WBB: Bueckers returns as Huskies dominate in Hartford final
HARTFORD-Armed with the closest thing they’ll have to a complete team on Friday night, the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team treated a restless nation to a complete effort amidst utter domination.
Paige Bueckers, the defending player of the year for several institutions, took to the Connecticut court for the first time since Dec. 5, putting in eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. It was part of a tremendous offensive output for the hosting Huskies, paced by Azzi Fudd’s 19 (7-of-9, 5-of-7 from three-point range), who crushed St. John’s by a 93-38 final at XL Center. Connecticut shot 64 percent from the field (40-of-63) and led by as much as 58.
With Bueckers back in the lineup, No. 7 UConn (21-5, 15-1 Big East) had a full roster arsenal to work with, with the exception of Aubrey Griffin, who has already been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Bueckers’ sophomore season has been mostly erased by surgeries to repair both a knee injury and a meniscus tear. She played a dozen minutes off the bench in her return, adding two rebounds and an assist in that effort.
By the time Bueckers was ready to make her entry, the game was firmly locked in the Huskies’ favor after jumping out to a 17-0 lead by the midway mark of the first quarter. The early sealing was secured when Fudd and Nika Muhl sank each of the team’s first three-point attempts (Fudd hitting two en route to her team-best tally in scoring).
With the game already well in hand, the only drama left was exactly when Bueckers would make her entry. Her rearrival came with 3:41 remaining in the first half as part of a mostly wholesale change that also saw Dorka Juhasz and Evina Westbrook play the first minutes of their Hartford finales. Bueckers picked up a rebound off a Juhasz blocked that led to Fudd’s fastbreak triple before capping off the opening frame with a buzzer-beating jumper that created a 30-8 lead and sent the arena into hysterics.
That Bueckers crowdpleaser was part of another 17-0 run over the early quarters, allowing the Huskies to coast the rest of the way. Though they fell three points short of winning by their largest margin of the night, the 55-point difference was the Huskies' most one-sided effort of the 2021-22 season. With Fudd leading the way, five UConn representatives reached double figures: Aaliyah Edwards needed only 19 minutes to score 16 points and pull down seven rebounds while Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Christyn Williams scored 13 each in their final Hartford showings. Future XL Center staple Caroline Ducharme matched the seniors with 13 of her own, while Westbrook assisted on 10 of the baskets in another farewell to New England’s Rising Star.
A solid streak for St. John’s (11-17, 7-11 Big East) ended with a thud, as the Red Storm sank only 14-of-53 from the field (26 percent). No Red Storm representative reached double-figures
despite the team entering as victors in four of their last five. Kadaja Bailey and Camree Clegg led the metropolitan visitors with nine each in defeat.
UConn will end its 2021-22 regular season on Sunday afternoon, as Senior Day ceremonies will be held prior to Providence’s visit (2 p.m. ET, CBSSN). The Friars (11-17, 6-13 Big East) have lost eight of their last ten, including a 69-61 defeat at the hands of the Huskies on Jan. 30 in Rhode Island.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
