UConn women's basketball defeats Butler thanks to graduate transfer Lou Lopez Sénéchal

STORRS — It only took UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma five days of coaching Lou Lopez Sénéchal to realize he had a new starter on his hands. The combo guard/forward transferred from Fairfield to UConn last spring for her final year of collegiate eligibility. She began workouts with the team in June and immediately impressed her new coaches and teammates. Now eight months into her Husky career, Lopez Sénéchal has become one of, if not the most consistent, players for UConn this season as it continues to manage another revolving door of injuries. She's scored in double figures and started each of the team's 19 games. On Saturday, she sparked the No. 5-ranked Huskies’ comeback in its 79-39 win over Butler at Gampel Pavilion. The victory was UConn’s 10th straight. "I don't know where we'd be without Lou," Auriemma said. "She might be our MVP." UConn (17-2, 10-0 Big East) had just seven available players for the second-straight game (and fourth total of the year) as Azzi Fudd (knee) is out indefinitely. Ayanna Patterson and Caroline Ducharme are working their way back from concussions. Patterson has missed three games but participated in the team’s pregame warmups and practice this week as part of her rehab. On Saturday, Auriemma said the freshman would probably get her first "full day" of practice on Sunday. "This team, more than any team that I've coached maybe in 38 years, has probably had more to deal with to prove how strong they are than any team that I've coached, maybe ever," Auriemma said. "I don't think there's been a team that I've had at Connecticut that's had more to overcome than this one. Pretty remarkable, I think." But the lack of rotation, again, wasn’t a problem for UConn. Led by Aaliyah Edwards with 20 points, Aubrey Griffin and Lopez Sénéchal followed with 17 points each. All three also had a team-high seven rebounds each. Dorka Juhász followed with 14 points. The Huskies opened the game on a 4-0 run, however Butler was quick to triple the hot start. Butler (7-13, 2-9) responded with a 13-0 run to get ahead of the Huskies. UConn couldn’t piece together its offense as it fell victim to turnover trouble yet again. The Huskies had four straight turnovers and were scoreless for over four-and-a-half minutes. At the quarter’s halfway timeout, UConn was just 2 of 6 from the floor. Griffin broke UConn’s drought with a corner 3-pointer. The shift of energy spurred the Huskies’ defense and kept Butler scoreless for the quarter’s final five minutes. UConn ended the quarter on a 6-0 run and cut its deficit from nine to three. "They just kept hitting, they were hot in the beginning," Edwards said. "So we were taking away those shots and forcing them out of rhythm for their offense and then it just led to us having a better flow offensively." Added Auriemma: "I knew that once we got some momentum, once we got some flow that we would be OK." Lopez Sénéchal carried UConn into the second period. The graduate had six of UConn’s first eight points in the frame. Her jumper at 7:49 tied the game while Griffin scored on the next possession to put UConn on top for the rest of the game. The Bulldogs' offense began to break down. Plays were rushed and passes were easily picked off. After shooting 33.3% in the first 10 minutes, Butler went 1 of 11 in the second quarter. Lopez Sénéchal was the first player to reach double-figures as she made a pair of free throws to get UConn ahead 30-19 at the 3:07-minute mark. She finished the first half with a game-highs in points (14), rebounds (6) and assists (4). "Whenever things are not going well for us, I try to get the ball in her hands as much as possible, as many places and as many ways as I possibly can," Auriemma said about Lopez Sénéchal. "... She has tremendous confidence in her abilities. ... She's getting better defensively. You know all the things that we need her to be, she has been all those things. All those things. I would coach 'till I'm 90 if I had 12 of her." The Huskies ended the half up by 17 thanks to outscoring the Bulldogs 26-6 in the second quarter. UConn opened the second half with a 10-0 run as Butler went over 12 minutes (the last 8:45 of the second quarter and the first 3-plus minutes of the third quarter) without a field goal. Lopez Sénéchal’s jumper at 1:29 in the third gave the Huskies a 30-point lead. UConn cruised the rest of the way. Lopez Sénéchal finished with five assists (her season-high), one block and one steal. Edwards also had three blocks, four assists and two steals. Butler gave up 27 points off its 19 turnovers and shot 25.9% compared to UConn, which shot 53.7%. The Huskies will next play on Monday when they host DePaul at 7 p.m. in Storrs. UConn was originally scheduled to host the Blue Demons on Jan. 8 but that game was postponed since the Huskies did not have the Big East minimum of seven available players to play. Maggie.Vanoni@hearstmediact.com @maggie_vanoni

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