UConn women’s basketball avoids back-to-back losses with 71-61 confidence-instilling win over UCLA

Two days after a stunning loss to unranked Georgia Tech, where Geno Auriemma said he feared the team lacked direction on how to turn things around, the No. 3 UConn women’s basketball team did just that versus UCLA in the Never Forget Tribute Classic.

The Huskies rebounded from a so-so first half and used an offensive onslaught where five players reached double figures to take down UCLA, 71-61. With the win UConn (6-2) avoided back-to-back losses, something which hasn’t happened to the program since March 1993.

“I think that we’re just fighters,” said graduate transfer Dorka Juhász, who had her first double-double at UConn with 16 points and 16 rebounds. “We weren’t able to show that last game, but I think this game showed that we can fight back. No matter what happens with our team, who’s injured, it doesn’t matter. We have to play for each other and no matter what, just got to grind it out, play defense, be good on offense, share the ball and then win games.”

The Huskies fielded just seven players with Paige Bueckers (knee), Aubrey Griffin (leg/ankle/back), Azzi Fudd (foot) and Nika Mühl (foot) still sidelined, though Griffin was technically considered active. Despite trailing almost all of the first half, the Huskies outscored UCLA 22-14 in the decisive third quarter to retake the lead and never look back. A late run by UCLA, which was partly UConn’s fault after some missed free throws, cut the gap to four and made things interesting late. The Huskies then made just enough shots from the line down the stretch and warded off UCLA’s offense to ensure the win.

UConn’s 43 points on 45% shooting in the second half in particular were confidence-instilling as the Huskies learn how to navigate without Bueckers and await the return of fellow guards Mühl and Fudd.

“You can still play as a team even though you’re missing key components of your team,” Auriemma said. “I think the change [from Thursday] was let’s try to play as a team. Instead of five guys running up and down the floor and hoping something happens, play through each other, play for each other, make things happen for each other. That happened today.”

“This is who we are and we’re gonna keep continue doing this,” Juhász added.

Aside from Juhász’s season-best game, redshirt senior Evina Westbrook kept the Huskies afloat early with 11 first-half points (17 overall), while freshman Caroline Ducharme tied a career-high with 14, and seniors Christyn Williams (11) and Olivia Nelson-Ododa (10) also chipped in.

Before Nelson-Ododa’s layup with six seconds left in the first, Westbrook had scored all but two of UConn’s points and all of them from the field. The Huskies looked entirely out of sorts and not confident on offense, missing the rim on many of their shots. The problems bled into the early minutes of the second where UConn struggled on both ends. After UConn cut the deficit to five, UCLA stormed ahead by 11 with six unanswered points, forcing Auriemma to call a timeout.

From there UConn finally showed life and got into a groove behind an 11-2 run and seven unanswered points. To close the half, Williams’ drive-and-kick to an open Ducharme 3 made it a two-point game (30-28) going into the break.

After struggling in the first half, Williams scored her first basket of the day, a putback off her own miss, early in the third, pulling UConn within one. After the Bruins answered with a run of their own, UConn punched back with 14 unanswered points, a run initiated by five straight from Juhász.

“I’ve been struggling a little bit helping out my team offensively,” said Juhász, who finished 5-for-5 from the floor and made some big outside jumpers, including a 3. “I think just hitting those shots and getting those rebounds, that helped a lot to contribute in some positive ways for the team... I was able to help a little bit defensively. I’ve just got to keep learning moving forward.”

Westbrook’s floater gave UConn the lead for the first time since it was 1-0, and Williams then sank her first 3 of the afternoon to extend the advantage to eight. With the Huskies holding the Bruins scoreless from the field for over five minutes, they’d go into the fourth up 50-44.

“There were more clean stops by us, and then being able to get out in a little bit of transition and try to get some baskets early in the shot clock and around the lane. That gave us a little bit of momentum,” Auriemma said. “The team is a much different team right now, so we don’t have quite the ability to push the ball and spread the floor, but we can still run up and down the floor and get to the basket.”

UCLA got it within two early in the fourth after Auriemma was called for a technical when contesting a no-call where Westbrook was hit in the face, but the Huskies responded with a 13-1 run to pull away. Williams’ layup through contact earned UConn its first double-figure lead before Ducharme added a three and Juhász hit a free throw to make it a 14-point game at the 1:52 mark.

The Bruins made timely shots during a 10-0 run in the final two minutes, while Juhász and Westbrook missed a pair of free throws apiece, allowing the Bruins to close within four with 37.2 to play. The Huskies hit 16 of 28 free throws on the game, but just 9 of 19 in the fourth and at one point missing five straight.

“We did what we set out to do,” Auriemma said. “It’s not going to look pretty anymore. Not for a long time. And that’s ok. We’ve played so much pretty basketball over the years that we’re entitled to play some ugly basketball.”

The Huskies now have a week-long break before their next game, Dec. 19 versus Louisville at Mohegan Sun Arena, but fans shouldn’t hold their breath on seeing some of UConn’s injured players return.

“I’m not hopeful on anything before Christmas,” Auriemma said on Fudd’s status in particular. That’d allow her to have more time to recover, as the Huskies don’t player after that until Dec. 29.

Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com