UConn women continue their march to Big East final, beat Marquette 81-52
Mar. 5—MOHEGAN — A few other things changed since Feb. 8, when Marquette upended UConn, making history at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee.
UConn's bench was a little deeper Sunday. The Huskies were at home in Connecticut instead of on the road. But mainly, there's an inferno that fuels the UConn women's basketball team when the calendar flips to March.
"I feel like that was the UConn of March we're used to seeing," Marquette coach Megan Duffy said. "I thought they were absolutely tremendous right out of the gate. ... We play them three times ever year, like, gosh, it gets harder when you get to that March game. Just the way they turn it up."
"I feel what was different today was that it's March and it's not any other month in the year," UConn point guard Nika Muhl said. "We're a different team in March. We highly believe it."
On Sunday, top-seeded UConn avenged the loss in Milwaukee, beating No. 5 Marquette 81-52 in the semifinals of the Big East Conference women's basketball tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Aaliyah Edwards was on automatic with 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Huskies (28-5), which advanced to meet No. 2 Villanova in the tournament championship at 7 p.m. Monday at the Sun (FS1). Villanova defeated No. 3 Creighton 63-61 in the other semifinal.
Against Marquette, Dorka Juhasz added 14 points and 11 rebounds and Muhl was the third UConn player with a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 10 assists. Lou Lopez Senechal had 14 points and Aubrey Griffin 11 points, 7 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Last time the teams played, Marquette handed UConn — coming off an 81-77 defeat against No. 1 South Carolina three days prior — its second straight loss. That was the first time the Huskies were dealt back-to-back losses since 1993.
March, however, is the month in which UConn has crafted 11 national championship seasons, the most of any team in history.
In this meeting, the Huskies outscored Marquette 48-8 in the paint, an effort of sheer domination by Edwards, Juhasz and Griffin, and used a lockdown effort on defense, limiting Golden Eagles first team all-league performers Jordan King and Chloe Marotta to a combined 3-for-24 shooting with seven points.
After Marquette pulled within five points with 4 minutes, 36 seconds remaining in the first half, UConn responded by going inside to Juhasz out of a timeout and outscored the Golden Eagles 12-2 for the remainder of the half.
UConn, which never trailed, led 37-22 at halftime and bumped that to 61-36 after three quarters, getting a three-point play by Juhasz with 29.8 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Muhl added a three-point play and an emotional fist pump in the fourth quarter and dished her 10th assist of the game to Edwards with 5:13 to play.
"They look more confident. They're playing faster. Their cut and their movement," Duffy said of what was different about UConn. "As you could see, we were a step slow. Then you add them being 6-foot-4 and 6-4 and 6-2 and 6-1."
Duffy lauded Edwards, a first team All-Big East selection as well as the league's Most Improved Player. Edwards had 12 points and four rebounds at halftime, including a flashy spin move to start the second quarter.
"I think she's one of the most improved players in the entire country," Duffy said. "She's an All-American in my eyes. I thought she really set the tone with her toughness and physicality. And then (it) just became a little contagious with all their players."
UConn will be vying for its 10th straight league tournament title — seven in the American Athletic Conference and three in the Big East — and its 28th overall. The Huskies have been in every conference tournament final since 2005.
UConn and Marquette were meeting in the semifinals for the second consecutive season and for the third straight time in the tournament. UConn won 71-51 in last year's semis and took the championship game over the Golden Eagles 73-39 in 2021.
In her second game back from being injured, UConn's Azzi Fudd played 20 minutes and scored four points. Caroline Ducharme also played, having been knocked out of Saturday's quarterfinal game after hitting her head.
Liza Karlen finished with 18 points for Marquette (22-10).
No. 1 UConn vs. No. 2. Villanova
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena
Tip: 7 p.m. (FS1)
Records: Villanova 28-5, UConn 28-5.
Last game: Villanova beat No. 3 Creighton in the Big East tournament semifinals 63-61; UConn beat No. 5 Marquette in the Big East tournament semifinals 81-52.
Last game's starters: Villanova, 6-2 F Christina Dalce (7.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.2 bpg), 6-2 F Maddy Siegrist (29.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.1 spg), 5-9 G Lucy Olsen (12.3 ppg, 4.4 apg, 1.4 spg), 5-11 G Brooke Mullin (3.3 ppg, 3.5 apg), 6-0 G Maddie Burke (7.6 ppg).
UConn, 6-3 F Aaliyah Edwards (16.5 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.2 bpg), 6-5 F Dorka Juhasz (14.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 3.1 apg), 6-1 G/F Lou Lopez Senechal (15.8 ppg), 6-1 F Aubrey Griffin (12.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.5 spg), 5-10 G Nika Muhl (7.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 7.8 apg, 1.4 spg).
Noteworthy: The teams play a rematch of last year's Big East tournament championship game, won by UConn 70-40. In that game, UConn's Evina Westbrook led a balanced attack with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists while fellow senior Christyn Williams earned Most Outstanding Player honors. ... In this tournament, the teams have reached the final in contrasting fashions. UConn, ranked ninth in the nation, has put together back-to-back blowouts over Georgetown (69-49) and Marquette (81-52), defensively locking down both. No. 11. Villanova, meanwhile, has won its two tournament games in breathtaking fashion, topping DePaul 71-70 on a free throw by Lucy Olsen with .7 seconds remaining in the quarterfinals and getting a defensive stop with four seconds remaining to beat Creighton by two in the semis. ... UConn, the Big East regular-season champion, swept the regular-season series against the Wildcats, winning 63-58 in Hartford on Jan. 29 and 60-51 at Villanova on Feb. 18. "Just kind of settling in, taking one possession at a time, not getting caught up or worrying about what didn't go our way maybe the first time," Villanova coach Denise Dillon said of facing the Huskies in the final. "Your ultimate goal is to get to that championship game. Everyone talks in conference play of winning a championship. So you've got to do a lot of work in order to get there. This team has done what's necessary to get there and they're familiar with UConn. They know to beat the best, you've got to be a lot better. So we've got work to do." ... UConn got a huge contribution in the semis — in seemingly every facet — from 6-foot-1 redshirt junior forward Aubrey Griffin, who had 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists, four steals and a blocked shot. Said UConn coach Geno Auriemma: "The big question is when's the next time we're going to see that Aubrey. If it's tomorrow (in the title game), then whoever we're playing is going to be in a tough spot because when Aubrey's like that, there really isn't much on the basketball court that she can't get accomplished. She impacts the game at every level." Griffin was an All-Big East honorable mention pick. ... Villanova, paced by the nation's leading scorer in Big East Player of the Year Maddy Siegrist, is looking for its first Big East title since 2003 when it defeated UConn and program legend Diana Taurasi in a game played at Rutgers (UConn went on to win the national championship). ... Villanova has used the same starting lineup in all 33 games this season. Injury-prone UConn, meanwhile, has had just two players, Aaliyah Edwards and Lou Lopez Senechal, start all of its games, using six different lineups.
— Vickie Fulkerson
