The Huskies were without six players due to injury on Wednesday night.
On a night where UConn was shorthanded due to injury, Allie Ziebell stole the show in a 97-39 victory over the Xavier Musketeers at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday. The sophomore set a career-high with 34 points — most by anyone on the team this season — and tied a single-game program record with 10 made 3-pointers. Only Katie Lou Samuelson (3/20/17 vs USF), Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (11/14/14 vs UC Davis) and Maya Moore (1/17/09 vs Syracuse) have matched that total previously.
The Huskies were without six players due to injury — Serah Williams (ankle), Blanca Quiñonez (shoulder), Caroline Ducharme (migraine), Gandy Malou-Mamel (illness), Morgan Cheli (ankle) and Ice Brady (knee) — leaving them with nine healthy options.
Beyond Ziebell, Ashlynn Shade also had a big night, setting her own career-best with eight steals and six assists to go with 12 points and six assists. Kayleigh Heckel also had career-highs with eight assists and eight rebounds while Sarah Strong added 25 points on an efficient 10-14 shooting.
Azzi Fudd struggled, totaling just six points on 2-12 shooting. She also missed a free throw, snapping a streak of 40 consecutive makes dating back to last season’s Sweet Sixteen win over Oklahoma.
UConn had trouble shaking Xavier in the early going. The Huskies scored the opening basket, only to miss their next four shots. Meanwhile, the visitors started 4-7 from the field and led over seven minutes in at 15-12. UConn finally found a rhythm and scored eight straight points — capped off by a 3-pointer from Ziebell, which snapped the Huskies out of a 0-10 start from deep.
Still, UConn only led by five through 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, the Huskies finally took control. They ripped off a 16-0 run — boosted by nine straight points from Ziebell — and held Xavier without a point for 5:13. UConn out-scored the Musketeers 21-7 in the frame and took a 19-point lead into the locker room.
The Huskies kept their foot on the gas through the break. They used a 15-0 burst to push the gap past 30, then racked up a 10-0 stretch to send the advantage beyond 40 points. In the fourth quarter, Ziebell scored 12 straight points on her own by making four consecutive 3-pointers.
UConn ultimately ran away with a 58-point victory.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 22-0 overall and 12-0 in Big East play. Next, they’ll wrap up the non-conference slate when they host arch-rival Tennessee at PeoplesBank Arena on Sunday.
Category: General Sports
