SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has come to expect big performances from Aubrey Griffin when the Huskies play at Seton Hall’s Walsh Gymnasium. Excelling on the Pirates’ campus seems to run in her DNA.
Griffin’s parents were both star athletes at Seton Hall: Her father Adrian went on to spend nine seasons in the NBA after playing basketball for the Pirates and is in the school’s athletic Hall of Fame, while mother Audrey Sterling was an All-American runner on the track and field team. Griffin put her own athleticism on full display at her their alma mater Wednesday, helping UConn to a 91-49 victory with a season-high 15 points plus five rebounds, two assists and a steal. She was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 5-for-6 at the free throw line in just 18 minutes on the court.
Griffin has had five 20-point games over six seasons in Storrs, and two have come on the road against Seton Hall. She logged the first double-double of her college career as a freshman with 25 points and 12 rebounds in UConn’s 92-78 win in South Orange in 2019, and she put up 22 points plus eight boards, three assists and two steals to lead the Huskies in a 103-58 rout in 2023.
“If we played every game at Walsh, she’d be a first-, second- and third-team All-American,” Auriemma joked after Wednesday’s win. “She loves this place. She’s got a history here obviously with her mom and dad, and it’s been the scene of some of her best games in her career. Little by little, you see that she’s starting to do the things that (she used to).”
The first time UConn faced Seton Hall on Jan. 19 at Gampel Pavilion was Griffin’s first game back on the court since suffering a season-ending ACL tear in Jan. 2024, and she played just 11 minutes logging three points and four rebounds. A month later, the sixth-year senior showed flashes of her old burst returning Wednesday making her first field goal in transition off a steal, and she finished confidently through contact with six points off and-one layups.
“I’m glad for Aubrey,” Seton Hall coach Tony Bozzella said Wednesday. “She’s a wonderful young woman … and I’m excited and glad she played well. She’s a wonderful person who’s come through a lot of adversity, and she might always be a Husky, but she’s got a little bit of Pirate in her.”
Griffin played just nine minutes in the Huskies’ statement upset at South Carolina last Sunday, but her playing time has otherwise increased steadily over her eight appearances. She had her first double-digit scoring performance last week against St. John’s with 10 points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes, and she was a bright spot in UConn’s loss at Tennessee with nine points and four rebounds in 15 minutes. Her efficiency against Seton Hall was a season best, but she has shot 50% or better in every game where she played at least 10 minutes.
“One thing with Aubrey you can count on is she’s going to get you more possessions on the offensive end, and being able to be in the open court, put the ball on the floor and put us in a position to score in transition without having to pass the ball … those two things, they do a lot to the defense,” Auriemma said last week. “She’s had those moments where her speed and her quickness and all that have really, really impacted the game, so absolutely to have that is another added bonus.”
With just three games left in the regular season, Griffin hitting her stride could be game-changing for UConn come March. A frustrated Auriemma called out his team’s immaturity on SNY after its sloppy first half in South Orange, and it’s no coincidence that the three most-veteran members of the roster — Griffin, redshirt senior Paige Bueckers, and graduate transfer Kaitlyn Chen — had UConn’s performances coming off the emotional high of the South Carolina win.
The Huskies may also need Griffin to contribute more down the stretch for more practical reasons. Freshman Morgan Cheli averaged 13.3 minutes per game and was taking reps relieving Sarah Strong as the sole forward in UConn’s small lineup before missing the last three games with a right ankle injury. Auriemma didn’t provide a firm update on her status but said Wednesday that Cheli’s injury was “not responding the way we had hoped it would respond,” indicating that she may miss significant time. Redshirt sophomore Ice Brady also is two weeks into a projected three- to five-week recovery process from a left shoulder injury, so the Huskies could go into the Big East tournament with Griffin as their only active forward off the bench.
“Last January before she got hurt, I thought she was playing the best basketball of her career,” Auriemma said. “I don’t know that she’s there quite yet, but the more minutes that we can get her, she does make a difference. For sure, she is a difference maker.”
Dom Amore: Aubrey Griffin’s return could be a game-changer for UConn women
