UConn women’s team has deep rotation for NCAA Tournament

The low level for UConn girls’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma this season did not come when star Paige Bueckers went down with a knee harm in early December.

He stated it got here in January, when the crew, already lacking Bueckers, junior ahead Aubrey Griffin (season-ending again harm) and prime freshman Azzi Fudd (proper foot harm) discovered it must go to Oregon with out senior guard Christyn Williams, who examined optimistic for COVID-19.

With simply six gamers within the rotation, UConn was dominated by the unranked Geese 72-59.

The Huskies (25-5) have had eight gamers miss not less than two video games this season with sickness or harm, leading to 10 completely different beginning lineups.

Connecticut misplaced to unranked groups for the primary time since 2012 and noticed Villanova snap this system’s profitable streak towards convention opponents at 169 video games on Feb. 9. That was one other recreation the place simply six Huskies, albeit a special six than towards Oregon, noticed motion.

However everybody besides Griffin is now again. The crew is on a 10-game profitable streak and within the 5 video games since Bueckers’ return on Feb. 25, UConn has been outscoring opponents by 35.8 factors per recreation. A now-healthy Connecticut dominated Villanova by 30 factors within the Massive East title recreation and 9 Huskies are actually enjoying not less than quarter-hour per recreation.

“Most individuals’s benches are likely to shorten because the NCAA Match comes alongside and ours has gotten greater,” Auriemma stated. “So, will probably be attention-grabbing to see how this all performs out, however I might slightly have this case than the one I’ve handled for the final three months.”

The accidents have allowed gamers who in any other case would have had minor roles on the crew to achieve important expertise, permitting Auriemma to substitute liberally. Meaning foul bother is much less of a problem; there are alternatives if one among his youthful gamers struggles with the highlight of the NCAA Match and fatigue shouldn’t be an element, permitting extra strain on protection and transition on offense, he stated.

“I feel additionally simply it from the bench a little bit bit, simply type of, you may get a little bit really feel of the sport the way it goes, simply how we will affect the sport, whoever is coming off the bench,” ahead Dorka Juhasz stated.

“So I feel that’s actually useful for us, simply to get just a few individuals in and simply type of strain the ball on protection and the whole lot like that. However positively you’ll be able to really feel generally that (the opponent is) getting drained. So if I can run the ground a little bit bit extra, a little bit more durable, I feel that reveals on our offense and protection, too.”

Evina Westbrook, who starred at Tennessee earlier than transferring to UConn within the spring of 2019, has transitioned this season from a starter to enjoying the Huskies sixth lady position, offering prompt offense off the bench. She and her teammates have discovered to test their egos for the great of the crew, she stated.

“It is type of enjoyable to play like that,” Westbrook stated. “For the opposite crew, they will’t loosen up on who we’ve bought coming in, as a result of everybody is de facto harmful. “So it feels good and it’s completely different. However I feel it simply actually prepares you for the following degree as nicely, having to regulate. You are you’re not going to be the star participant on each crew you play on. You’re not going to have the identical position.”

Bueckers, final yr’s nationwide participant of the yr, continues to work her means again from the tibial plateau fracture and torn meniscus in her left knee. She has seen her enjoying time improve since her return from just below 13 minutes per recreation to simply below 20 minutes.

Auriemma stated she may have no minutes restriction throughout the NCAA Match and he has not dominated out returning her to the beginning lineup.

However Bueckers stated she’s prepared for no matter position the coach offers her.

“We have now a extremely deep roster and everyone that comes off the bench and performs is simply nearly as good because the starters,” she stated. “All people is simply assured sufficient to know that we now have one another’s backs and no matter we’d like. If any person’s having a foul recreation, any person else will step up and we simply all have one another’s backs.”