Seton Hall Pirates welcomed one of the top teams in women's college basketball which is UConn Huskies. It was definitely a sold out crowd at Walsh Gymnasium as everyone wanted to see top player Paige Bueckers in action for UConn. The Pirates knew this game would be challenging with their experience underneath coach Geno Auriemma now in his 39th season. Bueckers coming into this game was averaging 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Azana Baines for Seton Hall is averaging 15.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Paige Bueckers overcame an ACL injury during the 2022-2023 season which was tough for her but never gave up. Bueckers did all the hard work to come back for 2023-2024 season. Paige looks even better this year after the injury. Bueckers is putting up huge numbers, letting people know that she is still one of the top players in women's college basketball. UConn becomes a tougher team to beat whenever she is on the court, gets going and can't be stopped at all.
Seton Hall got off to a fast start against UConn's defense as they had a 15-9 lead midway but the Huskies started to make run. Pirates had a 23-21 lead going into the second quarter where UConn dominated big time. Paige Bueckers, Aaliyah Edwards and KK Arnold started to get going for the Huskies as Nika Muhl was looking like Jason kidd out there with her assists. Seton Hall struggled on defense and offense in second quarter while UConn took advantage of that. They outscored them 30-10, having that momentum and leading by 18 with a score of 51-33 at halftime.
The third quarter was a different outcome as Uconn struggled to find shots and didn't really make stops on defense. Seton Hall stepped up on defense, made shots, forcing some turnovers and did a great job of keeping score close heading into last quarter. The Pirates outscored Huskies 18-10 as Uconn had a 61-51 lead going into fourth quarter with things getting interesting now. Uconn took over the game behind Paige Bueckers as she continued shooting the ball well and couldn't be stopped. Huskies defense played outstanding as Seton Hall had no answers. UConn ended up winning this game 83-59 improving to 15-3 and Seton Hall falling to 11-7 this season.
After the game we did a post game press conference with head coach Geno Auriemma and star guard Paige Bueckers.
Leading scorers for UConn
Paige Bueckers 32 points, 3 assists and 7 rebounds.
KK Arnold 15 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds.
Aaliyah Edwards 17 points, 3 assists and 9 rebounds.
Nika Muhl 5 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds.
Photo Credit 📹 Mike Franco
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