How to watch, what to know as UConn women open Big East play against Butler
HARTFORD – The UConn women’s basketball team got consistency, for the most part, for four quarters Saturday in a win over 18th-ranked Louisville at the XL Center, something that has been an issue with the No. 17 Huskies this season.
Now they have to see if they carry that from game to game.
“We were much more consistent than we’ve been in any other game, I think,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said after his team’s 86-62 victory Saturday.
“I think we were more locked in a walk-through. We didn’t have a shoot-around, so we didn’t have a chance to screw everything up and go into the game with a bad feeling. We knew exactly how we wanted to guard them. And offensively, we stayed aggressive the entire time. There was very little time – there were a couple stretches, we went 3-4 possessions where we could have taken off much earlier than we did – but for the most part, we stayed aggressive, and the ball moved more.”
No. 17 UConn (7-3) will open Big East play Monday at the XL Center when the Huskies host Butler (7-3). The Bulldogs, led by guard Caroline Strande (16.1 ppg), are 0-5 against UConn since their first meeting on Jan. 19, 2021.
Auriemma said he was looking forward to the conference season.
“The nice thing about our conference, when we came back, it didn’t take them long to figure out, ‘All right, I think we can handle this,’” Auriemma said. “I think at the beginning, they were overwhelmed a bit, but (now), there isn’t this, ‘Oh, we’re playing Connecticut.’ I think everybody in our league feels like they can compete with anyone.
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“Monday’s game against Butler will be an 180 (degree) difference from today – you have to quickly flip the switch from what we had to do to get ready for (Saturday), to what we have to do to get ready for Monday.”
There are still plenty of questions for the UConn women to answer this week.
The Huskies played well overall Saturday against a quality opponent, but will that carry over? Will Paige Bueckers keep embracing her power forward role and blocking shots? (She had five Saturday.) “The leading shot blocker in the country,” Auriemma teased.
Will Aubrey Griffin continue to play the way she did Saturday and gain more confidence after scoring a season-high 25 points off the bench?
“We haven’t told her anything different, we haven’t put her in a different position, we haven’t run different sets or offenses, our defense isn’t different – it’s totally within her control,” Auriemma said of the fifth-year player. “That’s why (Saturday) is so gratifying. She took control of it. She owned it.”
Can point guard Nika Muhl, who had 10 assists and eight turnovers Saturday, also play more consistently?
“There’s turnovers and there’s turnovers,” Auriemma said. “There’s no great turnovers but there are some that are not quite as bad. But some of hers are just – I got my friends who I played with in high school and college text me and they’re like, ‘Seriously, you think you’re a good coach?’
“The 10 assists are who she is. I need her to stop being the other person. And nobody feels worse about than she does. I think if we can fix that aspect, our guard situation will be in really good shape.”
Monday will give UConn another chance to address those questions but Saturday’s game seemed to point the Huskies in the right direction.
Here’s what you need to know about the matchup:
Site: XL Center
Time: 7 p.m., Monday
Series: UConn, 5-0
TV: SNY
Radio: UConn Sports Network on 97.9 ESPN – Bob Joyce, Debbie Fiske
