No. 2 UConn women’s basketball team falls to unranked NC State for first loss of season

And the UConn women’s basketball team couldn’t keep up.

“We got our asses beat, plain and simple,” Huskies’ head coach Geno Auriemma said.

The second-ranked Huskies dropped their first game of the season Sunday, falling 92-81 to NC State. After running past Dayton in last week’s season opener, Sunday was UConn’s first real test of the year and the Huskies failed.

UConn’s defense fell a part before halftime while its offense was nowhere to be found when it mattered most. The Wolfpack’s 92 points in regulation is the most UConn has allowed an opponent in 22 years, according to ESPN. Sunday’s loss is also UConn’s sixth to an unranked team within the past three years.

“This was the worst offensive performance, in terms of running our offense, in terms of ball movement, you know, sharing the ball, moving without the ball, changing sides of floor from one side to the other. It’s like we were content to just stand.” Auriemma said. “… Our offense was non existent. And defensively we didn’t get stops.”

While a win would have likely bumped up UConn (1-1) to the No. 1 overall spot in the AP Top 25 Poll, Sunday’s loss to the unranked Wolfpack (2-0) will drop the Huskies in next week’s poll.

Star guard Paige Bueckers led UConn with 27 points followed by Aaliyah Edwards with 21 and Qadence Samuels with 14. Nika Mühl led with six assists. Rivers led all players with a career-high 33 points and 10 rebounds along with five assists and three steals.

“It starts with me. Just being able to set that tone defensively, keeping guys in front and making sure I’m in the gap so they can’t split us and get to the basket easily.” Bueckers said. “Defense is a will. You have to want to do it. You have to embrace that.”

After cruising through the first quarter (UConn led by as many as nine), UConn failed to keep up with the Wolfpack in the second frame.

NC State was quick, physical and aggressive on both sides of the ball. And it didn’t matter three of its starters already had two fouls each. The Wolfpack opened the second quarter on a 14-5 run, including a steal-and-score play by Rivers, to not only tie the game but stun the Huskies.

UConn went over two minutes without making a bucket. While some shots looked great taking off, none seemed to fall when the team needed it most. The Huskies went 8 of 19 in the second quarter, including 1 of 8 from deep. Opportunities for second-chance points were limited as players couldn’t, and often didn’t, fight their way under the basket to grab down rebounds. UConn entered intermission getting out-rebounded 22-15.

After having no turnovers in the first 10 minutes, the Huskies went into halftime with five.

“I think getting rebounds is just an attitude and we got a shitty attitude towards rebounding, because it’s hard work. It’s hard work,” Auriemma said. “And everybody’s got to be engaged in and, you know, that has to change. Period.”

Rivers weaved in and out of UConn’s defense almost effortlessly, ending the first half with a game-high 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting. A last-second shot from KK Arnold gave UConn a 43-42 at halftime but NC State had maintained all momentum.

“They came out strong, but we didn’t hang our heads,” Rivers said.

UConn came out of intermission still frazzled and got called for four fouls in the first 84 seconds of the third quarter. Both Edwards and Bueckers had three fouls each two minutes in. After having seven fouls compared to NC State’s eight at halftime, UConn ended the game with 22 while the Wolfpack finished with 12.

Whether it was the Wolfpack’s shift in energy on the court or the wild (NC State head coach Wes Moore called it “deafening”) loud crowd, the Huskies failed to gain back control.

“Anytime you foul, you just are undisciplined and you’re in the wrong position,” Auriemma said. ” … and today that’s who we were and that’s why it happened.”

The Huskies rushed their plays on offense and failed to find ways around NC State’s physicality under the basket. The Wolfpack’s speed caught up with the Huskies before passes even made it to their intended targets. Fudd (nine points on 4 of 13 in 35 minutes), earned her third foul in the final minute of the third.

“The atmosphere was fantastic, so I think that had something to do with it,” Auriemma said. “The crowd was incredibly supportive and NC State played off the crowd. I told Wes, their team is 10 times better than it was last year. They’re more together, they play together better. They know who they are. … Today, everything they did was better than ours.”

NC State led by as much as 14 while UConn’s struggles showed no signs of stopping. UConn was outscored 20-14 in the third. Edwards was the Huskies’ biggest threat against NC State’s size, but the senior forward was just 3 of 11 with two rebounds heading into the final quarter.

And with no other experienced true forward, the Huskies’ lack of an experience frontcourt caught up to them. 

UConn was outrebouned 41-29 and 29-18 on defensive boards. The Huskies ended with 13 turnovers (all after the first quarter).

“We weren’t mature enough to handle it, to be honest with you,” Auriemma said.

Rivers turned to the court and waved her arms up and down to amp up the crowd after UConn’s 10 turnover of the game came at 7:12 in the fourth. While UConn’s offensive frustrations continued to build up, NC State’s shots kept falling. The Wolfpack strung together a 11-0 run midway through the fourth to secure the upset.

The Huskies will return to Connecticut and get a small breather before hosting No. 14 Maryland on Thursday in Storrs.