UCONN Vs. South Florida
Day: Tuesday
Date: January 10th, 2017
Location: XL Center, Hartford, Ct
Time: 7:00
TV: CBSSN
No. 1 UConn Huskies No. 22 South Florida Bulls
14-0 (2-0) 13-1 (2-0)
Prior Meetings
UConn leads the series 20-0
12/28/02 W 72-56 A
12/1/04 W 75-65 (ot) H
1/24/06 W 77-47 H
2/20/07 W 81-67 A
3/4/07 W 74-54 N1/30/08 W 71-48 H
1/6/09 W 83-37 A
3/8/09 W 79-42 H
1/4/10 W 84-42 H
12/2/10 W 80-54 A
1/28/12 W 77-62 H
3/2/13 W 85-51 A
1/26/14 W 81-53 H
2/16/14 W 63-38 A
1/18/15 W 92-50 H
3/2/15 W 88-65 N
3/9/15 W 84-70 N
1/10/16 W 75-59 A
2/29/16 W 79-59 H
3/7/16 W 77-51 N
1/18/15 W 92-50 H
3/2/15 W 88-65 N
3/9/15 W 84-70 N
1/10/16 W 75-59 A
2/29/16 W 79-59 H
3/7/16 W 77-51 N
UConn at South Florida Game 2 Highlights
UConn at South Florida Game 3 Highlights
ACC Tournament
Team Overviews
Stat by Stat Comparison
Leader is bolded
ACC Tournament
Team Overviews
South Florida is still the second best team in the AAC behind UConn, even with the loss of their best player in Courtney Williams and their leading rebounder in Alisia Jenkins. At 13-1, they are also ranked at No. 23 coming into this matchup. If you take a look at their schedule you will note that they haven't played one top 25 team as yet. And they have only played the ACC's North Carolina who they hammered 83-55 and SEC's Georgia, who they handled with ease 81-65. Other than that, it's a hodgepodge of teams in a weak OOC schedule. In their first AAC game they were able to pull away from Tulane team in the second half to win 62-53.
In their last game they beat Tulsa 84-68 in game where the Bulls were able to maintain their solid lead but never pull away from the Golden Hurricane by more than 20.
In their last game they beat Tulsa 84-68 in game where the Bulls were able to maintain their solid lead but never pull away from the Golden Hurricane by more than 20.
UConn started their AAC schedule with resounding wins over Central Florida 84-48 and a 90-45 win over East Carolina. The team is playing well, the bench is getting more time, the starters are getting more rest. All is good in Huskieville.
Stat by Stat Comparison
Leader is bolded
UCONN South Florida
81.5 Points Per Game 79.0
56.8 Opp Points Per Game 57.4
.507 Field Goal % .457
.368 Opp Field Goal % .348
.420 3 Point Field Goal % .361
.260 Opp 3 Point Field Goal % .312
.767 Free Throw % .770
37.6 Rebounds Per Game 45.6
32.9 Opp Rebounds Per Game 31.4
21.1 Assists Per Game 16.6
14.3 Turnovers Per Game 13.2
1.5 Assists/Turnover Ratio 1.3
1.5 Assists/Turnover Ratio 1.3
9.6 Steals Per Game 5.6
3.8 Blocks Per Game 2.7
UCONN
UConn Starters
33 Katie Lou Samuelson
6'3" Sophomore Guard/Forward
Games - 14, MPG 31.8, FG% .485, 3PT% .460, FT% .816, PPG 20.1, RPG 4.3, APG 2.6
24 Napheesa Collier
6'1" Sophomore Forward/Guard
Games - 14, MPG 31.0, FG% .649, 3PT% .375, FT% .811, PPG 19.4, RPG 7.6, APG 2.1
15 Gabby Williams
5'11" Junior Forward
Games - 14, MPG 28.1, FG% .535, 3PT% .250, FT% .667, PPG 11.5, RPG 7.9, APG 4.6
11 Kia Nurse
6' Junior Guard
Games - 14, MPG 33.6, FG% .447, 3PT% .449, FT% .857, PPG 13.6, RPG 2.1, APG 4.1
12 Saniya Chong
5'8" Senior Guard
Games - 12, MPG 22.8, FG% .523, 3PT% .438, FT% .600, PPG 5.4, RPG 1.9, APG 2.9
UConn Bench
5 Crystal Dangerfield
5'5" Freshman Guard
Games - 13, MPG 22.5, FG% .410, 3PT% .333, FT% .667, PPG 6.2, RPG 2.6, APG 3.3
51 Natalie Butler
6'5" RS Sophomore Center
Games - 14, MPG 16.2, FG% .463, 3PT% .000, FT% .769, PPG 4.3, RPG 4.7, APG 1.1
10 Molly Bent
5'9" Freshman Guard
Games - 12, MPG 9.3, FG% .500, 3PT% .600, FT% .750, PPG 1.5, RPG 1.3, APG .7
25 Kyla Irwin
6'2" Freshman Forward
Games - 11, MPG 6.7, FG% .188, 3PT% .000, FT% .600, PPG 1.1, RPG 1.1, APG .5
20 Tierney Lawlor
5'7" Senior Guard
Games - 10, MPG 2.9, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, FT% .000, PPG 0.0, RPG .3, APG .1
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Coach Jose Fernandez
Entering his 17th season as head coach, Fernandez is primed for another record-breaking season. The Bulls enter 2016 ranked in the AP Poll for 22-consecutive weeks and ended the 2015-16 season in the top-25 for the second straight year. Along with coaching the programs first All-American, Fernandez lifted the team to new heights in 2015-16 and achieved the highest ranking in program history, No. 15 in both the AP and USA Today coaches’ polls. USF made its 12th postseason run in 13 seasons and its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
In 16 years at USF, Fernandez became the all-time winningest basketball coach (men’s or women’s) in school history with a program record of 285 wins. Fernandez adds a 2009 WNIT championship to his resume as well, and took the Bulls to the 2014 WNIT Final Four, becoming the winningest coach in the WNIT with 13 wins.
