STORRS, Conn. — If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
That may not be exactly how sophomore Kayleigh Heckel ended up playing for No. 1-ranked UConn, but it is true that she finished her freshman season at USC with a loss to the team she ended up joining after entering the transfer portal.
‘My last game at USC was against UConn,’ Heckel said in a video posted by UConn prior to the season. ‘The stakes were high, was the Elite Eight game, so excited to to be on this side now.’
Heckel is fitting right in with the Huskies, averaging 13 points, 2.5 assists and 3.5 steals. She brings energy off the bench to a backcourt led by Azzi Fudd and KK Arnold. Heckel had six steals as UConn ran its press and overwhelmed Florida State, 99-67, on Sunday. The Huskies scored 42 points off 23 turnovers.
‘A lot of people on our team are very aggressive defensively,’ said Heckel, whose Huskies host Loyola on Wednesday (truTV, 7:30 p.m. ET). ‘(Running the press) helps us a lot. The six steals, that comes from my teammates helping me and getting a position where I can get a steal. We all work together defensively.’
Coach Geno Auriemma said Heckel is familiar with UConn’s style of defense.
‘Her whole high school career, the team that she played on, they were a pressure defense’ Auriemma said ‘It kind of fits in with what she likes, that’s her skills. That’s your skill set. So it sound like we’re introducing anything new here, but she’s going to get better at it.’
A 5-foot-9 native of Port Chester, New York, Heckel was the No. 13-ranked recruit in her class. Auriemma said that although he wasn’t sure about the fit out of high school, he was impressed with her play last season. The Huskies lost to USC in December last season before getting their revenge in the Elite Eight.
‘Watching her play, playing against her, I just thought that things that she’s really good at can help us, the other stuff, I think we can work with,’ Auriemma said. ‘I don’t think she’s changed (her game) that much (last season), but the changes she has made have made her for the better.
‘She’s a way better offensive player than I thought she was. You know, She loves that pull up. She knows that.’
Heckel has already doubled her 6.1 point scoring average with USC. She said Auriemma challenged her to work on being aggressive.
‘Coach told me that I have to have a very consistent midrange shot, so I’ve been working on it a lot, and I just try to get to my spots,’ Heckel said. ‘If it’s open, I’m gonna take it. If not, I can always pass to an open teammate.’
Heckel watched UConn raise its championship banner on Sunday. The Huskies have won 12 national titles, the last against South Carolina in April. She said playing for UConn comes with pressure, but she’s here for it.
‘I would say the biggest adjustment is like, the expectations,’ Heckel said. ‘I think that they’re super high and I really like that because I have a lot of goals for myself and for the team this year, so I’m super excited to just be held to the expectations and those standards.
‘I really want to get better, and I think that that can really be something that I can do here.’