Freshman Ashlynn Shade scores 21 to lead No. 9 UConn to a 12th straight victory, 88-51 over DePaul

STORRS, Conn. -- — 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 Aaliyah Edwards scored 18 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.

BIG PICTURE

DePaul: The Blue Demons have beaten UConn just once, back in 1983, and fell to 1-24 against the Huskies.

UConn: Auriemma, who became a head coach in 1985, now has a career record of 1,196-158 with 11 national titles. VanDerveer, who became a head coach in 1978 is 1,202–267 with three championships.

“They (UConn) have done the most of any intercollegiate basketball program in the history of basketball men or women,” DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. “And people don't want to acknowledge that because of gender bias; it's in this world we live in. And I was alive to watch coach (John) Wooden's (UCLA) teams."

MORE STATS

This was Bueckers 11th game this season with 20 points or better. The Huskies outscored DePaul 48-10 in the paint and hit 23 of 24 foul shots.

UP NEXT

DePaul: The Blue Demons head home to fact St. John's on Thursday.

UConn: The Huskies travel to Milwaukee for a game on Wednesday against Marquette.

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