Aaliyah Edwards' homecoming game at TMU extends connectivity of Canadian women's basketball

It was a taste of what could have been, and a glimpse at the future.

UConn, the storied women's college basketball team, played against the undefeated Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto on Wednesday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, where passion for the sport was on full display.

There were the players: Aaliyah Edwards, the Huskies star from nearby Kingston, Ont., played in her homecoming game and piled up 26 points and 10 rebounds, just six years after she was in the crowd in the same arena for fellow Canadian Kia Nurse's homecoming game with UConn.

"It's kind of like I'm setting the path for somebody else to create their own destiny with their future. So it was kind of a surreal moment," Edwards said.

There were her opponents, the TMU Bold, coming out with fervour out after halftime despite a 68-9 deficit. The final score was 111-34.

WATCH | Edwards leads UConn over TMU:

"It's super special. I think for me, it's been really full circle," said TMU's Kaillie Hall, the Hamilton, Ont., native who was also a spectator at that 2017 game and who played both with and against Edwards growing up.

"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."

There was Huskies alum Kia Nurse, the national-team star, WNBA guard and TSN commentator from Hamilton, Ont., roaming the sidelines in her grey UConn quarter-zip.

"It takes a little bit of courage to play us when you're in Carly's situation, and I admire that," UConn head coach Geno 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."

There was Victor Lapeña, the national-team head coach, sitting directly across from the TMU bench and chatting with Steve Baur, another assistant, throughout the game. Canada Basketball president Mike Bartlett joined them in the second half.

And then there were the fans. One girl said she wears No. 3 in her rec league because Edwards is her favourite player. The crowd cheered loudly when the Bold finally got on the board in the first quarter; it was nearly as boisterous whenever Edwards made a good play.

"I hear this all the time from kids: 'Hey coach, I was in the stands when so and so came up and played and it really impressed me,'" Auriemma, who's led the Huskies since 1985, said. "You don't know what kind of impact you're having on some little kid sitting there or some high school kid sitting there."

In October, the Toronto Star reported that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment had pulled out of bidding for a WNBA franchise — putting a sudden and startling halt to the momentum that had gained toward the idea after a sellout exhibition game last May.