HARTFORD, Conn. _ Heading into UConn's short break for the holidays, Anna Makurat was hoping that her three-day trip home to Sierakowice, Poland would provide a mental reset following the opening stretch of her first collegiate basketball season.
Makurat says her time home did just that, and the results are speaking for themselves six games into the new year.
Makurat has been playing some of her most consistent basketball across UConn's last few games. Not only is she doing the little things that the UConn coaching staff has asked of her, but with a renewed confidence, the outside shot that Geno Auriemma and her teammates were so impressed with in the preseason is finally starting to emerge.
Consider this: Despite missing the first 11 3-point attempts of her career, Makurat has made at least one trey in each of UConn's last 11 games. Her 3-point percentage in UConn's first five games was 10.5% (2 for 19). Since then? 19 for 39, or 48.7 percent.
"I kind of refreshed my mind at home, and coming back I tried to be more confident and just don't think about mistakes, just try to help the team," Makurat said.
She's found even more of a stride with her shot since the holiday break, scoring at least six points in all but one of UConn's games so far this month. And in both of UConn's tough road games this past week, with Memphis and UCF knocking on the Huskies' door, she hit critical threes late in the game to put UConn up by 10. Her 10 points on Thursday against the Knights tied her career high.
Makurat is averaging 3.6 3-point attempts per game, but with her shot starting to fall, the Huskies could look to her to shoot even more. After all, they could surely use an additional infusion of scoring production.
"I'm still trying to figure out how I'm supposed to play and what my team needs me to do (and just) get better," Makurat said.
Though Makurat's shooting has improved, other elements of her game are still a work in progress. The freshman committed six of UConn's 18 turnovers against UCF, most of which were traveling calls.
"I traveled all the way through Europe," Makurat joked. "Coach is always telling me I need to work on my footwork. Referees never called it before but now I really see what they meant, telling me I really needed to focus on it. So I'm going to keep working on it and I just don't want to do it again."
