Summing up No. 6 UConn's 69-64 win over Princeton
Dec. 9—No. 6 UConn 69, Princeton 64
Summing up
The Huskies saw a 15-point lead with 7:14 left cut to two in the final minute. But seldom-used freshman Inês Bettencourt sank a foul shot, UConn got a defensive stop, and Bettencourt's two free throws with 2.9 seconds left iced a win before an announced crowd of 8,731 at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies (7-1) had eight players available at the start and lost Nika Mühl in the third quarter after the point guard took a shot to the head. Midway through the fourth quarter, Lou Lopez Sénéchal aggravated a foot injury and sat out. But the Huskies were able to push their streak without back-to-back losses to 1,067 games while posting their 94th consecutive win against a first-time foe and improving to 77-0 against opponents that have one of coach Geno Auriemma's former players or assistant coaches on their staff.
Player of the game
Aubrey Griffin rebounded from a 1-for-12 shooting performance at Notre Dame by making all 11 of her shots Thursday to tie the school record for most baskets without a miss. Griffin finished with a career-high 29 points while getting a double-double with 10 rebounds.
By the numbers
—14 — Fourth-quarter turnovers for UConn, which finished the game with 27.
—2 — Points for Caroline Ducharme in 29 minutes of her first start of the season. She averaged 17.6 points in 11 starts as a freshman a year ago.
What they said
—"When we got that big lead up by 15, we don't have the ability to go up 30 the way we used to. With a team like Princeton, the longer you let them stay in the game, the more difficult it is going to be. None of what happened tonight surprised me, not one bit." — Auriemma.
—"I have great players who have a great will to win. We made some really great plays on the defensive end with the press and made it a really fun game for the crowd, and our amazing fans and alums that came up from New Jersey to watch." — Princeton coach Carla Berube.
Up next
UConn travels to No. 20 Maryland for a 3 p.m. game Sunday. The Terrapins (8-3) won at Purdue 77-74 Thursday on Shyanne Sellers' 3-point basket at the buzzer.
— Carl Adamec
For coverage of all sports in the JI's 18-town coverage area, plus updates on the UConn women's basketball team and head coach Geno Auriemma, follow Carl Adamec on Twitter: @CarlAdamec, Facebook: Carl Adamec, and Instagram: @CarlAdamec.
