The Aftermath: UConn goes inside to bully DePaul

UConn women’s basketball made just three shots from behind the arc on Saturday — and still scored 88 points and won by 37.

Facing a DePaul team with just three players listed as forwards and only one taller than 6-1, and also launches the third-most 3-pointers in the nation, the Huskies didn’t try to beat the visitors at their own game.

“We had such a huge advantage in the lane that we decided to go that way,” Geno Auriemma said postgame.

The result? UConn nearly had as many points in the paint (48) as DePaul had total points (51). The Huskies went to the line 24 times — their second-highest mark of the season — and drew 24 fouls.

In particular, Aaliyah Edwards was unstoppable. She scored 18 points, shot 4-of-7 from the field, and had a perfect 10-10 day from the free throw line.

“It's not really my mindset to get them to foul me, but…if a foul comes from it, then it does,” Edwards explained. “I'm making sure that when I do go to the line, that's two free shots or one free shot. So making sure I sink it in.”

DePaul had no answers for her size and physicality down low. She drew seven fouls while three Blue Demons had at least four fouls.

“I think Aaliyah and her staff at UConn have her playing to her strengths, and that's important,” DePaul head coach Doug Bruno said. “She will play to her strengths around the hoop and run, rebound, finish and defend inside. She's an All-American when she plays to those strengths and we don't have a lot of size. So it's going to be a tough matchup for us.”

UConn’s dominance down low helped overcome a bad day from the outside. The Huskies went just 3-of-14 on 3-pointers, a paltry 21.4 percent. Even though they took their third-fewest total on the season, Auriemma was not so bothered by it.

“14 is not a number that we would like. We always want to shoot more than that,” he said. “But at the same time, we're gonna do what we need to do to win the game, and today that was the game.”

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