Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 3/1/16

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I'm sure everyone reading this watched the game on ESPN2 tonight. If not SHAME ON YOU!!!!.

If you didn't see it, all you have to know is two words. Breanna Stewart. After another slow start that ended with a 25-24 South Florida lead at the half, the best player in WCBB took over. She had 16 points in the third quarter to lead UConn to a 32-14 advantage for the 10 minutes and a 17 point lead going into the fourth quarter 56-39. It was an amazing effort by the all-American, that included jumpers, offensive rebounds and put backs and blocks. She just dominated the quarter. She ended up with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Fantastic!!

Kia Nurse was 4-7 on threes and hit a few critical shots in the first half to keep UConn close. She ended up with 15 points and the silence from her critics was deafening.

Tuck had a nice game too, feeding Stewart at the right time in putting together her 5 assists.

Geno didn't go deep into the bench, an indication of what he will do in the final two games of the NCAA tournament. Only Williams and Collier saw any minutes and Collier was terrific off the boards with 8 rebounds in 13 minutes, three of them offensive.

For South Florida, it was more of the same, with Courtney Williams dominating the offense. She scored 21 points but it took her 22 shots to do it. They really missed Laska, there freshman sharp shooter, who missed her third consecutive game with an ankle injury. UConn did a great job keeping USF's jumping jack forward Alisa Jenkins off the boards, holding her to 8 points and only 6 rebounds, half her season average. South Florida only used one player off the bench and she played only 5 minutes. They had three starters with 40 minutes, one with 38 and one with 37.

UConn dominated the boards, winning that battle 45-29 and held USF to 36% shooting and 29% on threes.

Oh, I predicted a 20 points win. Final? 79-59.

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In the only other top 25 game, No. 4 Baylor looked fantastic in beating up Texas at home Monday night to take the regular season Big 12 title. They won their 30th game of the season to go 30-1. Baylor hammered the Longhorns 16-7 in the second quarter and then put the game away with a 30 point third quarter to take a 60-30 lead after three. The Bears coasted in to win the game 74-48.

I think Baylor is right there after UConn along with Notre Dame. All three have several scoring options and that is what will the difference. You have to be able to score when you are playing UConn. The Bears has a terrific set of guards in Johnson, Jones and Wallace. Johnson had 10 points and 12 assists, Jones had 9 points and 7 rebounds and Wallace was terrific with 23 points going 3-5 on threes. They have an excellent pair of forwards in Prince (more of a wing) and All-American Davis, who had 16 points and 7 rebounds. Their strength and weakness are their two bigs, Freshman Mompremier and Brown. Both were solid in this game. Mompremier had 9 points and 10 rebounds, and Brown had 5 points and 3 rebounds. They add up to a very good center that gives you 10 fouls. Young but talented.

Yeah, Baylor worries me. They also have an excellent coach in Kim Mulkey. Love her or hate her, I think she is one of the best coaches in WCBB. I hope they match up with Notre Dame. I would prefer UConn not play both of them.

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From David in Naples

1. Katie Lou Samuelson, who earlier in her freshman season had a bit of a slow start, is now on fire from 3 point range. Last 9 games, 25-51 or 49.0%.
2. Gabby Williams has greatly improved her free throw shooting. She is now 35-46 or 76.1%.
3. Napheesa Collier has been a monster on the offensive boards, leading the team with 68 rebounds.
4. Breanna Stewart leads the team in scoring, as expected, but is also 2nd with 112 assists. Her high was last year at 122.
5. As a team, the Huskies are making 80% of their free throws, 338-423.
6. Kia Nurse has started all 28 of UConn's games this season.
7. UConn defense is giving up fewer points per game (47.7) than in either of the last two seasons.
8. Despite graduating shot blocker Kiah Stokes, UConn leads the nation with 6.64 blocks per game.

Go Huskies..!!

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While the win over Georgia has the Lady Vol fans dreaming of winning the SEC tournament and going far in the NCAA tournament, Tennessee is now officially gone from the AP poll. Last week, they were holding on to the bottom spot of the "others" as they had 2 points. This week? Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nana. Not a vote. Not a sniff of a vote. It's like they don't exist!!!

So, now, they look to be playing Arkansas in the SEC tournament and if the Razorbacks are as stupid as Georgia and play man-to-man against a team that can't shoot straight, Tennessee has a good chance of winning. Lets see what happens.

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So, without further ado!!!

Ladies and Gents, DD looks at the news........