DoggyDaddy's UConn/East Carolina Post Game Report

UConn/East Carolina

Post Game report

Here is some info on the game from the ECU team site.

First Quarter Connecticut took the lead early and led 15-1 at the first quarter media timeout. With 1:40 to play in the period, ECU was on a run of its own, connecting on four of its last four shots from the field to trail the Huskies 26-10. Four Pirates scored in the quarter as ECU shot 25 percent from the field (4-for-16). Connecticut shot over 57 percent in the quarter and held East Carolina to 25 percent from three-point range.

Second Quarter
Connecticut took a 5-2 start to the second quarter but a 6-0 run by the Pirates gave ECU the advantage in the first five minutes of the frame. The Huskies held a 17-10 advantage over East Carolina in the third while the Pirates improved to shoot 30.8 percent from the field.

Third Quarter
It was all Connecticut in the third quarter as the Huskies held East Carolina to eight points - the lowest offensive stanza of the game for ECU. Connecticut strung together a 24-2 run during the period to hold a 71-28 lead at the end of the frame. Despite being held to eight points, East Carolina improved its shooting to 33.3 percent from the field.

Fourth Quarter
Csutoras warmed up in the fourth quarter, scoring all eight of her points in the final 10 minutes of action. Toure added five points of her own as ECU cut into Connecticut's lead as the clock ticked down. With under two minutes to play, the Pirates drew within 37 but a jumper by Natalie Butler and a pair of free throws by Kyla Irwin made it a 40-plus lead once more. The Pirates had their best offensive quarter in the fourth, scoring 17 points and shooting 46.7 percent from the field.

Not much more to add on the game. Geno loved the start and was very happy with the team effort. I'll give you more of my thoughts in the player evaluation section.

Game Highlights

  

 Game Stats and Box Score

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Game Quotes From Geno

“General Dempsey is one of the most incredible human beings I have ever met. I’ve never been fascinated and absolutely enthralled by anybody more than all the time I spent with General Dempsey whether it is dinner at his house, having a couple of drinks at the Olympics, at the Pentagon, all the times I have been around him it never ceases to amaze me the things that he has done, the way he handles situations, his perspective on the world and where we are. I wish he had run for President.”

''I just want them to enjoy this. 'Because it's a once-in-a-lifetime...well, at least I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime (thing). They've already done something by winning tonight that people thought would be impossible to do and it's happened twice now. I don't even know what to say.''

''We generally don't lose games that we're not supposed to lose. We don't lose to teams that are not as good as we are. We don't show up and just go through the motions and mail it in and have an upset one night. The fact that that hasn't happened is probably the most amazing thing.''

"I didn't feel it was necessary to talk about the streak, bring it up, address it or anything. Just move on, let's play and get the next one. … After Maryland, I knew it came up. That's the first time I talked about it with them. What it is that they're trying to do, what it would mean to them. So I kind of let them kind of have it."

"These last two games have been a little bit different, I get that. But those first five, six, seven minutes of the game, whatever it was, that would have been amazing regardless of who we were playing against. That was an incredible run, right there, right at the beginning."

“They are determined to win, that might be more accurate for them. They don’t get caught up in any of it. It was a very emotional team, this team generally speaking is kind of unemotional, duds. You look at them and there is nothing. These guys are like whatever, this is what we are going to do. Who am I to change it?”

Game Quotes from Coach Heather Macy

''The goal is how many five minute segments can you win and as we progress though the game not to look up there at the daunting task of having a 40-point deficit,''

"Ultimately, playing at Connecticut gives you something to aspire to. "I spoke to my staff it wasn't that long ago that students were getting extra credit for coming to the games here. Now you look around the hotel and the arena and people are getting here early for the games for that atmosphere. That's what we work our tails off every day in Greenville for - to build that environment. I respect so much of what they do and it gives us something every single day to fight for and create that environment."

"Honestly this is the environment that you want to play in. You want to play against the best if you are a competitor and coach against the best and obviously he (Geno Auriemma) is the best and this is the best program. We are thankful they are in the American Conference and we are going to continue to work hard and close that gap."

