ORLANDO, Fla. _ After Tuesday's tight win over Memphis, Geno Auriemma predicted that UConn's next game Thursday evening against UCF would go identically.
He was right as far as UConn's offense is concerned. The No. 4 Huskies sputtered offensively for the second straight game, but did enough on defense and withstood a late comeback attempt to ensure the team would return to Storrs with a pair of road wins.
With UConn's 59-52 victory over UCF (9-6, 1-2), the program improves to 16-1 overall this season and 126-0 all time in AAC play. Thursday marked UConn's second single-digit victory over an AAC opponent in its seven seasons in the league, with the other coming in February 2017 against Tulane (63-60).
The Huskies face one more AAC team, Tulsa on Sunday, before resuming their nonconference slate on Thursday against Tennessee. But even as excruciating as elements of this week's road games were for Auriemma and the team, the coach is hopeful that they will be better off because of it.
"These last two games, they were hard," Auriemma said. "They were hard to play in, they were hard to get things done. But this team needs to go through these kinds of games. This is important for them. This is how they get a little bit tougher. This is how they get a little bit better."
Once more, UConn's offensive struggles started early and never completely worked themselves out, with the Huskies at their worst, looking discombobulated against UCF's zone and failing to attack the basket. No stretch was more indicative of their issues than when the team was called for back-to-back shot clock violations, which UCF used to go on a 7-0 run and gain an early two-point advantage. Seven of UConn's 17 shots in the first quarter were 3s, and the Huskies only made one.
"If you move and if you move the ball and if the spacing is good, you get a lot of open shots," Auriemma said about playing against the zone. "What happens when those shots don't go in, is you got to keep shooting them. And I think some of our players, maybe again on the road, shots don't go in, there's this little tentativeness, a little bit hesitation, 'Should I shoot it? Should I not?' All the walking calls, you're wide open, shoot the ball."
Baskets from Megan Walker and Olivia Nelson-Ododa, the latter with seven seconds left, ensured a tie game by the first quarter's end. UConn's offense fared slightly better in the second, but it was the defense that got things going, holding UCF scoreless from the field the entire period. The Knights went 0 for 8 and sank three free throws before undergoing a 7:57 scoring drought to finish the half, and the Huskies took advantage.
Crystal Dangerfield started things off with a pair of free throws, a floater and steal before finding Anna Makurat in transition, part of a 16-0 run extending into the third quarter that gave UConn some breathing room. A pair of free throws and three-point play from Walker, along with a layup from Nelson-Ododa, gave the team a 29-16 advantage going into the break.
"They were kind of playing like a matchup zone," said Walker, who led the team with 19 points. "So for us, we just had to flash to the middle a lot and attack the lane more, so we've just got to work on getting in the gaps and jump stopping and finding the open shooter."
Though UConn struggled to get the ball to Nelson-Ododa at times _ she only played 11 minutes in the second half due to foul trouble _ the sophomore looked much stronger in the paint. She made four of her five shots and ended up with nine points, all in the first half.
Though a 3 from Makurat early in the third earned the Huskies their largest lead of the night (18), UConn's meager 12-point, seven-turnover third quarter allowed UCF to chip away before cutting the deficit to seven off a jumper from Kay Kay Wright with 6:55 remaining in the game, capping a 10-3 UCF run to start the fourth.
Auriemma talked about the Knights' unique style and the traps it can create for an opponent.
"It is not something that you see on a regular basis," he said. "They're not going to change their defense, they're not going to do anything different, and they're not going to change their offense, they're not going to all of a sudden come down and start jacking up shots.
"They're going to make the game as slow as possible. They're going to slow you down by their zone, and then they're going to slow you down by their offense. So, if you're not careful, you get caught in that kind of malaise, and then it ends up being a slog for 40 minutes."
Makurat hit another 3 that put UConn back up by 10, but the Knights stuck around, making it a nine-point game three times as the quarter waned. Walker and Dangerfield combined for seven points to keep the Knights at bay before free throws from Williams and Walker extended the lead to 10. But Makurat's foul on Wright's 3-point attempt with 10 seconds remaining in the game gifted the Knights three free throws and cut UConn's lead to single digits.
Along with Walker, Dangerfield and Makurat also got into double figures with 13 and 10 points, while Christyn Williams had a season-low five on 1-for-9 shooting. Kyla Irwin broke a three-game scoreless streak with a 3 early in the fourth quarter.
