November 16, 2024
BIG EAST notebook: Friars are building, Huskies start Strong and more
By Tee Baker
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Just under two minutes into the second half of a back-and-forth, early-season matchup against Columbia, Providence head coach Erin Batth sent five players to the scorers table to replace the five that had started the half.
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“Coming out at halftime, I told the five that were going to start that if they give them [a 3-pointer], I’m subbing them all out, because we gave up four threes in a row from middle drives and flare screens on the weak side, which I know is what they do, and they did that. So I took them out. So I’m just a true women to my word,” Batth told reporters postgame.
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Despite errors, turnovers and missed shots, the Friars were able to take Columbia to overtime in a game with 20 lead changes and nine ties.
“I just talked about no plays off and then the next play. So even though we may have missed a shot, I’m telling them to please find something you can do on defense. Get it back, get it back. Attack your miss. Those little things have been really big. And I think today we did that. I think we really rattled them. We threw different defenses at them. We’re in the passing lane. Got a lot of deflections. So I’m really excited about that,” Batth told reporters.
“But I do think that, you know, just making sure their mind’s in the game, and when things don’t go your way, what can you do better? How can you flip that switch and do something else? Does that make sense? So we really just talk about that and everything that we do, I tell them always to go hard — no matter what, give your your all, even if you’re going to make a mistake, make it because you’re hustling. And that’s that’s like preaching to the choir. Every coach knows that. It’s true. You play hard, it covers a lot of mistakes.”
Although Providence was outscored 18-10 in a sloppy overtime period en route to a 77-69 defeat, the young team left their home gym a better team than they were when they entered it.
“We’re still building our culture,” said Batth. “I’m a defensive-minded coach, and defense would have won this game, period, if we would have just been able to shut them down. And so we didn’t really do that. So that’s kind of what I’m looking for.”
One thing is for sure for the Friars — guard Grace Efosa has started off hot to start her fifth season in Providence. Across three games this season she’s shooting 69.2% from the field, averaging 14.0 points per game. She’s quick, athletic and disruptive on the defensive end of the floor. The high point of release on her jump shot allows her to float over defenders for midrange shots and 3-pointers, and her physicality allows her to compete in the post.
“Grace has a blow-up mattress in the gym, honey,” Coach Batth told reporters. “She lives here. I’m trying to get her to go to her room. That girl’s in here all the time. She wants it, she wants it bad. She wants to continue to play. It’s definitely paying off.”
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Strong start
The No. 1 recruit in the nation, UConn forward Sarah Strong, did not look like a freshman in her first two collegiate games. In her Husky debut against Boston University, Strong scored a game-high 17 points, adding four rebounds, three assists and six steals in a dominant UConn win. She followed up that performance with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists, one block and two steals in a 80-49 victory at USF. The performances earned Strong BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors.
In what was an early homecoming for the highly-touted recruit, the Huskies played North Carolina on Friday night in front of 10,467 fans at the First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., just about 90 minutes away from Strong’s hometown of Durham. In front of friends, family, former teammates and coaches, Strong — despite a rough shooting night (36.8% field goal percentage, 0-7 on 3-pointers) — put on a double-double performance and found ways to contribute on both ends of the court. On the night, she scored 14 points and added 13 rebounds, six assists and five blocks in a UConn win.
“[Sarah] needed to feel what it feels like to have a lot of pressure on you, because a lot of freshmen, when they go to college, they don’t expect that, right? They just go, oh yeah, I’m gonna go to play my role and just fit in and then as I get older, I’ll do more — and then all of a sudden, you’re thrown into a situation where you have to do more, like right now,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma told reporters after the win in Greensboro. “And I’m glad that she shot it lousy. I’m glad she didn’t play like a senior or the national player of the year. I’m glad she didn’t do that, because that would have been impossible to live up to.
“So there’s so many things that she’s going to look at this film and realize there’s so much more that [she] can do. So I think it was the perfect, perfect learning experience for her — enough success and enough to to remind her.”
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UConn’s 69-58 victory over the Tar Heels also clinched win No. 1,216 for Auriemma, tying Tara VanDerveer for the most victories for a D-1 college basketball coach. The Hall of Famer has earned each of those victories at UConn alongside his associate head coach Chris Dailey, whom Auriemma hired in 1984, his first year on the job. Over 40 seasons together, the duo has built a juggernaut and helped to elevate the profile of women’s basketball through epic rivalries with other dynastic programs like Tennessee.
“I think we we created an environment where athletic directors, university presidents were able to look at what we did and what we were doing, and asked their coaches and their administration, why can’t we do that?” Auriemma told reporters. “… I think over a period of time, we made it so they they had to do it because it just meant too much to everybody. And the players demanded it. Players come into high school and, you know, college kids playing college demanded there was a path to the WNBA, so that demanded it.
“And look at today. It’s not about UConn and Tennessee. It’s about all these teams that have won national championships since the last time UConn and Tennessee won a national championship … So I think that’s something that I know [Chris Dailey] and I are exceptionally proud of, that we had a hand in that, and wherever we went we tried to help grow the game.”
On Wednesday evening, Auriemma and Daley have the chance to break the record against Farleigh Dickinson at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.
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Villanova splits Ivy series
On Saturday, for the second time this week, Villanova faced off against an Ivy League powerhouse that advanced to last year’s NCAA Tournament. On Wednesday, the Wildcats traveled an hour east of campus to Princeton, N.J., losing down the stretch to the Ivy League preseason favorite Tigers. At home on Saturday, Villanova broke even in its Ivy League series with a one-point victory over Columbia at home.
“We weren’t pleased with how we played up at Princeton. And you can’t get it back, but you can make up for it the next time out,” said Villanova head coach Denise Dillon after the win against Columbia. “But I think this group learned a lot in a short period of time. They only had a day and a half to prepare for Columbia, we knew the intensity would be there. … we’re aware of the intensity of what these Ivy League teams bring. The reputation is some great basketball, and it doesn’t matter — the players they bring in are ready to go.”
It was a career night for graduate guard Maddie Burke, who scored 17 points (5-for-7 from 3-point land) and clinched her first career double-double by pulling down 10 rebounds.
“I’m really happy for Maddie. I’ll tell you, she works. There’s no denying it,” Dillon told reporters postgame. “I talk to her a lot, she’s a fifth year grad student … some days of practice like it’s her first year, her effort is so great — her energy is tremendous. And to see her rewarded, there’s nothing better for a coach [than] to be a part of that. I know she has it, and I think her teammates do as well, and they’re feeding her confidence. … we’re gonna look to carry that throughout her final season.”
Up next for Villanova is Penn on Wednesday, the Wildcats’ first Big 5 match-up of the 2024-25 campaign.
Mitchell Northam and Jenn Hatfield contributed reporting to this story.
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Written by Tee Baker
Tee has been a contributor to The Next since March Madness 2021 and is currently a contributing editor, BIG EAST beat reporter and curator of historical deep dives.