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Player Evaluations

Kia Nurse

I really enjoyed watching Kia play in this game. In her 26 minutes, she was 6-12 from the field and 2-4 on threes. She ran the court really well often beating the defense down the court and she hit a couple of pull up jumpers. She had all three aspects of her offensive games going in that regard and was physical with the ECU guards with her defense. Loved her quick hands as well as she had 3 nice steals.

  

''We understand the winning streak is a big thing and we're excited about it, but we have to focus on what comes next.''

"This has been one of the most exciting, life-changing, growing experiences in my career. To be a part of it, to be part of a program that has a legacy like this, has been nothing short of amazing."

Katie Lou Samuelson

I just loved the picture of Katie Lou. I had to post it. She looks like she is doing a Daffy Duck impression......"Thuffering Thuccotash"!!!!

She had a solid game against ECU. She led the team in minutes with 28 but only took 10 shots, making 6 of them. What I was happy to see was her aggressiveness on the boards. She only had 5 rebounds, but few of them dropped in her lap. She really went after them. Lou only took 3 threes, but she made 2 of them. She had a nice variety of offensive moves in this game as she continues to expand ways to score.  

Napheesa Collier

Like Geno said, she just plays the game. Point her to the court and she does the same thing game in and game out. She only played 25 minutes but managed to score 21 points on 8-11 shooting continuing her hot hand. In this game, she took several short jumpers. That is the shot that I remember her being so effective with for Team USA. She is just getting better and better. Scary, huh.
The other thing I saw more of was her making the high low pass to Williams more often. I'll take 3 assists from her every game.    

''It's not being cocky. If you know you're a good team, you need to play like that.''

“It has been stressed to us that it doesn’t matter what the score is, we still play Connecticut basketball. You are still playing for our school, you have to be held to a certain standard. We don’t want to play the scoreboard, we try to use every game to get better.”

Gabby Williams

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More of the same for Gabby. In her 26 minutes, she scored 16 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, handed out 5 assists, and had 3 steals. She dominated the first quarter, scoring 12 points, using her quickness and athletic ability to get to the rim.

"It's just crazy looking back at the people who did the record before us. And it's like, wow, people are going to mention our names with those names. It's an honor to be part of that tradition."

“I was really disappointed in myself in not contributing in the Stanford game, not helping us and I did not deserve to play in that game whatsoever. I just remember that Kiah Stokes was close to fouling out, I said if I go out there I am going to embarrass myself because I haven’t prepared the way I should have. It was that moment when things kind of switched on for me. You have to find your role quick and I am happy to be in the position I am in now and that is when I started to find my role.”

  

Sanyia Chong

She took and made the first shot for UConn, a three pointer from the corner. After that she took only one more shot in 23 minutes. I think that is really unacceptable. She needs to take 5-7 shots a game. But I'm sure if Geno wanted her to shoot more, he will tell her. She continued her amazing assist and turnover ratio, handing out 4 assists and only turning over the ball 1 time.  

Crystal Dangerfield

Crystal had her moments in this game, but not all of them were good. She rushed her outside shot missing all 3 threes. But she did hand out 4 assists. Whatever confidence she had after the Baylor game has slowly eroded. I would expect her to get that back as the conference schedule continues. 

Natalie Butler

This was maybe Butlers best game of the season. And not because she scored 12 points in her 18 minutes. No, not making 5-6 shots. To me it was just attitude. She actually was a little nasty out there, grabbing 6 tough rebounds. She still lets a few get away and overthinks some of her post play, but she was everything UConn wants from her this season. Geno is trusting her more and more as shown by her early appearance in the first half. 

Kyla Irwin

A mixed bag for Irwin, who played 11 minutes. She showed some nice things. She was 3-4 from the foul line, looking comfortable in making her last two. She had three plays that ended up in jump balls, mostly because of her indecision with the ball. But she was strong on the boards grabbing 3 rebounds and I thought she played big.   

Molly Bent

Molly played a nice 16 minutes. She didn't score, but she corralled 4 rebounds and handed out 3 assists. She didn't score because she didn't take any shots. The problem is there were some shots that presented themselves and she didn't take them. I'd like to see her have enough confidence to shoot. I'm sure Geno will talk to her if he feels the same way.

Tierney Lawlor

 3 minutes, no stats. I'm just glad when she gets in the game. 

   

 Final Thoughts

Next game?