UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Geno Auriemma texted Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico last Sunday morning, after the Wolverines’ upset win over Notre Dame. The Huskies’ Hall of Fame coach told Barnes Arico he wasn’t eager to play No. 6 Michigan, which, the night prior, had knocked off the Fighting Irish by 39 points in one of the most impressive performances of the college basketball season thus far.
“I’m not looking forward to Friday,” Barnes Arico replied, agreeing with Auriemma during a quick break from re-watching game film.
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“Maybe we ought to have a couple drinks, go gamble a little bit and call it a day,” Auriemma said.
Well, on Friday night, the coaches weren’t at the craps or blackjack tables inside the Mohegan Sun Casino. No drinks either (at least not during the 40-minute contest). Instead, they paced the sideline and stood by their respective benches.
Each faced the challenge they expected.
“Hopefully we won’t see another (team like) them for a while,” Auriemma said.
“I thought it was an incredible basketball game for this time of the year,” Barnes Arico added.
That it was.
The No. 1 Huskies prevailed 72-69, but they squandered an 18-point halftime lead. UConn clung to a two-point advantage entering the fourth quarter. They led by 10 with 2:41 remaining — seemingly on their way to a fifth straight double-digit victory — but even that cushion evaporated as a late Michigan flurry cut the Huskies’ lead to one with 12.4 seconds remaining.
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“They tested us and we responded,” Barnes Arico said. “We just ran out of time.”
It’s hard to disagree with that assessment, especially considering the late-game barrage of 3-pointers from Michigan sophomore Syla Swords. Swords buried three triples in the final minute, and eight in all on the night, to keep the Wolverines in the contest. She finished with 29 points, one shy of her career-high, albeit in a loss.
A win keeps the defending national champions undefeated on the season. That alone is a positive. But two UConn teams showed up on Friday.
The first suffocated the Wolverines throughout the first half, holding Michigan to five first-quarter points. The second had seven turnovers in the final 9:30 of the third quarter and needed a layup by Sarah Strong with just over six minutes remaining in the third to break up an 18-2 Michigan run spanning more than nine minutes.
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“I think we learned a lot today,” senior guard Azzi Fudd said. “We definitely can take a lot away from that second half.”
Fudd’s experience paid dividends in late-game moments. She finished with a game-high 31 points on 9-of-20 shooting, crossed the 30-point mark for just the fourth time in her career and made all four of her free throws in the final 30 seconds. Strong finished with 16 points and a career-high 20 rebounds, playing a critical role on the inside.
Swords nearly shot the Wolverines to an upset victory, but she had a turnover with a second remaining, preventing the Wolverines from getting off one last quality look.
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UConn struggles without bench presence
The Huskies’ bench has given them a distinct advantage throughout their first four games.
Freshman wing Blanca Quiñonez starred in last weekend’s blowout over Ohio State, and sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel has provided a consistent spark off the UConn bench. Against the Wolverines, though, UConn’s reserves struggled to make a consistent impact.
“We didn’t get any production from our bench whatsoever,” Auriemma said. “We couldn’t do what we’ve been doing, which is keep everybody fresh and play 22, 25 minutes. Nobody should have to play 40, 37 minutes. So we have to address that.”
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UConn’s reserves combined to score five points and grabbed two rebounds. Starting point guard KK Arnold, meanwhile, played 37 minutes, Fudd played 39 and Strong played every second. Auriemma said he saw fatigue from his sophomore star in the third quarter.
Slowing down UConn will be difficult for future opponents, but perhaps a key to upsetting the Huskies emerged Friday: limit the reserves.
Swords stars on national stage
Swords is no stranger to big moments.
Ahead of her freshman year at Michigan, she became the youngest basketball player to represent Canada at the Olympics, competing alongside the senior national team at the Paris Games.
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On Friday against the Huskies, she played one of her most complete collegiate games yet. Twenty-one of her 29 points came in the second half, which she never rested during. Her 3-point flurry featured pull-ups from NBA range.
Swords added six rebounds in the final 20 minutes and finished with nine for the game. After UConn’s initial surge in the first quarter, she seldom looked flustered.
“She kind of took over the game,” Barnes Arico said. “She was leading in every single thing down the stretch. She was running plays, calling out defenses, (saying) how many timeouts were (left). There was never any panic in her voice … She’s a really, really special player.”
The potential within Swords, who is only a sophomore, is part of why Michigan is set up to be a power in the sport for years to come. Friday night was also a reminder that the Wolverines can be dangerous in the present, too.
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Auriemma said he didn’t sleep well Thursday night and had a pit in his stomach on Friday, dreading trying to stop Swords and her teammates.
“I think they’re one of the best teams that I’ve seen,” he said.
Fudd elevates team in critical moments
Fudd and Swords went shot-for-shot during much of the fourth quarter. The UConn star scored 13 of her 31 points in the final 10 minutes. Nine of those came in a three-plus-minute stretch, during which she hit three straight 3s to extend the Huskies’ cushion from two points to 11.
“There’s a lot on her shoulders right now,” Auriemma said.
Not only did Fudd have to produce on offense, but she chased Swords and Michigan sophomore guard Olivia Olson around the perimeter for much of the night, fighting through screens and attempting to slow down drives. Olson finished with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double.
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In the third quarter, as Michigan mounted its comeback, Fudd said the Huskies relaxed on defense and lacked the same focus they had at the game’s start. She said the Huskies beat themselves, but in key moments in the fourth quarter, Fudd also reminded her teammates to stay calm and focus on the defensive end. Then, she buried 3s on the other end.
“I was really proud of how we stuck together, we figured it out,” she said.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Connecticut Huskies, Michigan Wolverines, Women’s College Basketball
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