UConn women’s basketball takes care of DePaul, 94-51

Jan 24, 2023 - 2:03 AM

UConn women’s basketball had no trouble with the DePaul Blue Demons on a snowy Monday night at Gampel Pavilion, earning a comfortable 94-51 victory.

Aaliyah Edwards and Dorka Juhász handily won the battle of the bigs over DePaul’s Aneesah Morrow. Individually, Edwards had 23 points and 10 rebounds while Juhász totaled 19 points and nine rebounds compared to Morrow’s line of 20 points and 10 rebounds. As a team, the Huskies claimed the rebounding battle 59-32, allowed just eight second-chance points and out-scored the visitors 58 to 18 in the paint.

Lou Lopez Sénéchal went 4-of-8 from behind the arc — the only Husky to make a 3-pointer — as part of a 20-point day. Aubrey Griffin picked up her fourth double-double of the year — more than she had in her first two seasons combined (3) — with a 18-point, 10-rebound effort and Nika Mühl hit double-digit assists for the eighth time.

Ayanna Patterson returned after missing the last four games in concussion protocol and added six points and six rebounds while Amari DeBerry (four points, three rebounds, two assists) and Inês Bettencourt (four points, four rebounds and two assists) made contributions off the bench as well.

The first quarter featured plenty of offense from both sides. UConn used a 7-0 run to go up 12-5 in the early going, but DePaul clawed back to get within two just a couple of minutes later. The Huskies did just enough to hold a nine-point edge in the opening quarter — though they were helped by nine Blue Demon turnovers in the period.

In the second, UConn turned the ball over on two of its four possessions but once the offense settled in, the advantage quickly widened. The Huskies scored 14 of the final 18 points in the half and went into the locker room up 17.

DePaul scored the first basket of the second half, but that’s the only thing that went well for the visitors over the final 20 minutes. UConn ripped off 19-straight points in the third quarter to extend the gap over 30 points and put the game away. In the end, the Huskies came away with 43-point win.

Next, UConn will travel to Knoxville to renew its rivalry with Tennessee. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. from Thompson-Boling Arena with ESPN carrying the action.