UConn women’s basketball handles Seton Hall, 98-73

No. 9 UConn women’s basketball will head into the holiday break on a high note after taking down the Seton Hall Pirates, 98-73, in a matinee matchup at the XL Center on Wednesday.

For the second straight game, Chris Dailey served as acting head coach with Geno Auriemma away from the team due to illness. She improved to 15-0 as a head coach in her career.

Six players reached double-figures for UConn (9-2, 2-0 Big East). Aaliyah Edwards led the team with 23 points — her third straight game over the 20-point mark — while Nika Mühl scored a season-high 16 points thanks to a career-high four 3-pointers. She also dished out 11 assists to record the first double-double of her career.

Dorka Juhász also picked up a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in her second game back from a broken thumb and added four assists, two blocks, and two steals as a do-it-all complement in the post to Edwards. Caroline Ducharme had one of her best games of the season, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting — including 4-of-6 from three.

Lou Lopez Sénéchal chipped in with 14 points while Aubrey Griffin had 13 points and seven rebounds.

UConn jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter with strong play on both ends of the floor. On offense, the Huskies assisted on nine of their first 10 baskets while on defense, they held Seton Hall to just one make on their first 10 attempts.

The lead climbed as high as 19 in the first but as the period wound down, UConn’s turnover problem reappeared. Over the final three minutes, the Huskies coughed the ball up five times. As a result, they didn’t score over the final two minutes of the quarter.

Unlike recent contests, UConn corrected course quickly. The Huskies pushed their advantage over 20 points early in the second quarter and every time Seton Hall tried to cut into the deficit, the hosts answered right back.

UConn didn’t completely eliminate turnovers — it had six in the second quarter — but they didn’t derail the team like they had in the previous three contests. The Huskies went into halftime with a 22-point lead — their largest of the day to that point.

Out of the break, Edwards took over. She scored seven straight points early in the quarter, which all but put the game away. Seton Hall never got back within 20 in the second half and the Huskies pushed the gap over 30 in the third quarter.

UConn held the Pirates without a field goal over the final 5:42 of the period to make the fourth quarter little more than a formality.

Next, UConn will have a week off for the holidays. The team will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 28 for a Big East matchup at Creighton.