What does Arizona have to do to beat top-seeded UConn in Friday’s Final Four? And who’s going to guard Aari McDonald, anyway?
The Star talked to Alexa Philippou, UConn’s beat reporter for the Hartford Courant, about what to expect from the Huskies when the teams square off at the Alamodome. (Philippou’s answers have been lightly edited for clarity and to match Star style):
What does Arizona’s path to victory look like?
A: “This seems pretty evident given Arizona’s basketball identity, but: defense, defense, defense. Stop Paige Bueckers and Christyn Williams. Force UConn turnovers and turn those into points on the other end. On offense, hit a lot of 3s — probably around the amount they had against Texas A&M (13). Aari McDonald will have to have another big night.
What will it take to stop Paige Bueckers? It seems like no one — and not even an ankle tweak — has done it this year.
A: “Bueckers’ only single-digit scoring output was against Tennessee, but even then she hit that dagger 3 to seal the Huskies’ win. She scored 28 and 31 points, respectively, against great defenses from Baylor and South Carolina — so she has a pretty decent track record heading into Friday. Her 3-point shot hasn’t been as consistent since February, but she’ll still kill you with that midrange pull-up ‘J’ and also shoots very efficiently around the rim.
“I think it’s fair to say that, to this point, no one has really been able to stop her. Note that in that UConn’s sole loss, Bueckers still ended up with 27 points — UConn’s horrible defense was their downfall — and that Bueckers has thrived on the biggest of stages. But Friday is a Final Four game, and that’ll be new territory and even more pressure added for the freshman sensation.”
UConn guard Christyn Williams (13) shoots over Syracuse forward Digna Strautmane (45) during the first half of a college basketball game in the second round of the women’s NCAA tournament at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Who is UConn’s X-factor with so many great players?
A: “I know this may sound weird to some, but I’ve said over the last few months that Christyn Williams (the Huskies’ second-best scorer) is UConn’s X-factor that’ll determine whether it wins a national championship. (In fairness, Geno Auriemma actually said the same thing during the Big East Tournament, so this isn’t that controversial.)
“If Christyn Williams can be the all-around player that she was for the Iowa game (what Geno said was the best outing of her career), then this team may win the whole thing. At Baylor, we saw a few different versions of Christyn Williams — she didn’t have a great first half and late in the game missed two free throws that could have cost UConn their season. But overall she pulled herself out of the funk to finish on a better note, and still had 21 points.
“UConn loves to use her now as their go-to lockdown defender, but they clearly need her offense to help shoulder the scoring load alongside Paige Bueckers.”
How does UConn fare against lockdown defenses like Arizona’s?
A: “Baylor’s probably the best example we have — Geno even said Wednesday that he thinks Baylor and Arizona have the two best defenses they’ve faced all season, though they go about it in different ways. Against Baylor, UConn struggled for long stretches, going scoreless for a large chunk of the third quarter. There were times where they were out-toughed by the Bears and struggled with their physicality. Getting out in transition is also big for the Huskies, so when they aren’t able to do that they may become more stagnant in the half-court.
“We’ll never know how the game would’ve turned out had (Baylor’s) DiDi Richards not gone down with an injury. But UConn nevertheless figured things out towards the end of the game and started to run their stuff a lot cleaner. And of course, Paige Bueckers took over, giving the rest of her team confidence.”
Finally, who will draw the assignment of guarding Aari McDonald and what is her track record against speedy players who can do it all?
A: “Christyn Williams has emerged as the Huskies’ go-to lockdown defender and was a big reason why Iowa’s Caitlin Clark was limited to 21 points on 21 shots. That said, I don’t think she’s faced anyone as speedy as McDonald. They’ll have Olivia Nelson-Ododa to protect the paint and contest McDonald’s shots if she gets by Williams, but there’s no doubt Williams has a tall task in front of her to keep McDonald in front of her.
“We may also see redshirt junior guard Evina Westbrook, sophomore forward Aubrey Griffin and, if she plays, freshman guard Nika Muhl take a crack at guarding McDonald (Muhl has missed the last three games after spraining her ankle in the first round).
“I’ll be interested to see how many different defensive looks Geno will try to throw Aari’s way — that’s something he mentioned Wednesday to media. They’ll probably be willing to try some zone too if needed.”
