STORRS – With all of the injuries and missing players last season, freshman Ashlynn Shade found herself in a much larger role than she expected in her first year with the UConn women’s basketball team .
Shade, who was named the Big East Freshman of the Year, ended up starting 33 of 38 games and was the Huskies’ third-leading scorer behind Paige Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards, averaging 11 points per game. She played 31 minutes per game, trailing only Bueckers and Nika Muhl.
This season could be different – at least minutes-wise –as veteran guards such as Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme hope to return from injuries that sidelined them last season. The Huskies have also added graduate transfer Kaitlyn Chen and some highly-ranked freshmen who want to make an impact.
Last Friday, during a media availability, Shade said she wasn’t really thinking about how the pieces of the puzzle would fit together for the upcoming season and how she would fit in.
“It’s even more exciting, it’s going to be amazing to have everyone back, everyone on the court,” Shade said. “It’s not something I’m overthinking – like ‘What’s my role going to be?’ We’re all going to go out, we’re all going to compete, and we each contribute in our own way.
“I’m just excited to be on the court with Azzi, Caroline (Ducharme) – all of them – because I didn’t get to experience that my freshman year – it’s going to be so much fun when we all can be together, practice together, play together.”
As summer session wraps, UConn women’s newcomers Morgan Cheli, Allie Ziebel just know they’re in the right place
Last season, Shade made her first start against Kansas, a 71-63 win in the Cayman Islands and became a fixture in the starting lineup after the Ball State game Dec. 6.
She grew into her role as the season went on, and in her NCAA Tournament debut, Shade scored a career-high 26 points and had six rebounds in a first-round win over Jackson State, then came back with a 19-point, four-rebound effort in a second-round victory over Syracuse. She shot 54 percent from the field, 50 percent from the 3-point line and played 79 of 80 minutes in the first two games of the tournament.
Shade said Friday that the Final Four and UConn’s two-point loss to Iowa in the national semifinal game seemed like “forever ago.” She viewed reaching the Final Four as partly impressive, considering all the injuries, but also disappointing, because of how close the Huskies were to advancing to the national title game.
“It was definitely a huge accomplishment, especially in my freshman year – just to see what we were able to accomplish with what we had and the circumstances we were put through throughout the season,” she said. “It’s something to look back on like that was really cool, but it’s also something that kind of haunts you a little bit and this season you’re even hungrier and you want to go out and compete even harder.”
The summer session was good for Shade.
“It’s kind of sad we’re at the end of it,” she said. “It’s good to go home. But I’ve had such a great and fun summer, especially with all the freshman coming in.
“I feel so much more comfortable having a year under my belt. I come here and it’s like my second home. I had such a fun summer with all of them outside of workouts too, just spending time with each other. It’ll be a little sad not to be with them 24-7.
“It’s been a big summer of growing – everywhere, not settling on one area, kind of growing all aspects of my game.”
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