For UConn women’s basketball star Aaliyah Edwards, it’s good not to return to Canada alone.
Edwards, who hails from Kingston, Ont., is in Toronto for the seniors’ homecoming game where the Huskies will take on the University of Toronto Metropolitan Bulldogs on Wednesday. This is UConn’s third Homecoming game of 2023-24, having already honored fellow 2020 recruits Nika Muhl and Paige Bueckers this season.
Subscribe to TSN+ to watch Edwards and UConn take on TMU Wednesday at 6pm ET/3pm PT.
“It’s very exciting,” Edwards said Tuesday afternoon. “As soon as we arrived at Pearson, I said to myself: ‘Yes, this is home.’ It is strange to have my teammates here with me because when I go home, it is on my own or for national team commitments but to have them here with me to share this experience, words really cannot express “But I’m awesome. Excited and pumped for tomorrow.”
While Kingston will always be home, Edwards played her final two years of high school in Toronto at Crestwood Prep. She will face a TMU team led by Carly Clark, who coached Edwards on the Canadian senior national team. The Bold are 10-0 so far this season as Clark leads the program to its first U Sports women’s basketball championship in 2022.
On the UConn side, the team is on a winning streak in its last four games but has not been the Huskies of old, ranking just 17th in the NCAA Division I women’s college basketball rankings.
The Bold will have their hands full with Edwards continuing to shine as a cornerstone for UConn. The fourth-year forward is averaging 16 points (second on the team) and 8.0 rebounds per game (first) and is coming off a double-double performance Monday night against Butler. She leads the Huskies in field goal percentage at .571, and is averaging the second-most time on the court this season at 30.7 minutes, second only to Muhl.
Six years ago, Kia Nurse, then-UConn star and current Seattle Storm guard, made her home run, also at Toronto’s Mattamy Sports Center against Duquesne University. Nurse and Edwards have played with each other on numerous occasions with the Canadian senior national team.
Having followed in her footsteps so far, Edwards is grateful to know that Nurse will be in the stands watching over her on Wednesday.
“She’s like a big sister to me and I look up to her,” Edwards of Nurse said. “But for her to be so supportive of me and my game and my journey, it means a lot to me, especially going to UConn and kind of falling in her steps and trying to step over her steps as well because I compete so hard with her but it will be a whole great moment.”
At 21, Edwards is one of the youngest players on the national team, but in the Huskies’ locker room, she is now relied upon as a leader. In developing her leadership style, she cited the nurse and fellow Canadians Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carlton as major influences.
“I think having them take me under their wing and show me the ropes when I’m with the national team has really helped me translate that leadership to the UConn team,” Edwards said. “trainer [Geno Auriemma] A lot of people ask me as a striker in the team and also as one of the senior players in the team to look for the underclassmen.
“But I take it with a lot of pride and take a lot of responsibility in the things we do and when he wants us to do things.”
That leadership has been needed more than ever at UConn these days, as injuries have hit the team hard again this season. In July, redshirt freshman Janna Alfie underwent surgery for a torn Achilles tendon. Junior guard Azi Fadd and sophomore forward Ayanna Patterson both underwent season-ending knee surgery. Junior Caroline Ducharme has also not played in more than a month as she continues to suffer from neck spasms.
Edwards, along with Lou Lopez Senechal, who was drafted fifth overall by the Dallas Wings in the 2023 WNBA Draft, were the only players from UConn to play in all 37 games for the Huskies last season in a campaign in which Bueckers missed all year with A torn ACL with Fudd, Ducharme and Dorka Juhasz also missing time.
Finding the balance between supporting injured teammates off the field while trying to keep going and get the job done, Edwards cites two key factors.
“I would say it comes with a lot of energy and a lot of resilience because without those two we can’t succeed,” Edwards explained. “And what I mean by energy is constant flow and tapping and leaning on each other because it’s hard to navigate through adversity, especially [since] We were beaten [with injuries] A lot of times the last two years I was at UConn.
Edwards is eligible for the 2024 WNBA draft but has the option to return for a fifth NCAA season. The highest-ranking Canadian in WNBA history is Stacey Dales, who finished third overall to the Washington Mystics in 2002 while Mississauga’s Laeticia Amihere finished eighth last season after four years in South Carolina.
Although she is not ready to reveal her plans for next season, Edwards would like to have bragging rights and, in particular, would like to move forward as Nurse (10th) and Ashonwa (9th) were selected in the draft.
“Until the time comes, I’m just relaxing and staying in the moment with my teammates, but definitely if the time comes, I’m definitely going to brag about it,” Edwards said.
