The UConn women’s basketball team overcame a rough first half to defeat the Georgetown Hoyas 65-50 at the XL Center in Hartford on Sunday.
In an aggressive physical battle, UConn found itself trailing Georgetown by two points after the first period. The Hoyas’ defense caused havoc for the Huskies’ forwards, covering them with three defenders at times.
UConn guard Azzi Fudd came into the game and sunk a three-pointer before banging knees with Georgetown’s Ariel Jenkins late in the second period. Fudd did not return.
The Huskies led by just one point at the half after shooting 32% with 13 turnovers. Head coach Geno Auriemma’s remarks on the way to the locker room at the break said it all.
“Very little effort to rebound the ball, to play defense, to attack on offense, to move without the ball,” he said. “It’s the first time all year; we just had a lot of guys not show up today.”
The Huskies turned things around in the second half, though, kicking off the third period with a 16-2 run during the first five minutes and taking a 40-25 lead. Many of those points came from foul shots as Georgetown muscled its way through.
UConn ended the third period up 44-31. Strong in the fourth, Huskies forward Aaliyah Edwards picked up her seventh double-double. Edwards scored 17 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had two blocks and a steal in 36 minutes of play.
Forward Dorka Juhasz also played 36 minutes and hit a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
With a limited number of healthy players in an injury-marred season – UConn had to postpone a game a week ago – three other players also put in well over 30 minutes: Nika Mühl played 38 minutes, Aubrey Griffin clocked 35 minutes and Lou Lopez-Senechal tallied 34.5 minutes.
The Huskies committed 23 turnovers in this “ugly scrum,” as Auriemma called it. That was their sixth game with 20 or more turnovers.
But with a final score of 65-50, UConn improved to 15-2 for the season and 8-0 in the Big East.
UConn takes on Seton Hall Tuesday night in New Jersey.
