WBB: Dorka Juhasz makes an unconventional, impactful, March Madness debut
STORRS-Members of the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team are introduced to the NCAA Tournament at a young age. An active streak of 33 consecutive appearances in the Big Dance tends to create perpetual postseason opportunities, after all.
It’s thus a rare, if not downright dumbfounding, occurrence when a senior in Storrs has never stepped onto the Big Dance floor. A mostly partisan crowd at Gampel Pavilion saw the phenomenon play out on Saturday afternoon when graduate transfer Dorka Juhasz entered the second-seeded Huskies’ first-round, Bridgeport Region showdown with No. 15 Mercer.
It’s hardly Juhasz’s fault that it took this long to extend her season this late into March. The Hungarian’s hardwood endeavors began at Ohio State in 2018, shortly after Kelsey Mitchell answered her WNBA call. A freshman year of rebuilding ended in the 2019 WNIT and nothing more needed to be said about the lost tournament of 2020 (a year that saw the Buckeyes win 21 games). Last season, a self-imposed postseason ban in response to claims of misconduct against a former basketball assistant coach ended dreams of March in December.
As bad luck came for her at every turn, Juhasz countered her team’s misfortune with individual accolades headlined by a pair of First-Team All-Big Ten selections, joining a very select group of Buckeyes earned multiple conference honors (including Mitchell, Katie Smith, Jantel Lavender, and Jessica Davenport). In addition to impressing such voters, Juhasz was also wowing Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma and his staff. Several conferences amongst Auriemma and his recruiting department yielded Juhasz, twice a non-conference opponent of the Huskies in 2018 and 2019, from the transfer portal prior to this season.
Though UConn emerged victorious on both occasions, Juhasz left a winning impression on the long-tenured Huskies boss. Auriemma admitted that he wasn’t fully versed in the fateful meeting that set Juhasz on a path to Storrs, but when the interior threat that took the Huskies to the relative brink in her sophomore season…a stellar fourth quarter created a deceiving 73-62 final in Columbus.
The rest is new Connecticut history, though chapters are still being written, though Juhasz’s peers have made it clear that it’s going to end with a happy ending one or another. When Juhasz’s family was unable to attend Senior Day festivities in Storrs in February, she was instead escorted to center court by nearly a dozen new family members: her teammates. A slice of home nonetheless awaited Juhasz before tip-off: the traditional pregame rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was accompanied by the playing of “Himnusz”, the Hungarian equivalent.
Juhasz’s basketball contributions have been likewise appreciated: fellow transfer and senior Evina Westbrook, formerly of Tennessee, found transitioning hard enough when she had the relative benefit of sitting out a year to learn the Connecticut systems. Though Juhasz was afforded no such luxury, Westbrook was in awe of what she was able to accomplish.
“She's done an amazing job...having to come out here and having to be being a senior, be an older guy, having to lead, but still having to, adjust and learn things at the same time. she's done a tremendous job,” Westbrook said. “(Also), the language barrier, being from out of the country that's something that I couldn't imagine myself doing. Her English is great…everything that she's just put into the team on and off the court, I think speaks volumes and more about Dorka.”
Inevitable as Juhasz’s postseason breakthrough would be in Storrs, there was no way that she would simply buckle her proverbial seatbelt and hitch a ride to March. She made herself an indispensable part of the modern UConn program and was one of several replacements who rose to the occasion when injuries ate at the seasons of some Connecticut mainstays. Juhasz formally introduced herself to a national audience through a 16-point, 16-rebound showing in the Huskies’ neutral-site victory over UCLA in Newark on Dec. 11.
That theme came full circle on Saturday when Juhasz served as Connectiicut’s busiest contributor in their 83-38 win over the Bears, once again creating a duplicate double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, the latter leading all participants at Gampel Pavilion’s tournament opener. Juhasz’s defensive prowess also played a big role in a third quarter that saw the Huskies (26-5) keep the Bears off the board entirely.
“That was my first (postseason) game, so obviously I was a little nervous, (but) excited to be here and it just felt good,” Juhasz, partly trying to hide her euphoria and perhaps relief, said after the win. “It felt good that I was out on the court with this team and I'm happy that we got this win.”
“Dorka's a competitive kid and I love how hard she plays,” Auriemma added. “I love how competitive she is. It never surprises me how hard she works defensively, how hard she works rebounding the ball. That's probably been the biggest contribution that she's made to our team.”
To the head coach’s point, Juhasz was averaging only 3.3 rebounds over UConn’s first four games. As it stands, she has nearly doubled that output to earn an even six. Juhasz was also able to up her scoring average a full five points since Dec. 9, as she currently earns just under eight points a contest.
True to form, Juhasz was far from satisfied with the mere appearance of an impactful showing, undeniable as it may have been to those gathered in Storrs. She was keen on moving on from a tough 2-of-7 shooting night and while she was praised for the physicality that got her to the free throw line, she wished to do far better than sinking six of her team-best nine attempts.
“Obviously it wasn't perfect and, personally, my play wasn't perfect either,” Juhasz said of the win. “But it was definitely a good experience for me.”
In more conventional postseason debuts, Caroline Ducharme tallied 10 points to go with six rebounds and three steals while fellow freshman Azzi Fudd earned all nine of her points on a perfect outing from three-point range. Juhasz’s double-double marked the second year that a Huskies postseason rookie earned a double-double, following in the footsteps of Aaliyah Edwards’ 17-point, 12-rebound output in last year’s opener against High Point.
Appropriately enough, Juhasz’s former Columbus compatriots likewise finally found their tournament groove on Saturday, as the sixth-seed Buckeyes held off a challenge from No. 11 Missouri State in the Spokane Region. They’ll face third-place LSU in the Round of 32 next.
The Huskies’ quest for a 12th national title continues on Monday in Storrs, as they’ll battle No. 7 UCF at a time to be determined.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
