Five Keys to Beating the Huskies

By: Jeffrey Newholm

In 2008, the huskies were second in the NCAA with five titles while the lady Vols won their record eighth title behind star player Candace Parker. Since then I think it’s safe to say women’s basketball fans have been suffering from a bad case of HFS – husky fatigue syndrome. Uconn has won five of the last seven titles, three of those being perfect seasons, and two of those perfect seasons coming without any single-digit games. And of course the huskies are overwhelming favorites to complete the fourpeat this year. But fear not, as I honestly believe the right team with the right game plan can defeat Uconn. In fact, having just scouted the huskies myself when they played in Chicago, I’ve identified five things a team can do to inject some drama into this year’s women’s basketball season, lest it become another husky coronation snoozefest. So if you’re one of those fans ill with HFS, I encourage you to read on:

1. Have big, physical players who can hold their own in the paint

Sadly most husky opponents disqualify themselves right here. Against physically overmatched foes, Uconn doesn’t even have to run a play to get a layup—the team can just lob it in to Breanna Stewart or Morgan Tuck for an easy deuce. On the other end, that team will be unable to shoot over Uconn’s lanky shot blockers and will have to quickly resort to low percentage outside shots. In some American conference games Uconn’s advantage in points in the paint is around 44-4. Having good players is not a sufficient reason to pull the upset, but it is a necessary one.

2. No quit attitude from coach and players

I noticed a distinct difference this year between the huskies’ games against Ohio State and Depaul. In both, Uconn had a double digit lead early on in the third quarter. The buckeyes, on one hand, didn’t show much urgency to come back or improve their shot selection, and the lead got all the way up to 40. DePaul, on the other hand, weathered the inevitable third quarter run and got the lead back down to five in the fourth. I think Muffet McGraw deserves a lot of credit for not letting her Notre Dame team have a “boo-hoo poor us” attitude when they limped into Saturday’s game without two key players. The Irish instead employed a “next man up” mentality and gave the huskies a huge scare behind several previously unheralded freshmen. Basically this point can be summarized with: if you go into the game thinking you’re beat, well then you are.

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3. On offense: be bold and fearless beyond the arc

I think McGraw and Coach Bruno at DePaul benefited from seeing what Chattanooga tried on offense a few weeks ago. The Mocs were bound and determined to get the best shot they could, even if it meant taking 28 seconds off the shot clock. It worked well for 21 minutes, considering the mid-major Mocs were only down 11. But Uconn’s defense is relentless, and  the five-deep Mocs quickly got burned out. The shot selection late in the game was very, very poor because the Mocs became so discouraged. When the huskies came to Chicago, Bruno decided on a better approach: to haul up a ridiculous amount of contested threes and hope they go in. This may sound like a lazy game plan, but it actually worked out very well for the Blue Demons. They hit a sizzling nine of seventeen threes in the first half and were only down three at the half. The Irish did even better, hitting seven of ten treys in the first half and six of ten in the second half. Granted, if the team cools in the second half, as did the Dayton Fliers in last year’s elite eight, there could be a scoring drought. But in order for the underdog to win, they have to take risks.

4. Defense: clog the paint

In Chicago, the blue demons pressed the entire game, hoping to force turnovers and start fast breaks. But this husky team is too poised to fall prey to such tactics. I counted only two backcourt turnovers, no turnovers off double teams, and Geno never had to bail a possession out with a timeout. I think a smarter strategy for next time would be to sit back in a zone to make UConn either have to run a good play to get a layup or settle for an outside shot. With the departure of sharpshooter Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, this husky team is merely human behind the arc, hitting only 35% of their long-distance shots. Notre Dame switched to zone after Uconn bolted out to a quick double-digit lead, and when the huskies couldn’t get easy layups anymore, the Irish came all the way back to take the lead. The press can easily overwhelm a lesser foe, but to hold the husky offense in check the opponent needs genuinely good defenders, not a gimmicky scheme.

5. Get Stewart into foul trouble, and look out for Samuelson at the end

The first four points are all important, but in the end all it may result in doing is awakening a sleeping giant after one close half. If Stewart decides to take over a game, there may not be anything the other team can do. But she does sometimes pick up some untimely fouls, so going after her on offense may be a good gambit if you’re willing to concede some big blocks. There were some anxious moments in Storrs last March when Stewart picked up two quick fouls in the tournament against Rutgers. Unfortunately Rutgers was a terrible three point shooting team, so they weren’t able to take advantage. But if a better team could coax Stewart into a couple of early fouls, they may be able to boost their confidence with a competitive early game. The second half of this advice is more of a hope than a strategy: even if everything else goes right, the underdog could have their hearts ripped out by an untimely Katie Lou Samuelson three. The freshman is not ready to start yet, but she has already logged some big fourth quarter minutes off the bench. When DePaul cut the husky lead to five with eight minutes to go, there was a tantalizing sense of potential drama in the arena, while Geno had a look of horror on his face—and then Samuelson buried a three to start a game ending run. In a similar vein, the Irish had cut a 22 point fourth quarter lead to 11 with five minutes left, giving the nation a glimmer of hope—and on cue another Katie Lou three squashed all the momentum.

Granted, it’s safe to say the huskies will win 30 games, be a number one seed, and be a surefire bet to return to the final four for the ninth year in a row. But even if they do, if Notre Dame, South Carolina, or a dark horse could hit the right shots, stay poised through that third quarter husky run, and make the big play in the final minute, I think there’s a real chance the women’s tournament sees its biggest upset since Baylor went down in 2013. I’m just not sure if I would bet on it.

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