March Madness: Aaliyah Edwards helms UConn’s improved post play as Huskies aim to keep streaks alive

Back in November, when Connecticut won two games in a row against NET’s top 25 teams – the coach believed that two of the 11 teams would have brought 1st place to any other – Geno Auriemma laid bare the essence of the Husky’s fate. .

It wasn’t Azzi Fudd, the star sophomore who carried most of the scoring load. It was not health that the Huskies fought for and never let them drown.

“It’s fair or unfair to talk about it,” Auriemma said after an impressive 91-69 victory over North Carolina State five months ago. “But our postal players will decide the fate of our season.”

He challenged 6-foot-5 five-year-old forward Dorka Juhas and junior Alia Edwards 6-3 to take control of the team and provide stability when shots miss. This was evident Saturday, despite many shots, in UConn’s 95-52 victory over No. 15 Vermont during the first round of the NCAA Tournament held in Storrs, Connecticut.

Their improved play, which Auriemma called terrific on Saturday, was critical for UConn to weather a flurry of injuries, and it was shown in the Huskies’ first pitch to their 15th consecutive Final Four.

Edwards, whose rise was key, had 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks. She had as many points in the first quarter as Vermont as a team (12) and had a perfect 8 of 8 in the half and remained 10 of 10 by the first media timeout in the second half. Several balls came in mid-range, including a fine pass from Fudd that hit the paint.

“When she takes a mid-range jump shot, it just changes how our team has to defend,” Auriemma said. “So this is one of the best games. I thought the first half she played was one of the best basketball innings I’ve seen since she was in Connecticut.”

By the end of the game, she only missed 2 out of 15 tries, scoring her season high. She is the first player since 2000 to have at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists while shooting at least 85%.

“We couldn’t match her athleticism, strength, explosion,” Vermont head coach Alice Kresge said. “We didn’t have an answer for her. The game plan was to try and double her up a bit, but she’s ready for that sort of thing. I think she did a great job getting us really deep into the paint and then when we kind of beat her from the perimeter, she landed a couple of perimeter shots.”

Edwards, a Canadian pool player, did not compete in UConn’s 2022 title game. She scored 10 points in the regional finals in overtime against North Carolina State, and in total she could not match the greater power in the semifinals against Stanford (9) or the final against South Carolina (8 points, two rebounds, two assists in 37 minutes).

Against the Wolf Pack in Game 2 of the season, she doubled with 20 points and 12 rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting. She doubled her junior game averages to 16.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks per game, earning Third Team All-American honors. Her shooting rate outperforms the team at 58.3%, as does her scoring.

This was not a one post success story. Juhas came off the bench at the last NCAA Tournament, her first since moving from Ohio State, and scored 10 points in the first round. She scored only five points in her next three games and was unable to play in the Final Four due to a wrist injury.

This season as a regular starter, she also doubled her averages to 14.3 points, 10 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. Her 50% field goal percentage is the best of her career. She scored 15 points, trailing only Edwards, in a 7-of-10 shooting Vermont win with 10 rebounds (all defensive), six assists, three steals and three blocks.

“She’s very modest off the court, but once you get on the court, she gets violent and I don’t think anyone should take that lightly,” Edwards said. “She is a force inside and out. I think we as a team love that about her because she’s unpredictable in that regard, because she can benefit from low position, but also on the perimeter, she can knock out that 3 that everyone knows she is. Maybe”.

Caroline DuCharme came off the bench to score 12 points, scoring 4 of 4, including two 3-pointers. All 10 players scored minutes, unlikely even a few weeks ago when the Big East quarter-finals began, and all of them were only available for the second time this season. Paige Buekers and freshman Ice Brady have been out of action this season with injuries.

Edwards is one of only two UConn players to play in every game as injuries hit the roster hard. The other is defender Lou Lopez Seneschal, a trader from Fairfield who brought the shots needed to UConn in Fudd’s absence. She left early in the second half and did not return. The seneschal said that she had stretched her leg a little, and Oriemma didn’t want to risk it.

Having a healthy 10 will only help Edwards and Juhas more. The wings of UConn are a big threat that will push defenders away from the two of them. They will face fewer double and triple commands, which will give them more room to work and speed up the transition compared to the “true exhaustion” it used to be.

“We couldn’t do that much defensively and we couldn’t do that much offensively,” Auriemma said. “Now you see the difference and the results are what they are. I’m just glad it’s happening. It only took five months.”

UConn was 61.9% of the floor combined and 6 of 18 from three-point range. Fudd was 2 of 10 overall, 1 of 8 from three-point range, scoring five points on four rebounds.

They dominated the boards, 43-19, and assisted 27 of 39 shots. Defensively, they allowed Vermont to hit 11 triples, but held 33.3% of shots overall.

It was a good warm-up ahead of the second round, where they will face No. 7 Baylor (9:00 pm ET, Monday, ESPN). A win and they will travel to Seattle, where they will play in the Pacific time zone during the tournament for the first time since 2007.

It was also the last time they missed the Final Four, but the big players know that fate depends on them more than the statistics in the game notes.