No. 2 UConn women’s basketball vs. Seton Hall: time, how to watch, broadcasters, preview; Aubrey Griffin now ruled out

After a nearly two-week stretch without any games the No. 2 UConn women’s basketball team (3-1) is back in action Friday when the Huskies take on Seton Hall in their Big East opener, marking their first of four games in four different arenas in nine days.

The Huskies will be without freshman Azzi Fudd, who will miss at least two weeks with a nagging foot injury, as well as junior Aubrey Griffin, who was ruled out Thursday by the Huskies’ athletic trainer. Coach Geno Auriemma initially said she’d be good to go for the weekend before a setback at practice, he told Bob Joyce on the UConn Coaches’ Show.

The Pirates, meanwhile, are 3-2 on the season, with wins over Mount St. Mary’s (81-68), Lehigh (87-77) and Toledo (68-63, OT) and losses to Fordham (82-63) and USC (79-65). Seton Hall was picked to finish third in the Big East behind UConn and DePaul.

Here’s what else you need to know about the matchup:

Site: Walsh Gymnasium

Time: 7 p.m.

Series: UConn leads, 53-10

Last meeting: No. 2 UConn 70, Seton Hall 49, Feb. 10, 2021, in Storrs.

TV: SNY (Meghan Culmo, Allen Bestwick, Maria Marino)

Stream: In-market SNY viewers with access to the network can watch via the NBC Sports app: http://stream.nbcsports.com/rsn/sny. Out-of-market viewers can watch on the Fox Sports App or at https://www.foxsports.com/ as well as on the FOX Now app or at www.fox.com/sports. The games might not appear on those sites until right around tipoff.

Radio: UConn IMG Sports Network on 97.9 ESPN (Bob Joyce, Debbie Fiske)

Seton Hall probable starters, sixth man:

Lauren Park-Lane, G, 5-6, Jr.; Mya Jackson, G, 5-7, Jr.; Andra Espinoza-Hunter, G/F, 5-11, Gr.; Sidney Cooks, F, 6-4, R-Sr.; Katie Armstrong, G/F, 6-2, Gr.; Mya Bembry, F, 6-1, Jr.

UConn probable starters, sixth man:

Christyn Williams, G, 5-11, Sr.; Olivia Nelson-Ododa, F, 6-5, Sr.; Evina Westbrook, G, 6-0, R-Sr.; Paige Bueckers, G, 5-11, So.; Aaliyah Edwards, F, 6-3, So.; Nika Mühl, G, 5-10, So.

The matchup

UConn’s offense: Bueckers, Williams and Westbrook have accounted for two-thirds of UConn’s scoring this season. Fudd has the next-highest point total with 30, including 18 in one game. Without her the Huskies will ask for more from Mühl and freshman Caroline Ducharme.

UConn’s defense: UConn’s 66.0 points allowed per game isn’t stellar, but its defense looked better in the South Carolina game than it did early on against Arkansas. Defense (and rebounding) can also help UConn get going in transition, which Auriemma wants to see his team do even more of.

Seton Hall’s offense: Similar to last season, Park-Lane and Espinoza-Hunter lead the team with 19.0 and 18.2 points per game, respectively, while Cooks chips in 15.3 on average. The Pirates are averaging 72.8 points per game on 40.7% shooting (36.3% on 3s).

Last season, Park-Lane caused all sorts of problems and dropped 29 on UConn in the second meeting of the season.

“That little Allen Iverson Jr. [Park-Lane] lit us up. She’s back. She’s really good,” Auriemma said. “So we’ve got our hands full with her. They’ve got a couple of new guys, they’ve lost a couple guys, but they play the same. They’re gonna shoot the 3, spread the floor, put a little bit of pressure on you.”

Seton Hall’s defense: Seton Hall has been outscored by just a point on average this season, allowing 73.8 points per game on 43.3% shooting (but just 27.6% on 3s). The Pirates also struggle on the boards, collecting just 46.5% of misses off the glass per Her Hoop Stats.

UConn keys: Don’t let Park-Lane get going, or let the Pirates get hot from the 3-point line. Transition defense. Exploit size advantage in lane. Get going in transition.

Players to watch: Edwards had her breakout game last season against Seton Hall, so Friday would be perfect timing for her to come out with a strong outing after a somewhat disappointing start to her sophomore season.

“I was talking to Aaliyah today,” Auriemma said Wednesday. “I said, ‘You know you have one offensive rebound in four games? You used to get one every possession.’ I remember one game she had three in one possession. So you need to get back to that. That’s got to be a big part of your game. You’ve got to be that tough guy-enforcer for us. Because you can be. You’ve got to be that guy that can defend three or four different positions, who we know can get an offensive rebound and put it back up, who we know can go coast to coast, who we know that can make 15-16 footers. You need to get back to that.’”

About Seton Hall’s coach: In his ninth season in South Orange, Anthony Bozzella has led the Pirates to a 150-101 record. The Hall had back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2015 and 2016 and last season, amid much COVID-19-disruption, the Pirates were one of the first teams out from making the NCAA Tournament and ultimately declined a WNIT bid.

Seton Hall’s mascot: The Pirate.

Famous alumni: Basketball analyst and former coach Bill Raftery, NBA executive Artūras Karnišovas, former baseball player Rick Cerone

Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com