UConn-South Florida Post game report
(pictures from the Hartford Courant, UConnhuskies.com)
This was just the kind of game Geno was looking for. Not that he wanted his team to struggle, but you sometimes learn more about yourself when things are not going well.
South Florida was terrific in the first nine minutes of the game, keeping is close be responding to every UConn run with a run of their own. It was 22-17 with 11 minutes left in the half when UConn did what they always do, go on a run that you can't come back from. Over the next three minutes, UConn outscored South Florida 15-2 to take an 18 point lead. They slowly stretched that lead to 24 at the half on a terrific putback by Stewart. I believe she had 19 points and 7 rebounds in almost 20 minutes of play. UConn took a 54-30 lead into the second half.
It looked like every other UConn game when they took a 66-36 lead with 17 minutes remaining in the game. Then things changed. Slowly but surely, South Florida cut into UConn's lead, outscoring the Huskies 17-4 over the next seven minutes closing the gap to 17 points. It was too little too late, as UConn was able to push the lead back to 28 behind the brilliant play of Kia Nurse. South Florida scored the last five points of the game for the final 23 point margin.
It was clear that the intensity for that seven minute stretch, where South Florida went on their big run, was not there for UConn. It's certainly understandable considering it was the last regular season game, they had a comfortable lead and there was a warm beach waiting for them. I'm sure Geno will have them refocused and ready to go for three dominant performances in the AAC tournament.
Game Quotes
(from Uconnhuskies.com)
Coach Geno Auriemma
''This is exactly what we needed tonight. Obviously we wanted to win, but I'm glad that it played out the way it did. I really am.''
Coach Jose Fernandez
Player of the Game
Breanna Stewart
So, this is the next version of Stewart? If so, wow!!! She got beat up in the post quite often in this game. Mugged at times. In the past, this kind of play would really disrupt her offensive game. She would shy away from the contact, fade back on shots, or just shoot from the outside.
Not in this game. She stayed aggressive in the post. She took the contact and was able to stay on balance. She is still thin, but now it's lean muscle.
Besides her strong play in the post, her finesse around the basket is getting better and better. She hit one beautiful Jabbarish hook from around 6 feet away that was just fantastic. And unstoppable. Speaking of unstoppable, when she gets the ball near the foul line and just moves a little to get open, she now rises up to amazing heights for the release of her jumper.
It looked like Geno was making sure that Stewart is ready for extended minutes when needed by player in 36 minutes.
Jewel Loyd is a terrific player. Stewart is all-worldly. POY, no doubt about it. 29 points, 11 rebounds and 7 blocks says it all.
Morgan Tuck
After playing only 10 minutes I the previous game for whatever reason it might have been, Tuck was back to her consistent self against South Florida. In 25 minutes she shot 8-10 from the floor bringing her percentage up to 57.8 and her 2-3 on threes got her closer to 30%. She is now 8-15 on threes over her last 6 games. No surprise to me. A nice box score for her with 18 points and 4 rebounds to go with her great shooting.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
KML came out firing, hitting three of her first four three-point shots in the first half. She filled up the stat card with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks in 35 minutes. South Florida went small and KML struggles guarding smaller and quicker players. But her effort is unquestioned and with another 4 three point shots, she still has a decent chance to become the all time NCAA leader in made threes. She is only 21 behind the record of 392 with hopefully 9 games remaining.
Moriah Jefferson
Not Jefferson's best game, but she still managed to impact the game with her speed and long range shooting. In 36 minutes, she only shot 2-8 from the field. But she was 2-4 on threes and had 4 assists and 3 steals. Even Jefferson struggled when she was covering Williams, but her hands are so quick and she was really disruptive to South Florida's offense.
Kia Nurse
Although the majority of her scoring was in the last 2 minutes, Nurse looked good the entire game. in 30 minutes she scored 11 points had a career high 9 assists and only 1 turnover. It's understandable that KML doesn't get to the free throw line, but Kia needs to get there more often. Since her 9-9 free throw game in the first Memphis game, she has only taken four free throws in the last seven games and none in the last three games. This should be a bigger part of her game and shows that she is not as aggressive offensively in taking the ball to the basket as she was earlier this season. In fact, she shot a free throw every game for the first 20 in her career and had zero attempts in six of her last ten.
Saniya Chong
This game was about the starters getting big minutes and Chong seemed to struggle while she was in the game. She only played 13 minutes and was 0-4 from the field and 0-3 on threes. She did have two nice assists and one steal.
Not a good game for Gabby and it's games like this that make Geno say he doesn't know which Gabby he will get. But it's no surprise that Williams might struggle in a game like this. In her 9 minutes, she made two freshman type turnovers but she will learn from this experience. It just shows me that if the game is close and the pace is hectic, Geno won't expose her to it for too many minutes.
Kiah Stokes
Stokes was pretty effective in her 13 minutes. I was surprised she even played that much against the small South Florida lineup. Four points and four rebounds. She had one more block to add to her season total, and is only six behind Rebecca Lobo's season record of 131. No doubt she will own that record soon.
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UConn has several days off before taking on the Cincinnati/UCF game. I'm almost rooting for Central Florida so Geno won't have to play against Jamelle's team again.
It's been an amazing regular season and I'll take a closer look at how the Huskies did over the next few days.
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