‘We just try to stay positive’

Huskies look to put disappointment of Baylor cancellation behind them

The UConn women’s basketball team was hanging out after practice Tuesday when Geno Auriemma delivered the news.

The Huskies wouldn’t be going to Waco, Texas, the following day for a top-10 showdown against No. 6 Baylor after all. Coach Kim Mulkey tested positive for COVID-19, and the program would be restricting basketball activities. The UConn-Baylor game was now canceled.

The players couldn’t believe it at first. But then again, it is 2020. Well, 2021.

“We wanted to play a big game, at Baylor, obviously not a huge crowd but an away game, just some of that pressure you get when you play. And then an ESPN game. It was a really big game for us, our first top-10 matchup,” said freshman point guard Paige Bueckers about what would’ve been the first big game of her collegiate career. “So we’re just disappointed. And we had great practices leading up to it, so it was kind of sad and disappointing. But we just try to stay positive and keep building off those great practices.”

It’s not Baylor, but it’s a game: The No. 3 Huskies (6-0, 5-0 Big East) are back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. when they host Providence at Gampel Pavilion. With a win, Auriemma will tie Pat Summitt with 1,098 career wins, second all time behind Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer (1,104).

Auriemma, too, had noticed his team’s energy was different as Baylor loomed. The Huskies knew what was coming, and knew that required even more intense preparation.

Since Tuesday, the team has workedtochannel that momentum into their next game, even if it’s against an unranked 5-6 Providence squad.

“Leading up to the game, we were practicing hard,” junior Olivia Nelson-Ododa said. “Our main focus was trying to get better at the things that we were lacking from our first games, and so I think the level of focus was definitely there. Unfortunately, it was canceled