UConn women’s basketball rallies to beat DePaul, 72-69

UConn women’s basketball came back in the fourth quarter to earn a 72-69 road win over the DePaul Blue Demons on Saturday. With the win, the Huskies clinched top seeding in the Big East Tournament and also earned at least a share of the conference regular season title.

Nika Mühl hit a key 3-pointer with 1:13 left to give UConn a five-point lead then iced the game by hitting two free throws with seven seconds remaining. The point guard finished with 13 points and eight assists, moving into second place on the school’s single-season assists list with 229 on the year.

With 5:13 remaining, DePaul’s Aneesah Morrow hit a jumper to put the hosts up by five. Although the two teams traded leads throughout the first three quarters, the Blue Demons’ grip on the game tightened since the Huskies had made just two baskets to that point in the period.

UConn slowly chipped away at the lead and finally made its move with 3:34 left. Aaliyah Edwards started it off with a bucket, followed by an up-and-under layup from Lou Lopez Sénéchal — who had gone just 1-of-8 from the field at that point. Edwards added another lay-in to give the Huskies the lead, but she fouled out shortly afterward.

Still, UConn kept fighting. After a short drought, Mühl drilled a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Huskies up by five.

DePaul responded with four straight points to get the deficit down to a single point with 17.0 left. UConn called a timeout to advance the ball but on the ensuing inbounds, but threw it away, giving the Blue Demons possession and a chance to win it, until Dorka Juhász intervened.

The fifth-year forward — who went down with a sprained ankle earlier in the contest but returned — swarmed Morrow and forced a jump-ball, which gave the Huskies possession back.

This time, they got it in and were fouled twice, which eventually put Mühl on the line. She hit both and DePaul threw up an airball on its game-tying shot to give UConn the three-point win.

Edwards led the Husskies with 16 points while Aubrey Griffin had 14 points and nine rebounds. Juhász reached double-figures as well with 13 points — 10 of which came in the first quarter.

Next, UConn will close out the regular season on Monday with senior night against Xavier. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET at Gampel Pavilion, with senior festivities beginning around 6:30 p.m.