Back in June, I wrote a column about the highly anticipated matchup between Sarah Strong and Audi Crooks. It went down Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in the second game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase. Although the No. 4 UConn women’s basketball team’s three-point shooting stole the spotlight in Uncasville, Connecticut, that battle of the bigs more than exceeded expectations.
Strong won the first meeting between the giants after scoring a career-best 29 points with five three-pointers and five two-pointers. The North Carolina native also finished a rebound shy of her third-career double-double. Crooks, meanwhile, hovered around her season average with 22 points on 9-14 shooting.
Had this game occurred last season, the sophomore center would have been competing against 6-foot-3 forward Aaliyah Edwards. Strong has quickly emerged as the Huskies’ next superstar forward, but her predecessor was just as special of a post player.
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Especially when Paige Bueckers missed the 2022-23 campaign, the 2021 Big East Sixth Woman of the Year served as a reliable scoring option. Edwards led Connecticut with 615 points (16.6 per game) that season, the ninth-most by a junior in program history. Only five other seniors scored more than the 2024 first-round pick’s 652 points last year. Edwards ultimately finished her career with 1,861 points, which was 15th all-time until Bueckers passed her last Sunday.
Consistent as she was on offense, the two-time AP All-American was just as dangerous when she hauled in missed shots. Edwards snagged 1,020 rebounds, good for eighth all-time, across four seasons at UConn. Her 332 boards in 2022-23 rank third across every junior campaign in program history, and her 341 last year are fifth among seniors. Until the USBWA All-American accomplished it last year, no Husky had recorded consecutive 300-rebound campaigns since four-time national champion Breanna Stewart.
Despite averaging 7.3 rebounds in her career, it was not until UConn’s 2024 Final Four run that Edwards joined some elite company. The Ontario native became the program’s ninth-ever player to grab 1,000 career rebounds during a Sweet 16 win over the Duke Blue Devils.
Only five other Huskies have scored 1,800+ points and grabbed at least 1,000 boards. Rebecca Lobo entered the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017; the rest could join her in Springfield in the future.
Edwards’ 18 double-doubles in 37 games last year were the third-most in a single season in UConn’s history. Only Lobo (19; 1993-94) and Napheesa Collier (25; 2018-19) recorded more. The 2023 Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player’s senior season accounted for over half of her 35-career double-doubles, which ranks sixth all-time.
While Edwards did not average a double-double in any season, her former teammate, Dorka Juhasz, almost did. Juhasz averaged 14.2 points and 9.9 rebounds in her final collegiate campaign. Both she and Olivia Nelson-Ododa also had a season where they averaged at least three assists and a block per game. Learning from both post players greatly helped the Wooden All-American take over when Connecticut had little depth at the position.
Edwards more than earned her reputation as a durable athlete. The Huskies experienced a litany of injuries between the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons that regularly left them shorthanded. At one point in January of 2023, UConn had no choice but to postpone a conference clash due to a lack of available players.
Across those three campaigns, no Husky appeared in more games than the 2024 WBCA All-American’s 110. Connecticut played 112 contests in those three years; Edwards’ two games missed were the fewest among any individual who played multiple seasons. Only Nika Mühl (four) missed fewer than 10 games among multi-year Huskies.
The 2022 Big East All-Tournament Team selection earned several accolades throughout her collegiate career. Edwards won eight total Big East championships, earned Big East Player of the Week honors four times and played in three Final Fours.
The one thing that eluded her, though, was a national championship, something that has not been in UConn’s clutches for nearly a decade. Despite not taking home a national title, the 2022 Phil Knight Legacy MVP still shined as one of the program’s premiere frontcourt players.
Edwards is undoubtedly a top 10 center, but she stands out even more as one of the Huskies’ top five all-time power forwards. With what she did on both ends of the floor, she should be up there alongside Maya Moore-Irons and Swin Cash.
The 22-year-old forward attended Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey’s ruby anniversary celebration at Gampel Pavilion last month. She joined 62 other former players on the court postgame after Auriemma became college basketball’s winningest coach. The next time Edwards steps on that hardwood, whenever that is, she will very likely join a pantheon of players in the Huskies of Honor.
It will all but solidify her status as a UConn legend.
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