The Aftermath: How 13 foul-free minutes from Nika Mühl saved UConn's season

With 3:05 left in the third quarter, UConn was staring down disaster. Nika Mühl had just picked up her fourth foul, putting her one away from disqualification. The Huskies were on the brink of losing their all-important point guard in the Elite Eight.

Foul trouble on Mühl had cost UConn a game earlier in the season against Notre Dame. The Huskies out-scored the visitors by 13 with Mühl on the floor in a game they lost by 15. If she left against USC, they could forget the Final Four.

Geno Auriemma left her in the game with those four fouls. At that point, he knew it was out of his hands.

“The word 'trust' doesn't exist between me and Nika. KK (Arnold) had four fouls and Nika had four fouls. It did cross my mind, ‘I know she's going to foul out and I'm going to have to put KK in an impossible situation as a freshman,’” Auriemma said. “Did I trust she would be able to do it? No, but I prayed.”

The gamble paid off. Over the next 13 minutes, Mühl played foul-free basketball and was still on the court when the final buzzer sounded on UConn’s 80-73 win over USC in the Elite Eight.

“I told myself that I'm not going to foul out this game,” Mühl said, “but I didn't say that I'm not going to get four fouls, so...”

The experience of that loss to Notre Dame stuck with her, though. While Mühl has gotten this far by playing without fear on the court, that changed against the Trojans. If the Huskies lost, it wouldn’t just be the end of the season. Mühl’s collegiate career hung in the balance.

“I think for the first time, there was a point where she was scared. Like, ‘I can't screw around anymore,’” Auriemma said. “She learned her lesson from the Notre Dame game this year when she fouled out.”

UConn certainly needed her. Mühl finished with eight points, eight assists, five rebounds, and two steals. Half of those assists, three rebounds, and one steal came in the fourth quarter alone.

“A couple of rebounds that Nika got down on the defensive end — she had no business getting them,” Auriemma said. “There's just something in the way she plays and the toughness that she brings. She could not score any points and still have a huge impact on the game and I thought tonight was a perfect example of that.”

Mühl needed to be on the floor to have that impact, though. And against all odds — borderline miraculously — she kept herself on the floor with four fouls for 13 minutes to see out the victory.

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