GAMEDAY Womens Basketball
Connecticut 60, Villanova 51
(AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)
By AARON BRACY
Associated Press
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Lou Lopez Senechal scored 22 points, including a crucial rainbow jumper late in the fourth quarter, to lead No. 6 UConn to a 60-51 victory over Maddy Siegrist and No. 14 Villanova.
Dorka Juhasz added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Aaliyah Edwards had 13 points and 14 boards for the Huskies (24-4, 16-1 Big East).
Siegrist, the nation's leading scorer, had 21 points for the Wildcats (23-5, 14-3). Villanova lost just its second contest in the last 16 - both to the Huskies. Lucy Olsen added 13 points for Villanova.
The game was close throughout the first three quarters; the Huskies entered the final quarter leading 44-39. Senechal made a pair of free throws and then swished a 3 from the top of the key to give UConn its largest lead to that point, 49-39, with 8:55 left. UConn pushed its advantage to a game-high 52-40 on Juhasz's fastbreak layup from Senechal with 7:44 left.
The Wildcats came roaring back, scoring the next 10 points over 3:49 to make it 52-50 with 3:55 to play on Olsen's drive. The Huskies committed four of their 22 turnovers during the Villanova spurt, which featured back-to-back 3-pointers by Siegrist and Olsen.
Edwards ended UConn's 4:39 scoring drought with a layup to make it 54-50. Then Senechal nailed her high-arching shot from close range to give the Huskies a five-point advantage that proved enough cushion.
BIG PICTURE
UConn: The Huskies are in prime position for their 29th Big East regular-season title with three games left. UConn will be look for its ninth straight conference tournament title, and 28th overall, followed by a run at their 11th national title.
Villanova: Siegrist and the Wildcats have three games left in the regular season and likely will have to go through UConn again to win the Big East tournament.
TRAINER'S ROOM
UConn: Azzi Fudd (right knee) missed her 11th straight contest.
February 18, 2023
| UConn | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| A. Edwards | F | 37 | 5-16 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 4-14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 13 |
| D. Juhasz | F | 35 | 5-7 | 4-8 | 0-1 | 3-10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| L. Lopez Senechal | G | 40 | 6-12 | 7-8 | 3-7 | 0-4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 22 |
| N. Muhl | G | 40 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-3 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| A. Griffin | G | 25 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| C. Ducharme | 22 | 2-6 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 3-6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| Totals | 199 | 20-47 (.426) |
17-26 (.654) |
3-10 (.300) |
12-47 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 16 | 60 | |
| Villanova | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| M. Siegrist | F | 40 | 8-22 | 4-6 | 1-5 | 0-2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 21 |
| C. Dalce | F | 17 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| L. Olsen | G | 38 | 6-14 | 0-2 | 1-4 | 0-4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| B. Mullin | G | 34 | 1-6 | 1-2 | 1-6 | 1-4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| M. Burke | G | 18 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| B. Runyan | 30 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | |
| M. Olbrys | 11 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| K. Orihel | 11 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| Z. Jones | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 200 | 20-60 (.333) |
6-12 (.500) |
5-25 (.200) |
5-25 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 23 | 51 | |
Officials: Joe Vaszily, Karen Preato, Tiara Cruse
Attendance: 6,501
