UCONN vs East Carolina
Day: Sunday
Date: March 7th, 2015
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena
Time: 5:30
TV: ESPNU
UConn 30-1 (18-0)
East Carolina 21-9 (11-7)
Overview
UConn and East Carolina have played two times this year, with UConn winning the first matchup 89-38 and the second one 87-32. In the first matchup, Geno called the first half the worst he's seen in 30 years of coaching. Seems kinda silly now, huh.
Stokes had her triple-double against East Carolina in their last outing and she is only 3 blocks away from tying Rebecca Lobo for most blocks in a season.
East Carolina is coming into this game on a roll, winning 8 of 9 since losing to UConn. Their only loss was to Temple, which they rectified with a win today against the Owls in the quarter finals to earn the right to face UConn. Their big win was a 64-63 victory over South Florida.
UConn has now won 30 games in 10 consecutive season. That is what you call consistent. They did what they wanted to with Cincinnati in their quarterfinal game (UConn/Cinci post game report) and seemed primed to continue their dominance.
UConn Starters
11 Kia Nurse 6' Freshman Guard
Against ECU in the 1st game - 17 minutes, 13 points, 1 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 TO, 2 steals
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 28 minutes, 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 TO, 3 steals
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 28 minutes, 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 TO, 3 steals
2014-15: MPG 25.0, FG% .506, 3PT% .410, PPG 10.9, RPG 3.3, APG 3.3, 48 steals, 1 blocks
Against ECU in the 1st game - 27 minutes, 16 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 TO, 5 steals
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 19 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 TO, 5 steals
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 19 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 TO, 5 steals
2014-15: MPG 27.1, FG% .568, 3PT% .500, PPG 11.7, RPG 2.7, APG 4.8, 81 steals, 5 block
23 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 5'11" Senior Forward
Against ECU in the 1st game - 23 minutes, 5 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 TO
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 27 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 TO
2014-15: MPG 28.0, FG% .539, 3PT% .510, PPG 14.7, RPG 4.2, APG 2.7, 34 steals, 8 blocks
3 Morgan Tuck 6'2" Sophomore Forward
Against ECU in the 1st game - 29 minutes, 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 TO
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 27 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 TO
2014-15: MPG 24.0, FG% .583, 3PT% .263, PPG 13.4, RPG 5.3, APG 2.7, 25 steals, 10 blocks
30 Breanna Stewart 6'4" Junior Forward
Against ECU in the 1st game - 27 minutes, 26 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 TO, 3 blocks, 3 steals
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 24 minutes, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 TO, 2 blocks, 5 steals
2014-15: MPG 27.0, FG% .538, 3PT% .295, PPG 17.3, RPG 7.1, APG 3.1, 49 steals, 78 blocks
UConn Bench
Against ECU in the 1st game - 19 minutes, 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 TO's, 3 blocks
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 22 minutes, 10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 TO, 10 blocks
2014-15: MPG 19.6, FG% .531, 3PT% .500, PPG 4.7, RPG 7.3, APG .9, 17 steals, 128 blocks
Against ECU in the 1st game - 25 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 TO, 2 blocks
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 16 minutes, 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 TO's, 1 steal
2014-15: MPG 20.2, FG% .477, 3PT% .386, PPG 6.2, RPG 2.0, APG 2.2, 21 steals, 8 blocks
15 Gabby Williams 5'11" Freshman Guard
Against ECU in the 1st game - 17 minutes, 1 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 TO's, 0 blocks, 2 steals
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 17 minutes, 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 17 minutes, 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
2014-15: MPG 16.7, FG% .641, 3PT% .000, PPG 8.9, RPG 6.2, APG 1.4, 43 steals, 13 blocks
Against ECU in the 1st game - 10 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds
