BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The cheers started early. So early, in fact, that the preceding NC State–Notre Dame game at Total Mortgage Arena still had more three minutes to play in the third quarter when an overwhelmingly pro-UConn crowd first laid eyes on the Huskies and let out a roaring ovation. At that point, UConn’s players, still clad in their black sweatsuits, walked out of an arena tunnel and found seats behind one of the baselines. For a few minutes, they sat and watched as mere spectators of a tightly-contested affair.
Less than an hour later, having subsequently changed into their home-white uniforms, those same players took the floor for a Sweet 16 contest set less than 80 miles from Gampel Pavilion. You can guess what kind of reception No. 2 UConn received when its contest with No. 3 Indiana finally tipped.
While the Huskies took only a four-point lead into the halftime locker room, UConn blitzed IU to open the second half, much to the delight of the vast majority of those in attendance. Propelled by its 16–0 run coming out of the break, UConn won 75–58 and advanced to its 16th consecutive Elite Eight.
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Entering the Sweet 16, coach Geno Auriemma harked on his team’s vulnerability. He acknowledged he was “thrilled to still be playing when you realize how it could have easily gone the other way,” referring to his team’s “ugly” 52–47 win over UCF last Monday. And he said that while “normally” UConn rolls into this stage in the tournament with an air of invincibility “we certainly don’t think that now.”
Of its opponent Saturday, Auriemma said he wouldn’t have been shocked had Indiana would won this year’s tournament. (Of course, IU winning the 2022 title would have meant knocking off the Huskies, but nevertheless.)
Was he putting out a reverse jinx? Or motivating his group? Perhaps both. Whatever the reason, UConn sure didn’t look like a team on the ropes against the Hoosiers.
Not since Feb. 13 had the Huskies allowed 50 or more points in a game. While that streak ended against IU, UConn’s defense was disruptive, especially in the second half, and its coach was especially pleased by the effort.
“I thought we did an amazing job defensively,” Auriemma said. “I thought that was the difference in the game. That we were able to get the stops that we needed and not let them play to their strengths.”
Sophomore guard Paige Bueckers scored eight of her 15 points in the first 3:45 of the second half, with her 17 shot attempts the highest total she’s amassed since suffering a knee injury vs. Notre Dame on Dec. 5. Senior guard Christyn Williams notched 15 points, freshman guard Azzi Fudd had 13 and senior forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 10 as well, rounding out a balanced attack.
Indiana planned for Saturday’s de facto road game. Coach Teri Moren had said that graduate guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary would be the team’s play-caller in situations where the team’s coach of eight years would be drowned out by crowd noise. But in far less anticipated developments, Cardaño-Hillary recorded four turnovers, her most since mid-February. Senior guard Grace Berger and graduate guard Ali Patberg combined for seven more giveaways as the Hoosiers’ veteran trio struggled to consistently break down the Huskies.
As important, per Moren, was the discrepancy on the boards, where UConn amassed a 39–27 advantage overall and a 15–2 mark on the offensive glass. The latter difference led to the Huskies taking 19 more shots.
“Their size, their ability to just get to the ball faster than we did really, I thought was what got us,” Moren said.
With one minute to play in regulation and UConn on the precipice of another victory, an arena of Huskies fans rose to their feet to celebrate what they had just witnessed. Following the final buzzer, as UConn gathered at midcourt, Huskies players returned the favor and saluted those in attendance who had cheered them on.
Monday night, UConn will look to advance to its 14th consecutive Final Four when it faces off against No. 1 NC State. The Huskies won’t have to sit around and watch the Wolfpack this time, however. And even after a convincing win, they know not to take playing at this stage lightly.
Said Nelson-Ododa: “We definitely don’t take it for granted.”
