UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has no idea what changed in Jana El Alfy during the team’s holiday break, but the redshirt sophomore’s numbers look like those of a completely different player over the last three games.
In UConn’s 84-48 rout of Seton Hall on Sunday, El Alfy scored in double digits for the second consecutive game, finishing with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting, and she was the Huskies’ second-leading rebounder with six, including a team-high three on the offensive glass. The team was plus-15 in her 17 minutes on the court.
“I feel like she’s doing a great job just coming in with that energy and making herself known in the paint,” starting point guard KK Arnold said Sunday. “She’s just finishing super well, (and) on defense making sure that she stands her ground.”
El Alfy has put together her three most productive performances of the season in the three games after the Huskies returned from their break. She averaged 3.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 10 minutes on the court through her first 12 appearances of the season, but since Dec. 28 she is averaging 9.6 points and 4.7 rebounds in 17.3 minutes, and her field goal percentage has increased 15.5%. She has also logged six assists over the last three games after recording seven the rest of the season combined.
Auriemma said El Alfy still regularly frustrates him with her demeanor in practice, but once she gets on the court, a new version of the 6-foot-5 center emerges — a version he’s beginning to trust.
“I guess maybe that’s just her way of getting her game face on now that there’s a seriousness about her,” Auriemma said. “She goes after every offensive rebound. She’s very physical in there, and I’m happy for her, because we’ve talked about this a lot, that (she) didn’t come all the way out here to not be a factor. And the coaches keep reminding me too, we’re going to need her … Anytime she plays really well or has a good week of practice, I’m really happy for her, and I feel better about our team going forward when she’s like that.”
El Alfy’s breakthrough comes at a perfect moment for UConn as Auriemma looks to experiment more with lineup combinations that utilize the team’s depth in the frontcourt. The Huskies coach often leans towards smaller, more versatile lineups pairing senior center Serah Williams or freshman forward Blanca Quinonez with star sophomore Sarah Strong, but he has hesitated to put three bigs on the floor at the same time because he worries they will get in each other’s way in the paint. UConn has played just 32 total minutes this season with Strong, Williams and Quinonez in the lineup together and 14 with El Alfy in that group replacing of Williams. Saturday’s game was the first in which Williams and El Alfy appeared at the same time with Quinonez.
The bigger combinations were largely successful against Seton Hall. The Strong, Williams, Quinonez lineup played four and a half minutes in the second quarter, forcing six turnovers and outscoring the Pirates 13-4 during that stretch. Williams, El Alfy and Quinonez out-rebounded Seton Hall 7-2 over three and a half minutes between the third and fourth quarters.
“I think Jana is getting a little more comfortable with the ball in the high post area,” Auriemma said. “I encouraged her to shoot that shot because they’re not going to guard her, and she actually made both of them. And they do have a pretty good sense for each other, just from all the breakdown drills that they do with all the big guys. So there may be a time when you can go with a big lineup, and that big lineup might even be Jana, Serah Williams, Sarah Strong, Blanca and one of our other guards … They actually pleasantly surprised me today the way they handled that.”
Part of the reason UConn can be successful with bigger lineups is because Strong has started leaning into her 3-point shot. The sophomore forward didn’t hit more than two 3-pointers in a game until the Huskies’ Dec. 17 win over Marquette, and she has now made at least three in four of the last five games. She tied a career high going 5-for-7 in an 90-53 win over Providence on Wednesday, then shot 3-for-4 against Seton Hall. Strong is averaging 42.6% beyond the arc this season, but she has made 60% on five attempts per game since the holiday break.
With Strong hitting consistently from the perimeter and Quinonez also averaging 51.6% on 3-pointers, the Huskies can put two more traditional posts in Williams and El Alfy on the floor while still having at least three confident shooters to space the floor.
“The last three games specifically, I think (Strong) has had a lot of opportunities, and … she’s really being aggressive, aggressively hunting down those shots,” Auriemma said. “I just think she’s taking more advantage of it, and you can see it in practice too. When they start going in for her, they all go in, and she can’t wait to shoot the next one. She’s just got to get rid of that, ‘If I miss, I’m hurting my team.’ Which no, if you pass it you’re hurting our team.”
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