by STORRS, Conn. (AP) — UConn’s players made a statement on Saturday that there is more than one women’s basketball coach on the verge of making history.
A day after Stanford gave Tara VanDerveer her record-tying 1,202nd win, UConn routed DePaul 88-51 to give coach Geno Auriemma his 1,996th victory in the race to become the winningest coach in college basketball history.
Freshman Ashlynn Shade scored 21 points, Paige Bueckers added 20 and Amari DeBerry scored 8 points and pulled down five rebounds Saturday as No. 9 UConn (16-3, 8-0 Big East) won its 12th straight game.
“Growing up and wanting to play for him and play for this program has been everything I’ve dreamt of,” Bueckers said. “I’m extremely grateful for that and if we can be a part of something historic like that for him, it will be great and I know he would appreciate it.”
Maeve McErlane had 15 points to lead DePaul (10-10, 2-5), which fell to 0-4 this season against ranked opponents.
DePaul led 11-10 when Shade made a hesitation move and drove for a layup, then stole the inbounds pass and scored again. A steal and layup by Bueckers forced a DePaul timeout. That started an 18-0 run and the Huskies, playing on campus for the first time since Dec. 6, led 30-14 after a quarter.
“That play happened so fast that I was in the moment,” Shade said. “I just try to bring as much energy as I can and help support the team.”
DePaul’s Jorie Allen and Kaitlyn Gilbert each picked up two fouls in the first quarter and three in the first half trying to guard Edwards, who had 10 points in the first 10 minutes.
A jumper by Bueckers, who had 18 of her points in the first half, gave the Huskies their first 20-point lead at 39-19 and a 3-pointer from Shade pushed the lead to 30-points at 49-19.
The Huskies led 49-21 at the half and put the game away by scoring the first seven points of the second half.
UConn had 37 points off 27 DePaul turnovers and had 23 assists on 31 baskets.
