UConn’s Blanca Quiñonez unfazed by March Madness pressure

FORT WORTH, Texas— Blanca Quiñonez did not overthink it.

Sure, it was her first Elite Eight and first NCAA Tournament, and the strain from taking part in UConn women’s basketball‘s most heated rival hung across the courtroom like a low fog, however none of that mattered to the freshman.

She made her first three photographs, scored 10 factors in below 5 minutes, and was the most poised player on the floor. While the remainder of the Huskies struggled to get round Notre Dame’s bodily protection, Quiñonez ended the primary quarter by outscoring everybody – together with the complete Fighting Irish workforce.

“She’s not worrying about, ‘What if I miss this shot? What if I flip the ball over?’ That does not trouble her,” he mentioned Geno Auriemma. “She simply is on the market making an attempt to affect the sport, and that, to me, is the key of being actually good. You cannot fear in regards to the end result. … There’s no concern in her, and it is refreshing, as a result of she’s so younger and has that. I actually admire that in her.”

Quiñonez gave UConn its greatest set off the bench in It’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight wins in Fort Worth. Across the two regional games, she averaged 18 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.5 assists. On Sunday, with 20 points and a season-high eight rebounds against Notre Dame, she became the first Husky to ever score 20 points off the bench in an Elite Eight or later round of the NCAA Tournament.

While National Player of the Year Sarah Strong was named the Fort Worth Region 1 Most Outstanding Player, Quiñonez was right there with her, earning Regional All-Tournament team honors.

The Huskies are off to their 25^th Final Four. They’re no strangers to the bright lights and big stages that come with playing in college women’s basketball’s Madness Madness games. They are the defending national champions and heavy favorites to win it all again.

And when the Huskies play in the national semifinals on Friday, Quiñonez is sure to remain unfazed. She is used to playing with pressure, and thanks to the support of her teammates, she knows this is nothing she can’t handle.

“They really trust me, and I think that’s what gives me so much comfort and confidence to just go in there and do what I have to do,” said Quiñonez. “…I feel simply to be with this group, I feel now we have, like, one thing particular that makes us totally different from different groups. And I’m simply glad and grateful to be right here and expertise all of this with them.”

Quiñonez, originally from Ecuador, arrived in Storrs this fall still mainly unknown. The majority of fans hadn’t seen her highlight clips from her time playing on professional-level teams in Italy while in high school. They didn’t know of her speed, agility and fearlessness. As an international prospect, she wasn’t ranked in the freshman class and didn’t earn any preseason honors.

But after UConn’s first month of games, everyone knew her and her game. She scored 18 points with four rebounds in UConn’s win over Ohio State before scoring a season-high 21 and pulling down five boards a week later against Utah.

Quiñonez’s length gave the Huskies a new, flexible option off the bench. She’s big enough to hang with forwards, yet agile and quick to score from all three levels and thread through defenders. Soon, she was making headlines and earning the attention of WNBA scouts – even though she’s not draft eligible for another three years.

Despite missing six games in February with a shoulder injury, Quiñonez averaged 9.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 2.1 assists through Big East play. She became Auriemma’s first option off the bench, no matter the opponent, as she’s quick to spark scoring and gives UConn movable size.

Auriemma sees similarities in Quiñonez among some of his former top international players. And that includes Diana Taurasi, who was raised by immigrant parents and spent a portion of her childhood living in Argentina.

“(She’s) a mix of Diana, Svetlana (Abrosimova). I feel possibly these two. Nika (Mühl). You discover I’m hitting on a theme, proper?” mentioned Auriemma. “A bunch of international kids brought up differently, very stubborn, very hard-headed, very sure of themselves, won’t back down to anybody any time ever.

“…They have one thing in common. Two words you’ll never hear come out of any of those people’s mouths: ‘You’re right.’ They are just so hard to coach, and at the same time, they’re so rewarding. It’s such a rewarding feeling coaching them because you’re not kind of fighting with them.

“You are kind of give and take, you know, tug-of-war, I want what I want from you, they want what they want from me, and it’s back and forth. The finished product usually is just an unbelievable competitor, who has so much pride in themselves.”

His teammates are just as impressed with the freshman’s ability not to buy into the pressure amid the biggest games of the year. Quiñonez is averaging 17.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals, 2.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game in the NCAA Tournament.

“She just hasn’t changed who she is,” mentioned Ashlynn Shade. “She hasn’t let the outside noise or any spotlight get to her at all. She’s just playing how she knows how to play, and that’s at a high level. And she’s scoring the ball so efficiently, getting to the basket, knocking down shots, everything we’ve seen Blanca do since the moment she arrived on campus.”

She could have by no means performed within the Big Dance earlier than, however she’s used to taking part in below pressure due to taking part in with older, stronger ladies on the skilled stage in Italy and for Ecuador’s Senior National Team (she averaged 10.5 factors and 4.5 rebounds within the 2022 South American Women’s Championship for her house nation).

Still, Auriemma is shocked at how properly she’s dealt with the pressure of her first NCAA Tournament.

“If you’ve never been in this environment, it’s hard to, you know, just say, ‘Yeah, it’s just another game,’ because she knows it’s not,” he mentioned. “… Each day, each week in practice, from November to now, she’s gotten better. She’s gotten more comfortable with what we’re doing. She sits on the bench, and she pays attention, and she’s always on the attack. … She plays with a poise and an aggressiveness that are a little more mature than her age.”

Back in April 2024, it was watching the Final Four that first convinced Quiñonez to open her NCAA college recruiting as a substitute of staying abroad and starting her skilled profession early. She noticed how enjoyable the Final Four seemed and the way fashionable the ladies’s recreation had turn into within the United States and wished to expertise it herself.

Now, two years later, she’s not solely headed to her first Final Four with probably the most dominant workforce within the nation, however simply two wins away from profitable the final word prize.

“I’m going to my first Final Four,” mentioned Quiñonez, when requested what probably the most surreal a part of her freshman season has been. “I expected it, yes, but I think living this with them, like all this fun that we have playing together, it’s just something crazy.”