Seton Hall’s women’s basketball team traveled north three weeks ago to meet No. 1 UConn at PeoplesBank Arena.

And even though they left Hartford on the losing end of an 84-48 game, the Pirates undoubtedly learned some things that work – and some that don’t – against the Huskies.

Saturday, on their home court in South Orange, N.J., they came out aggressively, with Mariana Valenzuela scoring three quick baskets to put the Pirates up 6-0. The only problem was Azzi Fudd went on a personal 9-2 run to give the Huskies a one-point lead.

Seton Hall answered with back-to-back buckets to lead by three points. And with unbeaten UConn’s defense kicking in a bit later in the quarter than usual – after coach Geno Auriemma took a time out to address the lackluster D – Seton Hall didn’t have a chance, falling 92-52 in Big East play.

Up by nine, 30-21, with 6:52 left in the second quarter, UConn (21-0, 11-0) finished the period on a 20-7 run, essentially burying the Pirates (14-6, 8-3) by taking a 50-27 halftime lead.

Sarah Strong led the Huskies across the board: 17 points, six rebounds and five assists. Freshman Blanca Quinonez scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Fudd had 14 and Allie Ziebell contributed 11.

For the Pirates, Valenzuela posted 18 points and eight rebounds, both game highs. Zahara Bishop had four assists.

UConn moved to 63-10 all-time against Seton Hall. The Huskies have won 43 games in a row in the series.

Quinonez and Ziebell came off the bench to combine for 27 of UConn’s 45 points from non-starters, compared to 10 for Seton Hall. They kept up the intense defense of the starters, and, as a team, UConn scored 37 points off 27 turnovers.

In an interview with Peacock after the game, Fudd said the bench is key to the Huskies’ success.

“Our depth is super, super powerful,” Fudd said. “(It is) refreshing knowing that we have a whole new group, like eight on the bench, that can come in and really pick up where (the starters) left but just bring more energy, bring more intensity, more scoring, more stops. It's a lot of fun to have that many bodies that can do whatever you need at any moment.”

The game originally was set for noon Sunday but was moved up 24 hours because of a winter storm that forecasters said will bring Arctic air and double-digit snowfall to the Northeast.

And after the Huskies defeated Georgetown Thursday night, Auriemma was asked how long he intended to coach. At the end of his thoughtful and lengthy response, Auriemma, in his 41st season, said it he will be too tired to coach if he has to shovel his driveway.

“If I got to go shovel snow, I'm not going to be able to last much longer because I'll get worn out,” he said before telling a hilarious story about the snowblower he bought for his wife, Kathy, when she asked for one for her birthday.

Problem is, put succinctly, he lent it to a staff member who no longer is with the program. And he apparently left town with Kathy’s snowblower.

“He took the job at Georgia Tech and now I want my snowblower back,” Auriemma said. “He doesn't need it down in Atlanta.”

Hopefully a neighbor will help out Auriemma so as not to hasten his retirement.

“I gave it away. So, yeah, if I can get somebody to do my driveway every year, I'll be good. I'll be good for a couple more years.”