Aaliyah Edwards scored 20 points, ranked 5th UConn opened 20-5 in 80-47 Butler on Tuesday night.
Although there were only eight players dressed and no head coach Geno Auriemma sidelined due to illness, the Huskies had five double-digit players led by Edwards, a junior striker who made 10 of them. 12 shots. She also won nine rebounds as the visitors had a 35-19 lead across the board.
“This season is unlike any other,” said deputy head coach Chris Dailey, who improved his 16-0 record when he replaced Auriemma. “It’s worse than COVID season because during COVID, every time you take a test, someone might be disqualified or we might be closed. (Now) every other day, we have one people come back and then we lose one. It makes it harder for you. It makes you stronger as a group.”
UConn (12-2, 5-0 Big East) won all four times against the Bulldogs (6-9, 1-5) with an average of 43.7 points.
“It brought us together,” Edwards said of the depleted squad. “We’ve been going through a seven or eight rotation for a few weeks now. We’ve adapted to it.”
Aubrey Griffin added 15 points, Nika Muhl 13, Dorka Juhasz 12 and Lou Lopez Senechal 11 for Huskies.
“Speed is something we talk about a lot at UConn,” says Dailey. “There is a pace that we expect and we need to get back to that speed because in the last game against Marquette we didn’t push the pace the way we needed to.”
Rachel McLimore leads the Bulldogs with 18 points, of which four are three.
Butler, missing two injured starts, missed the first six shots and 8/11 shots, falling behind 15 shots from the start. The Bulldogs cut the deficit to 5 points in the second quarter before the Huskies withdrew permanently.
Huskies guard Caroline Ducharme, who has averaged 15.3 points over the past three games, did not make the trip due to the concussion. The Huskies have a different starting lineup on Saturday.
“All of this, everything we’re going through, is going to keep us going,” Dailey said.
BIG PICTURE
UConn: Despite the lack of a few key players, including 2021 National Player of the Year Paige Bueckers all season and top scorer Azzi Fudd as of December 4, the Huskies are still one of them. programs for the nation’s elite women.
Butler: To lose 34 points at Seton Hall, this is another unfortunate result for the Bulldogs, who have lost for the fourth time in five games by double digits. But considering the team only managed to pick up one win last season, six wins this season under freshman coach Austin Parkinson is a marked improvement.
NEXT
UConn: Visited Xavier on Thursday.
Butler: Visited Villanova on Sunday.
Associated Press report.
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