Georgetown Hoyas guard Alex Cowan dribbles past UConn Huskies guard KK Arnold during a pick and roll play during Friday night’s game at Gampel Pavilian. Photo by Steve Zarrella/Sportspage Magazine
The UConn Huskies used an early 12-0 first quarter run to gain the early separation to soundly defeat the Georgetown Hoyas 85-44 in front of a sellout crowd of 10,299 at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., on Friday.
Georgetown opened the scoring with center Ariel Jenkins jump shot to give the Hoyas an early 2-0 lead. It was promptly answered by a layup from UConn forward Aaliyah Edwards.
Victoria Rivera, the Hoyas guard, canned a three-point shot to give the visiting team the 5-2 lead, which would prove to be the largest and last lead of the game.
The Huskies answered the three-pointer with their first sustained run of the contest. Guard KK Arnold was fouled by Rivera, but only converted one of her two free throw attempts. Paige Bueckers, the UConn guard, hit a jump shot. Arnold nailed a three. Bueckers sank two free throws. Edwards scored on a layup and guard Ashlynn Shade a jump shot. The Huskies took the 12-0 run to a 14-5 lead with 5:41 remaining in the first quarter.
Hoyas forward Graceann Bennett made a basket to make the score 14-7, then Bueckers and Edwards combined for the next six points to extend the Husky lead to 20-7.
UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers scores on a layup during Friday’s game against Georgetown at Gampel Pavilion. Bueckers tied Moore as the fastest player in UConn history to reach 1,000 points. Photo by Steve Zarrella/Sportspage Magazine
Rivera made a layup with 1:47 remaining in the opening quarter, but the Huskies turned that into a 7-0 run with five points from guard Nika Muhl and two from Arnold. UConn led 27-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter wasn’t any better for Georgetown. Rivera and forward Jada Claude hit three-pointers, guard Kelsey Ransom made a jump shot along with one of two free throws, and Bennett scored on a layup. Meanwhile, Bueckers scored seven points, Shade scored six and the Huskies held a commanding 46-20 lead at the half.
During the second quarter, Bueckers tied Maya Moore as the second fasted player to score 1,000 points in team history.
Darnell Haney, the Hoyas interim coach who took over after Tasha Butts passed away in October from metastatic breast cancer, wasn’t going to let his team give up. After a halftime pep talk, Haney had his team poised to get back into the game.
UConn’s Edwards opened the third quarter scoring with a jump shot. That was answered by a three pointer by Rivera. Neither team could score in the next three minutes before Edwards hit another jump shot to make the score 50-23 with 6:35 left in the quarter.
Then Georgetown got hot. Ransom hit a jump shot, which was followed with three consecutive three-pointers by Jenkins, Rivera and forward Brianna Scott. The 14-4 Hoyas run made the score 52-34 with 2:57 left in the quarter.
UConn Huskies forward Aaliyah Edwards shoots over the outstretched arms of a Georgetown Hoyas defender during Friday night’s game at Gampel Pavilion. Photo by Steve Zarrella/Sportspage Magazine
Edwards took it upon herself to close out the quarter for the Huskies with two layups and two free throws. The quarter ended with UConn holding a 60-35 lead. Edwards scored 10 points in the frame.
There was nothing the Hoyas could do to stop the Huskies in the fourth quarter. Freshmen players Ice Brady and Qadence Samuels came off the bench for extended minutes. Brady scored eight points and Samuels scored five for the Huskies, while the entire Hoyas team scored nine in the period.
When the final buzzer sounded, UConn won 85-44 and celebrated their 37th consecutive victory over Georgetown.
UConn went 33-for-67 (49.3 percent) from the field; 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) from three-point range; and 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) from the free throw line. They turned the ball over 11 times. Aaliyah Edwards led the Huskies in scoring with 26 points. Paige Bueckers added 21 points and Ice Brady chipped in for 10. Edwards led all players with 16 rebounds, while Bueckers led all players with eight assists.
Georgetown went 16-for-51 (31.4 percent) from the field; 8-for-20 (40.0 percent) from three-point range; and 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) from the charity stripe. The Hoyas committed 22 turnovers. Victoria Rivera led Georgetown with 16 points. Graceann Bennett led the Hoyas with five rebounds while Kelsey Ransom was the assists leader with four.
The No. 10 ranked Huskies (22-5) hosts No. 23 Creighton Blue Jays (21-3) on Monday. Georgetown (16-10) at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Meanwhile, Georgetown (16-10) hosts St. John’s (15-12) at McDonough Arena in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
