WBB: Sweet second half allows Huskie to roll in Bridgeport’s semifinals
BRIDGEPORT-Hoosiers were on hand for Sweet 16 action of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Total Mortgage Arena on Saturday, but there was no upset worthy of a Hollywood ending in store.
Behind a 16-0 run that opened the third quarter, the second-seeded Connecticut Huskies (28-5) moved on to their 16th consecutive Regional Final round, as they topped No. 3 Indiana by a 75-58 final in the second leg of Bridgeport’s Sweet 16 doubleheader. Olivia Nelson-Ododa put in a 10-point, 14-rebound showing while Aaliyah Edwards evenly split 10 rebounds between offense and defense in falling one point short of matching the senior’s double-double performance. Christyn Williams (7-of-11 from the field) led the team in scoring alongside Paige Bueckers, as the pair united for 15 each.
Extending their Elite streak was nothing out of the ordinary for conventional bracket viewers, but UConn brass knew that ending Indiana’s rise to national prominence would be no easy task. The Hoosiers (24-9) were vying for consecutive regional final appearances for the first time in program history, armed with experienced firepower that featured five scorers averaging double figures.
Though seeded third, some overlooked the Hoosiers in a bracket topped by North Carolina State and UConn, along with exciting dark horses like Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and UCF. Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma wasn’t among the doubters.
“I think the team..that really kind of escaped people's radar is one of the toughest teams that we've played all year long,” Aureiemma said. “Playing Indiana is probably as difficult an assignment as there is for your guards. Their guards put so much pressure on your guards. They're so aggressive with the ball.”
The Hoosiers’ might was present in the early going, as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead behind forced turnovers and missed easy shots. But the Huskies, as they have so many times in this trying season, proved themselves worthy of second chances…this time in a literal sense.
In commencing the early comeback, capping the opening frame on a 19-10 run over the last six minutes, the Huskies made their fortune through second chance opportunities. Of note, Williams hauled down two offensive boards on a single possession that trimmed the deficit to 18-16 in the penultimate minute, her interior efforts eventually leading to an Azzi Fudd triple. Edwards carried on the clinic in the second quarter, creating four extra UConn chances in that frame alone.
The sophomore’s efforts made the battle on the offensive glass particularly one-sided, as UConn won that battle 15-2. Nelson-Ododa, a senior partaking in her final UConn contests, mentioned that it was all part of the gameplan to stop the Hoosiers and expressed her confidence in leaving the future of rebounding in the hands of Edwards, whose averages have gone up by over a full point since late January.
“I think, throughout the season, rebounding has been a point of emphasis, especially from the coaches, and just going out there today, I think staying in an aggressive mentality and just keep attacking, keep crashing the boards was really huge for us,” Nelson-Ododa said. “You've been able to see (Edwards’) growth throughout the entire season, and I think she's really peaking at the right moment, and you can definitely see it when she plays. She's aggressive and she keeps that mentality throughout the entire game, and she really contributes a lot on both ends.”
The pesky Hoosiers lingered in the ball game thanks in part to what some saw as intervention from the officials, as what initially appeared to be a shot clock violation at the end of the second quarter was ruled to be a UConn rebound and turnover with just over a second remaining. Indiana took full advantage of the relative gift, with Aleksa Gulbe sinking a triple from the corner to make it a 37-33 halftime deficit.
What could’ve gone down as a permanent momentum changer instead became a source of championship motivation: perhaps perfectly coinciding with their 16th straight regional final visit, the Huskies opened the second half with 16 unanswered points over the first four minutes, putting the game out of relative reach. Once the UConn lead inflated to 20, Indiana never got the affair back to single digits.
“We were not happy (with) how the first half ended. They got an easy three at the buzzer,” Williams said. “So I guess the emphasis at halftime was just (to) come out straight out the gate with our defense. Like we have to be aware of what's going on at all times, and I thought we did a great job with that, and then we got easy buckets in transition.”
Williams and Bueckers were responsible for all but two points of the onslaught. The latter’s 17 attempts were her most since coming back from a December injury that cost her over two months of play. Auriemma was pleased with her more “assertive” role in the outcome, a conventionally accepted one-sided Huskies March win.
Though Bueckers slowly started to resemble her old self on Saturday, Auriemma has likewise appreciated the efforts of his upperclassmen. The future path in Storrs has undoubtedly been paved by the hope and talent of young talents like Bueckers, Edwards, Fudd, and others, but Auriemma couldn’t have been more pleased with the way that Nelson-Ododa and Williams are taking full advantage of their final NCAA Tournament saga.
“Christyn and Liv…they've been through a lot in these four years in the NCAA Tournament. They missed one, and they really played tonight like they didn't want the season to end,” Auriemma said. “There comes a point when you're a senior and you've played as much
basketball as Christyn and Liv have, where you have to put it on your own shoulders and go, I have control over how this ends. They actually do. They have more control than I do. So you have to exercise that control, and that's what (they’re) doing for the first time in her career.”
Indiana was paced by 16 points from Ali Patberg, who sank 7-of-9 from the field. The season’s leading scorer, Grace Berger, put in 13 but was limited to converting only 4-of-11, including 1-of-4 in the fourth quarter as their long-denied regional final dreams slipped away.
With the win, UConn will now face top-seeded NC State in Monday’s Elite Eight action (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Wolfpack (32-3) advanced through a thrilling comeback victory over No. 5 Notre Dame in the opener to Saturday’s action. UConn and NC State have faced off three times in postseason play, with the Huskies winning two of the three contests, the last coming in 2007’s Sweet 16.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
