No. 1 UConn Huskies Kansas State Wildcats
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Post Game report
Congrats to Moriah Jefferson on scoring her 1000th point as a Huskie. It was great being there to see her get her honor and ball. It was interesting that she got that honor in a game where Stewart scored her 2000th point. Stewie will probably get her commemorative ball at the next home game.
This game was competitive for most of the 1st quarter. It was odd to see Stewart get fouled taking a three point shot. It was even odder to see that happen twice in the first four minutes of the game. UConn ran out to a 14-5 lead after four minutes. To Kansas State's credit, they didn't wilt under UConn's early big lead. Behind a couple of three pointers, KState closed to 16-13 with 3 minutes left in the quarter. Then it happened, again. UConn went on a 10-0 run to end the quarter up 26-13.
The second quarter started with more of the same, as UConn scored the first two baskets to take a 17 point lead. Once more, KState showed how well coached they are as they finished the half playing UConn to a standstill over the last 9 minutes, 14-14. Impressive. Other than that 10 point run to end the 1st quarter, the Wildcats played almost even with UConn for the 17 minutes of the half 30-27.
UConn was a little sloppy in the first half with 8 of their 11 turnovers. I'd chalk that up to a week between games. Practice is one thing but it's nothing like game experience.
The second half was more like what you would expect from this UConn team and it was very difficult for KState to deal with. They went on a 17-5 run and after another Stewart three pointer, they led 61-32 with 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter. Once again, this resilient Kansas State team stayed strong, outscoring UConn 14-13 over the last 5 minutes of the quarter. UConn led at that point 74-46.
In the fourth quarter, UConn continued to stretch the lead as both teams started to put in the end of the bench. It was great to see Chong get an extended run and of course, UConn ended their scoring with a three pointer from Tierney Lawlor. It seems she never misses!!
Before I move on, I have to say one more time how impressed I was with Coach Mittie's players. They were so intense for the entire game. They cheered from the bench for every good play and let me tell you, there were several. I was particularly impressed with Kindred Wesemann, their 5'6" point guard. She is tough as nails and never backed down from the challenge. It's tough when you play a team as dominant as UConn to show how good you are in relation to the rest of WCBB. But I expect Kansas State to make some noise in the Big 12.
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On the 30-year anniversary of his first win
“Winning that game and winning the next six games that year, for those kids that were on that team, that was the same feeling as team that won 90 in a row because they had never experienced anything like that before.”
On the performance of Gabby Williams
On Breanna Stewart reaching 2,000 points
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Game Quotes from Kansas State Coach Mittie
On what the team did well
On how the team can grow from this game
"I think that's it. You have to see how many minutes, and out of this minute I think we challenged at times. We battled harder than we had in our previous three games. You're going up against the team that is playing at the highest level in the country. I thought there were moments in this game where we battled as hard as we could."
On how key blocks will be going forward
On is this a tournament team
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Player Evaluations
Player of the Game - Breanna Stewart
From the get go, Stewart showed she was going to have a great game. In 31 minutes she scored 25 points on 8-15 shooting. It was great to see her go 2-4 on threes. Her form looked really good. If she can shoot 35%+ this year, she will definitely average 20+ ppg. She also added 8 rebounds 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. I'm sure the Kansas State 6'5" center was in a little shock after having her shot blocked. Just a great game from a great player.
On scoring 2,000 career points
“When you have these types of milestones, you kind of just want to get it over with. I just tried to play within the offense and shoot when I normally shoot.”
On the team’s game plan for Kansas State
“We wanted to make sure we got a lot of ball pressure, they can obviously shoot and one thing we need to continue to work on is not only the second rotation but the third and fourth rotation so we can get back on offense.”
Moriah Jefferson
Jefferson's had a wonderful game in her 26 minutes. She scored 14 points on 7-9 shooting. She missed her only two three-pointers and that was disappointing but certainly rare. She added seven assists and only one turnover. I did see a few moves I hadn't see before. She is basically unstoppable when she puts her mind to getting to the basket. Amazing.
“It took us a little while to get started and we haven’t played a game in about a week so we just had to get back in the flow of things and after that I thought we were fine.”
On Breanna Stewart’s 2,000 point milestone
“We knew we needed to get her the ball and she didn’t disappoint. She came out and knocked down her shots.”
Morgan Tuck
Ho hum, another good game for Tuck. She is as steady as they come. She used her body well to create space in the lane. She scored 15 points on 6-12 shooting. She did miss a few bunnies which is very unusual for Morgan. She also played some excellent interior defense against the KState bigs.
Kia didn't score much with only 9 points, but her 3 pointer to start the second half set the tone. She also had one great drive to the basket where she absorbed heavy contact in the lane and made a one handed bank shot. I loved her 5 steals. Her on the ball pressure was impressive and her off the ball double teaming helped force many of KState's turnovers.
Gabby William
Yes....Gabby is a double-double machine. She ended the game with 16 points on 7-8 shooting. She grabbed 12 rebounds and four of those were off the offensive boards. She added three steals but let me tell you, her on the ball pressure when UConn double teams the ball makes it really tough for the opponent. She is quick and so strong. She can't replace the three point shooting of KML, but she adds so much more to both ends of the court. What a freaky athlete!!!
On her performance against Kansas State
On putting herself in the right position
Katie Lou Samuelson
Katie is still a work in progress. She is still shooting poorly, hitting only one three in seven attempts. But the good new is she is getting closer. Several of her misses rattled around the basket. I watcher her closely and she seemed to be in the right place and moving well without the ball. She does tend to park herself around the 3 point line. I loved her pump fake on a three pointer and move to a shorter jump shot. She needs to do more of that.
Napheesha Collier
Collier is also struggling with her shooting, going 1-6 from the field. But that is not close to the story of what she brought to the table. She got to the line 5 times making all five. And she grabbed 10 rebounds. Her long arms and impeccable timing allow her to snare her share of boards. Her defense was also terrific outside the occasional lapse.
Sanyia Chong
It was so good to see Sanyia on the court. She gives UConn a viable option to rest Jefferson. You could see a little rust in her game, but the corner three pointer she made was a beauty. She was running free and she didn't show any signs of favoring her leg. That is great news. She will continue to get better and better the more she practices and plays in games.
Courtney Ekmark
Ekmark didn't get in the game as early as she did against Ohio State, but she still played 9 minutes. I really like how she is now letting the game come to her. She didn't force any shots (she didn't take any either) but she had 2 nice assists and played solid defense.
TIerney Lawlor
Tierney comes in, gets open, receives a pass and makes the shot. It seems to happen at the end of every game. I'm convinced that if she played 20 minutes, she would score 10+ point. What a great shooter.
She missed her only shot but I just love watching her run.
Final Thoughts
UConn plays their next game Saturday at the XL against former Big 12 team and now Big Ten opponent Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are 4-0 against a really weak schedule, averaging 91 ppg and giving up only 44 ppg. They are led by freshman Jessica Shepard, who is averaging 23 ppg and 9.8 rpg. She has been a dominant player so far this season. Natalie Romeo, their 5'7" point guard is averaging 17 ppg along with 4.3 apg. She is shooting 42% on threes as well. Nebraska will be an interesting opponent. Look for my game preview sometime Friday. I hope. Thanksgiving weekend is going to be busy!!!
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