, Fudd contributed defensively with four total rebounds and two steals.
The Huskies’ big three controlled the offense, but they were not the only ones who got involved. 6-foot-5 center Jana El Alfy also flirted with a double-double with seven points and seven rebounds. Former Princeton Tiger Kaitlyn Chen had five points and three dimes. Four different bench players, meanwhile, each had three points.
Villanova’s star underclassmen reintroduced themselves to a national audience on FOX. Bascoe utilized her speed for seven first-half points while Webber led the Wildcats with 15. Juniors Ryanne Allen and Denae Carter each recorded 10 points and a block. Burke rounded out Villanova’s main contributors with eight points and four rebounds.
Unlike Saturday’s quarterfinals, the Huskies made their first two shots from the floor and three of their first six. A Fudd triple and three consecutive Bueckers jumpers midway through the first quarter propelled Connecticut to a 15-8 advantage at the media timeout.
But the Wildcats clawed back. Villanova responded to an El Alfy free throw with a 7-0 run in less than a minute. The Huskies quickly countered with a 5-0 run, but Webber closed the quarter with the period’s last four points.
Burke followed suit with the Wildcats’ next five on consecutive possessions early in the second. Although the graduate guard could not put Villanova out in front from downtown, Bascoe grabbed the miss and immediately landed the go-ahead layup.
Allen countered the Virginia native’s second bucket to give the Wildcats a 31-30 advantage. That is when the two-time WBCA Coaches’ All-American started taking over. Bueckers scored seven straight points on three pull-up jumpers; it spearheaded a 17-6 UConn run that ended the first half.
Strong, who nearly had a first-half double-double, built off her last-second layup with six points and five rebounds in the third quarter. UConn shot just 4-12 in that frame, yet they had four more field goals than Villanova. The Wildcats shot 0-8 from the field in that same stretch, with all six of their points coming via free throws.
Allen ended Villanova’s second-half field goal drought with a jumper with 4:45 left in regulation. Despite making two more buckets, the Wildcats could not get the deficit under 25 as the Huskies advanced to their 21st consecutive conference championship game.
While Auriemma was frustrated about his team’s performance in the second quarter, the second half felt more like UConn playing their brand of basketball.
“It was a good way to finish the game,” the 40th-year head coach noted afterward. “Hopefully, we will bring that momentum tomorrow.”
UConn goes for their 23rd Big East Tournament title against the No. 2-seed and 23rd-ranked Creighton Bluejays. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. on FS1.
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