KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade don't need to score to change games

Welcome to the UConn WBB Weekly, a recap of everything that happened in the world of UConn women’s basketball over the past week from the team that runs The UConn Blog.

Sign up to get the Weekly in your inbox every Thursday or subscribe to get our premium newsletter which includes game coverage, analysis, recruiting updates, and more!

Headlines

News

• Azzi Fudd returning to UConn next season

• Chasing Perfection: UConn steamrolls through the first two rounds

• Could the NCAA Tournament provide a spark for Jana El Alfy?

• The side of Sarah Strong we don't see

Arkansas State coverage

• UConn women’s basketball destroys 15-seed Arkansas State, 103-34

• Like 'caged animals', UConn unleashes on Arkansas State in NCAA Tournament opener

• Azzi Fudd dazzles in her return to March Madness

SDSU coverage

• UConn women’s basketball advances to Sweet Sixteen with 91-57 win over South Dakota State

• Paige Bueckers closes Gampel career with yet another unstoppable performance

• Photos: UConn vs. Arkansas State

Last week’s Weekly

• Breaking down the bracket: A look at UConn's Spokane 4 Regional

Elsewhere

• Paige Bueckers’ pursuit: The national championship that keeps getting away (ESPN)

KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade don't need to score to change the game

As UConn got off to a slow start on Monday night against Arkansas State, Geno Auriemma didn’t just sit on his hands. 2:34 in, he sent Ashlynn Shade into the game. Less than two minutes later, KK Arnold made her first appearance.

Prior to Arnold’s entry, the Huskies found themselves in a 10-4 hole. After the two sophomores entered the game, they closed the first quarter by out-scoring the Jackrabbits 13-4 en route to an eventual 34-point victory. While they didn’t flip the game on their own — 10 straight points from Paige Bueckers obviously helped — they still helped turned the tide in UConn’s favor once they stepped on the floor.

It’s a luxury the Huskies didn’t have last year. If the 2023-24 team found themselves in a similar position to Monday night’s opening minutes, they would’ve just hoped that things turned around. Now, Auriemma can turn to two former starters to provide a spark.

“Imagine bringing two kids like that off the bench that started [33] games,” he said. “Just a huge advantage that it gives us.”

Neither need to score to make an impact, either. When Shade checked in, she out-hustled South Dakota State to an offensive rebound and found Sarah Strong for UConn’s first points. She only finished with three points but had three rebounds, a block and an assist.

Meanwhile, Arnold six points, five assists and five rebounds, though her defensive numbers were comically low: Two steals and one block. Despite that, she was everywhere on that end of the floor, swarming the Jackrabbits’ ball-handlers, forcing mistakes and even drawing a charge.

“It's a reminder to everybody watching that — more so today than ever — your value to a team, and a lot of times your value to yourself, [shouldn’t be] how many points I score. That's not indicative of whether you played great or not,” Auriemma said. “KK was probably, other than Paige, the most impactful player on the floor and it had nothing to do with scoring.”

That’s been Arnold’s MO since arriving at UConn but has been especially true this season. While her stat-line doesn’t stand out — 5.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.6 steals — she’s crucial to the Huskies’ operation.

“She has the ability every single night to change — the entire game — when she steps on the floor and she knows that,” Bueckers said. “Every single time and every single night KK shows up and does that for our team, she plays an extremely huge role. She knows regardless of starting, not starting, she's a huge, key piece to this team.”

For Shade, impacting the game without the points has taken more time. As a freshman, her contributions largely came from putting the ball through the hoop but now, Shade can finish with three points and still have a good game.

Her biggest strides in that regard have come on the defensive end where she’s up to 50 steals, eclipsing her mark of 37 last season despite playing 350 fewer minutes to this point.

“We've got her in the passing lanes a little bit more, a little more ‘Let me get a tip. Let me get a steal,’” Auriemma said. “So that's been that's been way better.”

It’s not as if the sophomores can’t score, either. Shade put up 20 points in the first round win over Arkansas State and has hit double-digits on 11 occasions. While her per game scoring average has dropped from 10.8 to 8.1, her per 40 minute average has increased from 13.7 to 14.3. For all the strides she’s taken everywhere else in her game, Shade is still a scorer at heart.

“She led that EBYL (AAU circuit) in scoring,” Auriemma said. “It wasn't a fluke.”

Arnold isn’t quite as prolific at putting the ball in the basket but she’s plenty capable. She’s reached double-figures six times this season but has done so 25 times in her career. Ultimately, UConn can find points all across the roster but Arnold can do other things that nobody else can, which is invaluable off the bench.

“You don't want somebody to come in off the bench and go, ‘Hey, listen, just go in there and down the fort until the starters come back.’ That doesn't do anything for you,” Auriemma said. “They go in and the game changes and whatever the other team was dealing with before those two guys come in, they have to deal with something completely different.”

As freshman, Arnold and Shade started UConn’s final 33 games and were indispensable in the team’s run to the Final Four. By the end of that campaign, they were bonafide veterans, having played over 30 points a night.

While their respective roles aren’t nearly as big this season, that’s not a bad thing.

“They don't have to play tired ever. They played tired a lot last year, so now they never have to play tired,” Auriemma said. “That just frees them up to do what they do.”

Best of social media

A look at how much time has passed:

Signing off, literally:

What a photo:

What a photo, part two:

Tough break:

What a stat: