A look at UConn women’s first-round NCAA Tournament game and biggest questions
The No. 2 seed UConn women’s basketball team will be making its 33rd consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, beginning with its first-round game against No. 15 seed Mercer on Saturday at Gampel Pavilion.
UConn will not have to play outside Connecticut to reach the Women’s Final Four, which is unusual for a No. 2 seed. If the Huskies beat Mercer and either Florida or UCF in the second round, they would move on to Bridgeport for the Sweet 16. Possible opponents there include No. 1-seeded North Carolina State.
Here are some things to know about the bracket:
UConn’s outlook
First-round opponent: No. 15 Mercer.
When: Saturday at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.
Scouting report: Located in Macon, Georgia, the Bears have reached the tournament four times in five years. Before turning Division I, the program reached the Division II Final Four in 1985. Coach Susie Gardner, in her 11th season, played and coached under Andy Landers at Georgia. In the three recent tournament appearances, Mercer has lost to Georgia, Iowa and South Carolina.
Key takeaways for UConn
Paige Bueckers, UConn’s best player, missed nine weeks with a knee injury but returned Feb. 25. At one time or another, Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Christyn Williams, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aubrey Griffin all missed significant time. All but Griffin are back now, and the Huskies have the deepest bench, UConn coach Geno Auriemma says, since the late 1990s.
The deep rotation has helped UConn play perpetually aggressive defense in games. Nika Mühl was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
“It’s funny,” Auriemma said. “Most teams are shortening their rotation when the tournament comes around. Ours has been getting bigger.”
The Huskies hottest player going into the tournament is Williams, the Big East Tournament MVP. She averaged 14.6 points per game during the season.
Hometown bound?
If the Huskies can get back to the Women’s Final Four at the Target Center in Minneapolis, it would be a homecoming for Bueckers, who played her high school basketball at Hopkins in nearby Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Big East feast
To Auriemma’s delight, four Big East teams made the 68-team field, including Villanova, DePaul and Creighton.
Geno says
“Sometimes it’s about individual matchups, sometimes it’s about style matchups. You can’t pick who you’re going to play, but you keep your fingers crossed and hope we get a team that can’t handle any of the stuff we’re going to do. Or get a team that does stuff we’ve seen 100 times. I hope we don’t get a team that’s nothing like what we’ve seen all year. Matchups are the key. That’s everything in this tournament, You run into the wrong team at the wrong time, you’re done.”
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com
