UConn women’s basketball players surprised former Husky Evina Westbrook on weekend trip in New York. Here’s how they pulled it off.
Dorka Juhász likens herself and her UConn women’s basketball teammates to “FBI agents” after what they pulled off last weekend.
Their mission? To surprise former Husky Evina Westbrook, now playing professionally for the Minnesota Lynx, in New York before her game against the Liberty.
“It was kind of like a team thing that everybody was like, ‘We should see Evina,’” Juhász said. “It’s nice to see for us that she’s doing so great. And obviously it’s crazy how fast everything happened, you know, just a couple months and she’s not even on the team anymore, she’s a professional player. But it was a great weekend. I’m really happy we we were able to do that.”
UConn players had been waiting for the chance to watch Westbrook play in person. They looked up the WNBA schedule before the regular season even started, back when the 6-foot guard was in training camp with the Seattle Storm, who drafted her 21st overall in this year’s draft.
When Westbrook was waived by the Storm on May 4, the Huskies weren’t worried. In their minds, it wouldn’t be long until she found another team.
“We know who Evina is,” Juhász said. “We know she’s an amazing player, so we knew it’s gonna come.”
Sure enough the opportunity did come with the Lynx a little over a week after she was waived.
Once the news was announced, UConn players looked up Minnesota’s schedule. The idea was formed after they saw the game in New York on June 5. Everyone was on board, Juhász said.
From there, they launched a plan.
After the first week of summer workouts in Storrs, Juhász, Aaliyah Edwards, Amari DeBerry, Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Lou Lopez-Sénéchal and Paige Bueckers went to New York on Saturday. They tried to keep everything under wraps until they could reunite with Westbrook in the afternoon.
“We didn’t post anything on social media [before],” Ducharme said. “We were trying to be very secretive because we were there all day before we saw her.”
The sleuthing skills that had Juhász referring to the Huskies as “FBI agents” were key. Players found out what hotel the Lynx were staying at, what room Westbrook was staying in and how to get up there. Luckily they had some help from one of Westbrook’s teammates.
Once the players reached Westbrook’s hotel room, DeBerry put her finger over the peep hole so that their identity was kept a secret as they knocked on the door.
“She opened it and she was like, ‘What? When did this happen?’” Juhász said.
Westbrook was in shock.
“I remember the first couple of minutes ... she was just like, didn’t say anything,” Juhász recalled. “She was like, ‘I can’t believe you guys are here.’”
The group, which included transfer Lopez-Sénéchal meeting Westbrook for the first time, went out to dinner that night. They didn’t stay out late, to make sure Westbrook got enough sleep before the game, but enjoyed getting the chance to reconnect and discuss futures in the WNBA.
“It was nice to just catch up,” Juhász said. “It was nice to just talk about it, like how is the process? How is the transition from college to the WNBA? But it was nice to see that she’s doing good and she’s happy.”
Westbrook, who the Huskies affectionately referred to as “Momma E” during her time in Storrs, is averaging 3.0 points, 2.1 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game for the Lynx in her rookie year.
The following day, on Sunday, the UConn players finally got to see Westbrook play live at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Westbrook played a little under nine minutes with two assists, one rebound and one blocked shot. The Lynx defeated the Liberty, 84-77.
“It was really fun,” Ducharme said. “[She was] here with us a couple months ago and now seeing [her] play on the biggest stage, and she’s doing so well and she’s happy. And so it’s been great seeing her succeed.”
The New York trip was not only a chance for a Husky reunion with Westbrook, but also for players on the 2022-23 team to continue strengthening their bond with a fun weekend away from campus. Whether in Storrs or New York or somewhere else entirely, though, where you find one UConn player you’re sure to find another.
“I think it speaks a lot to the chemistry we have on the court,” Ducharme said. “Just because we live together, we’re here all the time, we do pretty much everything together. And I think the closer you are off the court, the more translates on the court and the better relationship we have with each other. So I think it is really special. Not a lot of teams are like that.”
Lila Bromberg can be reached at lbromberg@courant.com and @LilaBBromberg on Twitter.
