Women’s Final Four notes: How UConn mentally dealt with all its injuries, Huskies get two All-Americans, Kay Yow’s legacy
CLEVELAND – UConn’s senior guard Nika Muhl talked Thursday about going through a period of shock then mourning when injuries started taking out her UConn teammates during the season.
But despite that, the No. 3 Huskies ended up in the Final Four again and will take on top-seeded Iowa in the national semifinal Friday at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
“As the time goes on, you kind of realize that you can either sit here and keep mourning forever, or you can just step up for your team and play for the people that are also on the bench that cannot play,” Muhl said. “Because, you know, we are very lucky and privileged right now to be able to play and be out there because we know how hard it is to not be able to, especially some people like Paige (Bueckers) that have been in that position before.
“So, I’m sure we’re taking every second to, you know, appreciate our time on the court, and I’m sure it made us tougher in the end. I mean, we’re here. And nobody expected us to be here. And that only means that we used all of those things to make each other tough.”
UConn coach Geno Auriemma said last June that he thought his team had a good chance of meeting South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament championship game.
But as events unfolded and the injuries multiplied, he stopped feeling so confident.
“You have to look at your team, and you have to say, ‘Do we have an answer for everything that happens?’ And if the answer’s no, then you just have to cross your fingers and hope that thing doesn’t happen, or those two things that you know you have no answer for,” he said Thursday. “There’s a lot of things we don’t have an answer for in (Friday’s) game.
“Now, does that mean that we just wanted to hope we make the round of 64 and then see what happens? No, because our players will tell you this. They say playing at Connecticut is the greatest thing ever, but playing at Connecticut is hard as hell because if two guys foul out tomorrow, we’re supposed to be able to compete five against three because that’s the illogical, delusional expectations that exist out there.
“So there was always a, ‘Yeah, we can get there,’ but everything has to be done perfectly. And in my mind, I had a lot of plans for this weekend. It didn’t include this.”
Bueckers, Edwards WBCA All-Americans
UConn seniors Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards were named to the WBCA All-America team Friday afternoon in Cleveland.
UConn was the only team with multiple players, and Bueckers was named an All-American for the second time, after being honored in 2021. Both UConn players were named to the Wooden Award All-American team Tuesday.
N.C. State in its first Final Four since 1998
North Carolina State advanced to its first Final Four since 1998 when the Wolfpack beat UConn 60-52 in the regional final in Dayton, Ohio. It was late coach Kay Yow’s first and only Final Four appearance.
N.C. State coach Wes Moore got choked up when he started talking about what Yow meant to him and how she would feel about the Wolfpack making it to the Final Four again.
N.C. State will face undefeated South Carolina in the national semifinal game Friday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Yow, who had breast cancer, died in 2009.
“You know, just hard to describe what she means in the state of North Carolina,” Moore said Thursday. “It was more than basketball. And even now, in her passing, look at what she’s doing. I mean, the Kay Yow Foundation is doing so much for cancer research and treatment and helping people.
“She was such an unbelievable person. And that, of course, sometimes is hard to take because I know I’m not near the person she was. Very special in North Carolina. She’s a legend. It’s awesome to be here and follow her … it’s her program.”
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, whose Virginia teams faced Yow’s teams many times back in her playing days in the ACC, recalled Yow fondly.
“Kay Yow is iconic, and I know that she probably has a hand on N.C. State being here,” Staley said. “They’ve got an angel up in heaven that’s still coaching them. Spiritually, maybe some of these players know of her legacy or not, but anytime that someone that’s coached Olympic teams, that’s a legend in coaching, they’ll always have a spirit about their program.
“I hope she’s truly happy with Wes Moore and their Wolfpack team being here in the Final Four, and I mean it’s a really happy time for, especially when you haven’t been here in a long time.”
UConn’s improvement since N.C. State loss
After an opening-night win over Dayton, UConn went to N.C. State on Nov. 12 and gave up 92 points, the most the Huskies have allowed all season, in a 92-81 loss to the then-unranked Wolfpack.
On that day, they had a fairly full complement of players – Azzi Fudd, Aubrey Griffin and Carolina Ducharme all played in that game before injuries ended their seasons.
That weekend, UConn wasn’t particularly looking like a Final Four team. And yet here the Huskies are – UConn with an injury-riddled, pared down roster that is meaner and leaner than it was at the start of the season.
“I think this is Geno’s best coaching job,” Moore said. “To think about who all he lost along the way and how he’s still in the Final Four. I mean, come on.”
South Carolina undefeated, overshadowed
The focus Thursday was all about Friday night’s second semifinal game: UConn vs. Iowa, Paige vs. Caitlin. Meanwhile, undefeated South Carolina, which will play N.C. State in the first semifinal, was not getting quite as much attention.
“I feel like we’ve noticed that we might not get as much coverage,” South Carolina junior guard Bree Hall said. “But we’re just so focused on us and want to win every game. We just approach every game – we want to go out there and perform and execute and play for each other.
“Like, it’s noticed, but it’s not something we’re talking about in the locker room, not even remotely close.”