By Ilyas Hussein and Daniella Lopez
It was a night to remember for the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies senior Aaliyah Edwards.
The Kingston, Ont. product made her return to Canada at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Dec. 20 as the UConn Huskies romped the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s basketball team.
UConn is known for giving its senior players a homecoming, a chance to play in their home state or—as in Edwards’ case—their home country.
“It’s just fun playing basketball back at home,” said Edwards. “Having my UConn family and Canadian family showing love to them because they’ve done so much for me, so I think it was just fun.”
The sellout crowd at the MAC gave the former Olympian a hero’s welcome.
“It’s just fun playing basketball back at home”
Fans roared from their seats as Edwards was announced in the starting lineup. They embraced her with open arms. They cheered every time she made a basket. They belted out the loudest ovation of the night to applaud her performance when she was substituted with a few minutes left in regulation.
All for an experience that both sides and the crowd will most likely never forget.
“From my perspective, [I’m] just blessed,” said Edwards on having the opportunity to have a homecoming game. “I think the coaching staff put a lot of work into getting this done, not only for me but for the other seniors on the team. As seniors, we appreciate it because [of] the amount of effort and passion we put into the organization and into UConn, they’re pouring back into us, giving us opportunities to come home and play in front of family who may not be able to see us in person.”
The matchup—a rare battle between a U Sports school and a storied National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I program—would see the Huskies run away with a 111-34 win against the Bold.
Edwards notched a season-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season, leading the way for the Huskies in the blowout victory. The statistics from this game would count towards UConn’s overall records but won’t have an impact on their win-loss record.
The Huskies senior didn’t find her footing in the game until the second half. Edwards was in foul trouble early, resulting in her spending some time on the bench. She finished with five turnovers on the night, all of which came in the first half.
Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma attributed her play in the first half to the early nerves of playing in front of her home crowd.
“You could tell she was incredibly nervous in the beginning,” he said. “She gets a little bit overzealous at times. Some of the fouls that she committed were all anxious, ‘I want to hurry up and do something well.’ But I also think when you do these games, like when we did it for Paige [Bueckers] when we went to Minnesota, they feel a lot of pressure…This gave her an opportunity to just enjoy it. The game didn’t mean anything. It was just the experience.”
Having Edwards and the Huskies play against the Bold wasn’t always the plan. Initially, the Huskies were set to play the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. But when Pittsburgh went through a coaching change and eventually pulled out of the game, TMU’s Carly Clarke stepped in.
“Our program is about trying to be the best at getting better and you do that by playing the best,” said Clarke, who coached Edwards at the 2022 GLOBL JAM event and was an assistant coach at the 2020 Olympics. “We knew we would create an experience that our players will never forget and 3000 people that were here tonight will never forget. You can’t pass on that, you can’t pass on those opportunities.”
“I don’t think they’ll remember what the score was…they’re just going to have memories of it for a lifetime”
Auriemma commended Clarke for taking on the challenge to play against his squad, despite knowing the likelihood of the result.
“It takes a little bit of courage to play us when you’re in Carly’s situation and I admire that,” Auriemma said. “There’s not a lot of people that would do it…When you do something like this, I think you also send a message that you believe in your team, you believe in your players and you believe in the program you’re building.”
The Bold were heavily outmatched in the game as the Huskies stormed out to an 18-0 run to start the evening on the way to a 68-9 lead at halftime.
TMU would come out with more energy in the second half, with second-year Bold guard Jayme Foreman putting up eight points early in the third quarter, but it didn’t matter. The Bold couldn’t stop the bleeding.
The 77-point loss would be the worst margin of defeat recorded in program history, however, since it was marked as an exhibition game for the Bold, the loss and the stats won’t count in their record books.
Despite the scoreline, Clarke understood the magnitude of the opportunity to participate in this game for her squad.
“I don’t think they’ll remember what the score was…they’re just going to have memories of it for a lifetime,” she said. “We’re trying to create experiences that our student-athletes will remember and grow from as players and as people.”
The TMU bench boss also recognized this as a chance to learn.
The Bold, sitting at a 10-0 record, are one of four teams in U Sports—and the only in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference—that remain undefeated heading into the winter semester.
“I just can’t believe that people don’t want the opportunity to do this,” said Clarke. “That game, we need more of that. We’re getting challenged in ways that we don’t get challenged and now we’re going in the second half of the season knowing a lot more about ourselves.”
The MAC has hosted UConn once before, in 2017, during Kia Nurse’s homecoming game against the Duquesne Dukes.
“It’s kind of like I’m setting the path for somebody else to kind of create their own destiny with their future”
Both Edwards and TMU fourth-year guard Kaillie Hall were in attendance. This time around, they were both playing on the court instead of watching from the stands.
“It’s super special. I think for me, it’s been really full circle,” said Hall, who played alongside Edwards at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship where Canada finished with a silver medal.
“Being a young girl and watching that happen and then actually being able to play in it and represent a university that I’m really proud to be a part of and a program that I’m really proud to be a part of, there’s nothing like it.”
Nurse also had a role switch six years later. The UConn alum was in the building on Wednesday night and roamed the seats with a Huskies quarter-zip, representing the university she played four seasons at and won two national titles with.
“To have [Nurse] on the sideline and not on the court is different because I’m used to playing with her on the Canadian team,” said Edwards. “But it’s kind of like I’m setting the path for somebody else to kind of create their own destiny with their future, so it was kind of a surreal moment.”
Hall echoed the sentiments as the women’s basketball players she watched growing up inspired her. Wednesday night allowed her to play a similar role in a space that could cultivate future inspiration.
“I was that girl at one point,” she said. ”So, possibly being able to do that for someone else…is special.”
Regardless of the score, the game was a glimpse at the future of Canadian women’s basketball.
Fans witnessed a young Canadian star showcase her immense talent on home soil. Meanwhile, Edwards, the star of the night, wishes the spectacle will encourage others to be involved in the sport in some capacity and help the future development of the game in Canada.
“I know a lot of people were there to support either myself or UConn. But, I encourage anybody to just go watch their local team, just women’s basketball in general in Canada,” said Edwards. “I think having coach [Auriemma] being able to put this on for not only me but just to showcase this in Canada, it’s a big step for us.”
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