Against ECU in the 2nd game - 13 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 TO
2014-15: MPG 11.4, FG% .333, 3PT% .265, PPG 2.3, RPG 1.6, APG .7, 6 steals, 0 blocks
UConn Complete Stats
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East Carolina Starters
23 Jada Payne 6'2" RS Junior Guard/Forward
Against UConn in the 1st game - 34 minutes, 7 points, 5 rebounds, 0 assists, 4 TO
Against UConn in the 2nd game - 36 minutes, 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 TO
2014-15: MPG 32.3, FG% .425, 3PT% .409, PPG 16.9, RPG 5.5, APG 1.6, 39 steals, 19 blocks
24 I'Tiana Taylor 6'1" Junior Forward
Against UConn in the 1st game - 23 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 7 TO, 3 steals
Against UConn in the 2nd game - 26 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 TO
2014-15: MPG 28.7, FG% .436 3PT% .000, PPG 11.1, RPG 9.2, APG .5, 48 steals, 20 blocks
21 Abria Trice 6'1" RS Junior Guard/Forward
Against UConn in the 1st game - 22 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 TO's, 1 steal
Against UConn in the 2nd game - 25 minutes, 8 points, 1 rebounds, 1 assists
2014-15: MPG 24.9, FG% .387, 3PT% .152, PPG 10.0, RPG 4.5 APG 1.1, 47 steals, 19 blocks
33 Janesha Ebron 5'6" Senior Guard
Against UConn in the 1st game - 25 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 3 TO, 1 block
Against UConn in the 2nd game - 33 minutes, 8 points, 1 rebounds, 1 assists
2014-15: MPG 27.5, FG% .354, 3PT% .361, PPG 3.6, RPG 3.7, APG 4.6, 55 steals, 10 blocks
20 Tatiana Chapple 6' Senior Forward
Against UConn in the first game - 12 minutes, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 TO
Against UConn in the second game - 31 minutes, 0 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 TO
2014-15: MPG 20.1, FG% .438, 3PT% .000, PPG 2.6, RPG 3.4, APG .9, 24 steals, 7 blocks
East Carolina Bench
01 Shae Nelson 6'1" Senior Forward
Against UConn in the 1st game - 12 minutes, 2 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 TO, 0 steals
Against UConn in the 2nd game - 14 minutes, 5 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 4 TO
2014-15: MPG 15.6, FG% .322, 3PT% .314, PPG 6.3, RPG 1.6, APG 1.0, 29 steals, 8 blocks
22 Jasmine Phillips 5'10" Junior Guard
Against UConn in the 1st game - 23 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assists, 2 TO, 2 blocks, 4 steals
Against UConn in the 2nd game - 16 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 TO
2014-15: MPG 22.5, FG% .439, 3PT% .412, PPG 9.1, RPG 5.2, APG 1.8, 56 steals, 28 blocks
04 Devaughn Gray 5'11" Junior Forward
Against UConn in the 1st game - 16 minutes, 6 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 TO
Against UConn in the 2nd game - 13 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 TO
2014-15: MPG 12.2, FG% .375, 3PT% .366, PPG 5.7, RPG 1.4, APG 0.6, 13 steals, 2 blocks
Game Analysis
East Carolina is clearly the 4th best team in the AAC. They are not a great team, but they do have some talent. They have a terrific big guard in Jada Payne, who is effective from the inside and shoots over 40% on 3's. They also have a double-double machine in I'Tiana Taylor. But clearly, considering the two games they have played against UConn,
The Pirates are a good 3 point shooting team and shoot plenty during the game. They will need to hit a better percentage than the 1-10 in the first meeting and 4-21 in the second meeting in order to keep this game closer.
East Carolina starts 3 juniors and 2 seniors. They bring all upper classmen off the bench as well. So they will not be as intimidated as some younger teams are, and they have the advantage of having played UConn twice this season. Of course, playing them twice and also getting blown out twice can be a disadvantage as well.
UConn is like a fine tuned machine that is just looking to get even more out of a 500 HP engine. Everything they do now is to prepare for the NCAA tournament. I would expect them to play how they did against Cincinnati in the previous game. Press early, pressure the entire first half, get enough time for the starters to keep them sharp and find plenty of time for the bench.
Final Prediction
UConn won the 1st game by 51 and the 2nd game by 55. I don't see why this will be any different. Well, maybe even a bigger margin with the bench playing so well.
UConn by 60+
UConn by 60+
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