It was Evina Westbrook's night to return to Thompson-Boling Arena, where she played two seasons for the women's basketball team at Tennessee before transferring to UConn, something no player before her had ever done, trading sides in the rivalry.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said he hadn't discussed Thursday night's UConn-Tennessee matchup with Westbrook much ahead of time, but he took Westbrook aside during the team's shootaround earlier in the day and tried to help her understand the difference between playing with a lot of emotion and being too emotional, one a positive approach and one counter-productive.

"Not letting your emotions get in the way," Auriemma said following UConn's 67-61 victory over the Lady Vols. "It's not an easy thing for her coming down here, you know? But I thought she was unbelievably good."

Westbrook finished with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 38 minutes, including back-to-back 3-point field goals in the fourth quarter that gave UConn the lead for good. Westbrook sat out last season in accordance with the NCAA transfer rule, meaning this was the first time she faced her former team. She was 3-for-5 from 3-point range.

"She made some really clutch, clutch, clutch shots at really big moments in the game," Auriemma said. "I think there was another one I thought was in. It couldn't have been easy coming back here; it never is when a kid goes back to where they were playing before. But I couldn't have asked her to play any better, that's for sure."

There were a few sour notes regarding Westbrook's departure from Knoxville in the spring of 2019, with Auriemma later saying "if one of my players went through what Evina went through, I think there'd be an investigation here." UConn applied for a transfer waiver for Westbrook to compete for the Huskies immediately. That was denied, as was the ensuing appeal.

Now? Westbrook is a redshirt junior for UConn averaging 11.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, overcoming a pair of knee surgeries since her arrival in Storrs.

She is one of three junior captains for the Huskies, joining Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa, and the younger players, in particular star freshman Paige Bueckers — "She's one of the best people I've ever been around," Bueckers said — all but worship her.

Third-ranked UConn (9-0, 7-0) takes on Big East Conference opponent Georgetown (1-4, 1-4) beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday at Gampel Pavilion, the follow-up to Thursday's top-25 victory over Tennessee.

Westbrook said it was her UConn teammates who kept her even-keeled vs. Tennessee.

"I knew they were going to have my back regardless of any situation," Westbrook said. "(Auriemma) asked if I understood (his explanation about emotions). I told him, 'Yeah.'

"So going out there and just really playing like myself, not trying to do too much, letting the game come to me, playing with my teammates, trying to get them open and get us flowing ... just not getting out of character, not letting the crowd noise get to me, the boos, the talking — 'traitor!' and all that type of stuff. My teammates (were) looking at me like, 'No, we got you.'

"It was really a great feeling."

Westbrook, who gave a simple "no" when asked if she keeps in touch with anyone from her former team, said that Thursday's game wasn't about her vs. Tennessee.

"I didn't want to come here and prove people wrong, I wanted to prove people who believed in me from the start right," she said. "I think that’s what we did by getting this 'W' tonight."

Auriemma said this week that Westbrook, a 6-foot guard from Salem, Oregon, who was the 2017 USA Today National Player of the Year as a senior in high school, deserves all the credit for finding her place among her UConn teammates.

Auriemma said he hadn't even seen Westbrook play very many times prior to her transfer.

"Then when E couldn't play that year, it took even longer to figure out 'What are we getting exactly?' Auriemma said. "When a kid changes schools, they've got to carve out their role. You can't come in when you change schools and say, 'I got this. Everybody, I'm in charge.' That's got to evolve organically. That's just gotta come and then you have to back it up.

"When E's good, she's really, really good. She's really good ... in a lot of ways too. So I'm happy for her. I'm happy for her teammates."

v.fulkerson@theday.com