WBB: Huskies Back In the Column Against Seton Hall
STORRS - Some traditions have been put on hold in the midst of the ongoing health crisis. But the University of Connecticut’s dominance over Seton Hall on the women’s basketball circuit hasn’t gone anywhere.
The Huskies took home their 35th consecutive victory over the Pirates on Friday night at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, getting back on the favorable side of the standings with a 71-38 decision. In continuing a streak that began back in February 1994, Connecticut (10-4, 5-0 Big East) was paced by Olivia Nelson-Ododa in almost every major statistical category. The senior put up her first double-double since Dec. 9 with 17 points and 14 rebounds (setting a new season-best) and also earned five assists and two blocks.
With top scorer Christyn Williams still stationed in COVID-19 protocols, the Huskies once again rolled mostly with a six-woman rotation as they continue to patiently wait out the returns of Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. As was the case with Monday’s holiday defeat to Oregon, they jumped out to an early lead at 18-7, with Dorka Juhasz and Nika Muhl uniting for 10 early tallies. This time, however, they were able to preserve the early advantage, never trailing by less than 10 after an Evina Westbrook jumper made it 24-13 in the early stages of the second quarter.
The lead reached as high as 36 as UConn put forth its best defensive effort of the season: Seton Hall (8-8, 3-5 Big East) failed to earn more than 11 points in any of Friday’s four periods and shot only 26 percent from the field.
Nelson-Ododa has remained a rare staple for the 2021-22 Huskies, as she’s the only Connecticut representative to start all 14 games so far this season. She has now reached double-figures in scoring in each of the last four games and has averaged 8.8 rebounds in that span. Fellow senior Westbrook also shouldered a big load on Friday, earning 13 points as she played all 40 minutes for the first time since last year’s NCAA Tournament. Juhasz fell one rebound short of a double-double with a dozen points while Muhl (11) reached double figures for the first time of the year. UConn outpaced the Pirates in the offensive board battle by a 17-2 margin, partly building their lead with 21 second chance tallies.
Sidney Cooks was the only Pirate in double figures with 10, as the Huskies neutralized top scorer Lauren Park-Lane (5 points, 1-11 FG). The junior and the visitors’ top scorer had reached 30 in each of her prior two contests. Friday’s triumph allowed the Huskies to complete the annual sweep of Pirates, as they previously picked up a 74-49 win on Dec. 3 in South Orange.
Back in the win column and well in control of their conference destiny, the Huskies will have one more tune-up for next Thursday’s rematch with top-ranked South Carolina, as they’ll first travel to Queens to battle St. John’s on Sunday afternoon (1 p.m. ET, SNY). The Red Storm (5-11, 1-5 Big East) has dropped seven in a row after a 5-4 start and dropped an 84-79 decision to the
Pirates on Wednesday night. UConn won three meetings with St. John’s last season, the extra matchup coming in the Big East Tournament’s quarterfinal round in Uncasville.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
