STORRS — UConn graduate transfer Dorka Juhász was disappointed in her performance Monday at Oregon. With the Huskies’ backcourt depleted by the loss of Christyn Williams, Juhász needed to be better.
On Friday, the 6-foot-5 Hungarian rose to the occasion.
In its second straight game with just three available guards (Williams remains out with COVID-19), No. 9-ranked UConn defeated Seton Hall 71-38 on Friday night thanks to a stepped-up performance from its frontcourt in Juhász and Olivia Nelson-Ododa.
“Our bigs saved us and did an amazing job, grabbing the rebounds throughout the whole game, and they were amazing,” senior Evina Westbrook said. “That’s what we need from them every game, whether the ball is going in or it’s not going in.”
After Caroline Ducharme was called for her second personal foul in the first quarter, UConn coach Geno Auriemma shifted focus to his frontcourt to start Friday’s second quarter. He benched Ducharme and instead went with a three-big lineup featuring Juhász, Aaliyah Edwards and Nelson-Ododa.
Juhász, who on Thursday admitted she wanted to be better for her team after underperforming at Oregon, immediately made an impact.
On offense, the forward sparked an early shooting spree for the Huskies (10-4, 5-0 Big East) with five straight points to launch a 9-0 run. And on defense, in the second quarter, a Juhász rebound led to a Nika Mühl fastbreak and a Nelson-Ododa layup to get UConn ahead 26-13. On UConn’s next possession, Juhász grabbed the rebound off Mühl’s missed 3-pointer and made the put-back. By halftime, Juhász led UConn with 11 of its 37 points.
“Dorka was really, really disappointed in herself after Monday’s game. She was very dejected Tuesday, Wednesday,” Auriemma said. “She expects a lot more from herself, and when she saw the film she was really disappointed, and today was a great opportunity for her to come back and get back on the right track.”
Nelson-Ododa also stepped up and continued her recent consistent streak. The senior came out of halftime and made three of UConn’s first four field goals to start another 9-0 run in the third. She finished with a team-high 17 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and a team-high five assists for her third double-double of the season.
The two bigs combined for 29 of UConn’s 71 points and 23 of the team’s 53 rebounds. With their help under the basket, the Huskies outscored the Pirates 38-8 in the paint and 21-2 in second-chance points.
“I think (Juhász) and Liv have a pretty good thing when they’re out there,” Auriemma said. “They help each other get better. They make each other better.”
Mühl led UConn’s backcourt Friday. The sophomore had her best game of the season, diving after loose balls, grabbing down rebounds and playing with an in-control aggression. With a season-high three 3-pointers, Mühl finished with a career-high seven rebounds, a season-high 11 points and four steals on zero turnovers.
“When Nika was out all that time, we lose a voice, and we lose a voice that everyone on the team listens to. Today you could hear her right from the opening tip, and if we can keep her minutes where they need to be and she stays out of foul trouble, when she’s on the floor, she’s the voice of our team,” Auriemma said. “Nika is a guard that likes to run the show. She’s not afraid, that’s what is best about her.”
Sparked by Mühl’s aggression, the Huskies smothered Seton Hall (8-8, 3-5) on defense. UConn out-rebounded the Pirates 50-23 and outscored the Pirates in the final two quarters (19-8 in the third and 15-9 in the fourth).
Seton Hall’s Lauren Park-Lane, the Pirates’ lead scorer, became the first player in program history to score at least 30 points in back-to-back games last week. On Friday, the Huskies held the junior to just five points on 1-of-11 shooting.
“You gotta be able to play basketball in a way that your offense and defense complement each other. I thought we played more as a group, more as a unit today than we have,” Auriemma said. “We were much more cohesive today than we were on Monday. I think that’s a big reason why it looked so good. Communication was better today and the chemistry was better today.”
With less than a week until UConn’s test at South Carolina, the Huskies still, however; struggled with outside shooting. After making just 3 of 18 total 3-point attempts at Oregon, UConn finished Friday 6 of 30 on 3-pointers.
“It’s not a long-term strategy that we can play well, shoot the ball poorly and keep winning games. That’s not gonna happen,” Auriemma said. “At some point you have to make shots. To me, the St. John’s game, it’s gonna be the same way, and next Thursday’s game (South Carolina) is gonna be the same way. You have to make shots. And the better teams you play against, the better offensive teams you play against, the more imperative it is that you make them, because you’re not going to be able to stop them every time.”
NOTEBOOK
UConn’s win over Seton Hall extends the program’s streak of 1,037 straight games without back-to-back losses, including 166 straight conference game wins.
UConn played all eight available players Friday. Piath Gabriel came in a little over two minutes into the fourth quarter and finished with five points. Amari DeBerry played four minutes and grabbed two rebounds.
UP NEXT: UConn will travel to New York to face St. John’s on Sunday at 1 p.m.
maggie.vanoni@hearstmediact.com
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