UConn’s loss to No. 5 Michigan was more than an early-season upset. The No. 2 Huskies had a chance to make a statement against one of the country’s best teams, but their defensive breakdowns and Sarah Strong’s foul trouble left Geno Auriemma with plenty to question afterward.
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The Huskies fell 77-66 on Thursday night, struggling to contain Michigan once the Wolverines found their rhythm. UConn committed 19 turnovers and shot just 26% from beyond the arc, while Michigan knocked down 45% of its three-point attempts. The defensive problems were especially glaring for Auriemma, who did not hold back when assessing his team’s performance after the game.
“The fact that we were only down six, playing 15 minutes without Sarah, that was kind of a little bit of a bright light,” the coach said during his post-game interview. “Not real bright, but it was a light that, when Sarah comes back, I think we did a great job hanging in. And right away in the third quarter, we turned the game around. But we just couldn’t sustain it. We couldn’t get the stops that we had to get; We lost our defensive integrity; We couldn’t guard anybody. I haven’t seen that in a long time; we couldn’t guard anybody. And we didn’t have any help for anybody. So yeah, it was deeply disappointing.”
Geno Auriemma’s statement came after Strong took responsibility for the team’s shortcomings. The sophomore forward acknowledged that UConn had not played to its usual standard and made it clear that the Huskies needed to respond when they returned to practice.
“We have a lot to learn from this game when we sit down and watch films with our position coaches,” she said. “Just watch how we didn’t play UConn basketball at all. And I think we just let Michigan do whatever they wanted to do the whole time. I feel like it’s about how I respond the next day at practice, and how, I don’t know, we just have to get it together.”
Sarah Strong finished the night with 13 points, but foul trouble limited her impact and eventually forced her out of the game. She picked up her second foul with 2:55 remaining in the first quarter and committed her third less than 30 seconds later. So Geno Auriemma had little choice but to keep her on the bench for the second quarter, leaving UConn without one of its most important players for an extended stretch.
Strong returned after halftime and helped the Huskies make a push in the third quarter, which they won 24-20. However, she eventually fouled out, once again leaving UConn without its leading star when the team needed her most. Meanwhile, Michigan had no trouble finding answers, with Te’Yala Delfosse scoring 22 points and Olivia Olson adding 19.
The 11-point defeat exposed more than just a bad shooting night. UConn also finished with 25 personal fouls compared with Michigan’s 13. So, for a team expected to contend for another national championship, the performance raised some early questions.
And with Geno Auriemma openly questioning the team’s defensive effort and Strong already acknowledging the need to respond, how UConn addresses those issues in practice will be just as important as how it moves on from the upset.