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UConn's Dorka Juhasz (14) is guarded by Butler's Anna Mortag (34) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Jessica Hill/Associated Press
Dorka Juhász sat on the sideline. Her left arm was held straight up against her chest thanks to a heavy-duty sling and cast combo. Her mood appeared somber.
It was the Final Four and UConn women’s basketball was playing in the national championship game against its latest rival, South Carolina. All Juhász could do was watch from the sideline after breaking her wrist just six days prior.
Little did Juhász know that her impact was still felt on the team, on the program, and on the fans watching her during the day’s open viewing portion of practice ahead of the title game.
When a young fan wearing a UConn t-shirt in the stands was asked who her favorite player was, she replied without hesitation: "Dorka."
Juhász looked up at the jumbo screen showing the fan and beamed after hearing her name. She waved back to the fan with her good arm and the crowd responded with a collective "aww."
This Sunday, Juhász will get the chance to be on the court against the No. 1-ranked Gamecocks in a rematch of last year’s championship game when the No. 5 Huskies host the reigning national champion in a Sunday matinee at the XL Center (noon / FOX).
And after recovering from her wrist, and also a broken thumb earlier this season, Juhász enters Sunday’s matchup playing some of her best basketball of the year and as one of UConn’s two post weapons against South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston.
"I think her confidence is really really high right now because, you know, she's playing well, and she's somewhat healthy considering," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Wednesday after UConn’s win at Providence. "She’s playing like someone her age needs to play, who's played enough basketball to know. That's what you hope when you have someone her age, who has played that much basketball and figured that out."
Juhász is the only Husky averaging a double-double of 15.0 points and 10.4 rebounds (she’s played in 16 games this year). She’s also third on the team with 57 assists and second with 20 blocks and a 33.9 minutes-per-game average.
In UConn’s latest stretch of five games in 12 days, the Hungary native averaged 16. 2 points and 8.8 rebounds
"She's trying really hard," Auriemma said. "Her effort is really really good. She goes and rebounds the ball over here over there and over there, you know, doesn't stand there and wait for rebounds to come to her. And she's much more patient in the lane on the offensive end and giving herself more opportunities."
Juhász recorded her eighth double-double of the year at Providence on Wednesday, leading UConn with 19 points and 17 rebounds (one shy of her career-high) while also dishing out four assists.
It was her layup at 2:33 in the fourth that put UConn back up by 10 to ride out the game after the Friars had cut the lead from 17 to eight.
"I think I just have to keep getting better, just finding ways to get myself, mentally being aggressive and it's not necessarily coming from just scoring," Juhász said. "I think I had a couple of games where I started really bad offensively and that kind of put something in my head that I wasn't really effective. So now, throughout the season, I'm trying to get better of just getting rebounds, setting up my teammates, getting a screen, you know, doing a good defensive play, just trying to find little things that keep me going. And just having that aggressive mindset to help this team."
Three days earlier, it was Juhász’s 3-pointer that acted as the final dagger in UConn’s narrow win over then-No. 21 Villanova in Hartford. After she initially missed the shot at 2:51 in the fourth with the game tied, Juhász tried again a minute later to put UConn on top for the rest of the game.
Juhász finished Sunday’s game with 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds in 40 minutes.
"After I missed that 3, I knew the next one was going in," Juhász said after UConn’s win over Villanova.
On Sunday, it will be up to Juhász and junior Aaliyah Edwards to help slow down Boston, the reigning Player of the Year.
Juhász and Edwards will have Boston matched in size (Juhász stands 6-foot-5 and Edwards 6-3, while Boston is 6-5), but their hardest assignment will come on defense where they’ll be in charge of taking away her looks inside the paint and her clear passes to her teammates.
Boston is averaging 12.9 points and 9.8 rebounds. She leads South Carolina with 43 blocks and is fifth with 37 assists.
So even if Juhász and Edwards master the double-team on Boston, they’ll have to work just as hard on offense to maneuver around her presence under the basket. Plus they’ll need help in managing their rest off the court as they don’t profit from the same depth South Carolina does. Boston is averaging just 24.6 minutes per game because of the Gamecocks’ depth, while both Juhász and Edwards are averaging 32-plus minutes per game (both played the full 40 against Villanova).
Juhász has the upper hand over Boston on the outside. Boston is averaging just 0.9% from the perimeter (making one of 11 3-point attempts on the season), while Juhász is shooting 31.8% from deep (making 14 of 44 attempts).
After watching her team fall to the Gamecocks on the title stage last April, Juhász is ready to play for revenge.
"We're looking forward to it," Juhász said. "It's going to be a great crowd. An exciting challenge for us and I think every single one of us is super excited about that."
Maggie.Vanoni@hearstmediact.com @maggie_vanoni