No. 5 UConn women rally past No. 21 Villanova in Big East showdown

HARTFORD, Conn. — On Feb. 9, 2022, the Villanova women stormed into the XL Center here and beat UConn to snap its 169-game conference winning streak.

Back at the XL Center 354 days later and riding a nine-game win streak of their own, the No. 21 Wildcats looked to once again shock the Huskies, but the fifth-ranked hosts escaped with a 63-58 win despite trailing for most of the second half.

“Villanova is really good,” UConn head coach Geno Aurriemma said. “And not only are they really good, but they’re really hard to play against.”

Maddy Siegrist led Villanova (18-4, 9-2 Big East) with 25 points and eight rebounds. With her first basket of the game, a three from the wing, the senior passed Penn’s Diana Caramanico (2,415 career points) and became the Big 5 women’s all-time leading scorer.

Sophomore guard Lucy Olsen joined Siegrist in double figures with 19 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.

Aubrey Griffin led UConn (20-2, 12-0) with 19 points and six rebounds, while Dorka Juhasz chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds.

» READ MORE: Maddy Siegrist has Villanova’s scoring mark, and a special bond with Sister Rose Marie, the old record-holder

The highly anticipated matchup between the Big East’s two top teams did not disappoint.

UConn controlled much of the first half, after taking a 4-3 lead just two minutes into play. The Huskies led by as many as eight in the first 20 minutes, but Villanova hung around. The Wildcats went into the locker room trailing, 33-30.

Villanova struggled to string together stops in the first half, but the second half was a different story. The Wildcats opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take a five-point lead at the 4 minute, 36-second mark. Villanova held the Huskies scoreless until Lou Lopez-Sénéchal sank two free throws with 3:33 on the clock.

“This group understands, I think, for us to be successful, it comes on the defensive end,” Wildcats coach Denise Dillon said. “Especially against a team like Connecticut who can score in so many different ways with so many different players.”

UConn cut the Villanova lead to two entering the final 10 minutes.

A 6-2 run to start the fourth built the Villanova lead back to six with 8:08 to play, but the Huskies weren’t going anywhere. UConn went on an 8-3 run to take a five-point lead with under a minute to play.

Villanova got within three with 10.1 seconds remaining. The Wildcats had two looks at the basket in the final 10 seconds, but a three from Siegrist was blocked out of bounds and another triple from Olsen came up short. Aaliyah Edwards hit two free throws with a second on the clock to ice the game.

As has been the case in most games this season, Villanova’s defense kept the Wildcats within striking distance. The nine days off to scout the Huskies were evident in Villanova’s defensive strategy. The Wildcats ran UConn’s shooters off the three-point line and battled in the post with Juhasz and Edwards.

Villanova sophomore Christina Dalce also showed poise on the defensive end against Edwards, recording four blocks on the Huskies’ star forward.

“Christina did a really nice job of setting the tone early, just being in the right position, getting to the spots,” Dillon said. “We think she’s capable of giving us some more on the other end. … I think just keeping that intensity on the defensive end, but calming yourself a bit on the offensive end.”

Villanova returns home to host Marquette (13-7, 6-5 Big East) on Tuesday (7 p.m., FS2). The two teams met in Milwaukee in December, and the Wildcats won, 54-52.