South Florida Starters
South Florida Starters
33 Kitija Laska
6' Sophomore Forward
American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year (Unanimous, 2015-16)
American Athletic Conference Second Team (2015-16)
American Athletic Conference Freshman Team (Unanimous, 2015-16)
USBWA National Freshman of the Week (Jan. 21, 2016)
2015-16 (FRESHMAN): Unanimous American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year... American Athletic Conference Second Team... Turned in one of the best performances by a freshman at USF... second on the team in points scored (364), which ranks fourth in the freshman record books... tallied 74-three pointers, a new freshman record and ranks fourth all-time in a single season...played in 29 games, started 16, missed six games due to injury (ankle)...scored 38 pointes against SMU (1/7/16)... named USBWA National Freshman of the Week... 38 points was most scored ever by a freshman at USF and in The American... 38 points was the second most points scored in a game in the history of The American...averaged 27.5 minutes per game.
14 games - MPG 33.1, FG% .425, 3PT% .429, PPG 21.6, RPG 4.4 APG 1.0
11 Ariadna Pujol
6'1" Senior Guard/Forward
American Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team (2014-15)
2015-16 (JUNIOR): Appeared in 29 games, starting in 2, her first starts since her freshman season... averaged 2.8 points per game and 1.5 rebounds... collected a .407 shooting percentage, and shot a season best 100 percent from the floor against No. 8 Mississippi State Dec. 30... scored in double figures two times, both against conference opponents.... tallied 11 points at Cincinnati Feb. 3 and scored a season high 16 points in the American Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals against SMU March 5.
14 games - MPG 33.4, FG% .486, 3PT% .271, PPG 14.1, RPG 6.4 APG 3.2
6'0" Junior Forward
2015-16 (SOPHOMORE): Appeared in all 34 of USF's contests (1-of-3 players to play in every game) and made 11 stars as a sophomore... averaged 5.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 22.2 minutes per game... shot .436 from the floor... grabbed 10-plus rebounds on three different occasions, including a career-high 13 boards at Tulsa Feb. 24... scored in double figures six times, and reached a new career-high 19 points against Harvard Dec. 3.
14 games - MPG 32.6, FG% .459, 3PT% .343, PPG 14.4, RPG 9.6 APG 2.0
5'7" Junior Guard
2015-16 (SOPHOMORE): Appeared in 32 games, starting 26... averaged 13.2 minutes, 1.8 points and 2.4 assists per game... scored a career high 10 points against Butler (Nov. 25)... dished out a career high eight assists against SMU (Jan. 7)... tallied four-plus assists on 10 different occasions.
14 games - MPG 35.1, FG% .398, 3PT% .212, PPG 9.5, RPG 4.0 APG 7.1
23 Tamara Henshaw
6'1" Freshman Forward
Four-year Letterwinner at Flagler Palm Coast... led FPC to the Florida State Class 8A Final Four in 2015, the first Final Four appearance in program history... as a senior was named All-Area First team and FABC 8A All-State Second Team... averaged 11.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
13 games - MPG 22.6, FG% .585, 3PT% .000, PPG 6.0, RPG 7.4 APG .8
South Florida Bench
13 Dorottya Nagy
6'2" Freshman Forward
Nagy, who just completed her third season with the PINKK-PECSI, Hungarian- A Division team, is listed as the No. 1 recruit out of Europe by Blue Star Europe and Passion Hoops. ESPNW’s Dan Olson ranks Nagy as No. 32 in his Collegiate Girls Basketball Reports. Nagy is the Bulls’ first top 50 recruit since 2013.
13 games - MPG 15.3, FG% .509, 3PT% .600, PPG 5.5, RPG 2.7 APG 1.1
45 Katelyn Weber
6'5" Senior Center
2015-16 (JUNIOR): Appeared in 28 games, starting 17... averaged 11.4 minutes, 1.0 rebounds and 1.9 points per game... collected 17 blocks... scored a career high 13 points (Jan. 5)... scored five-plus points on five different occassions...grabbed a career high 11 rebounds at Baylor (Nov. 19).
11 games - MPG 9.2, FG% .600, 3PT% .000, PPG 1.3, RPG 3.1 APG .5
20 Laura Ferreira
5'11" Junior Forward
2015-16 (SOPHOMORE): Started 27 of the 28 games she played in, missed seven games mid-season due to injury (ankle)... averaged 9.6 points per game and 4.4 rebounds, shooting .363 from the field and .289 from behind the arc... recorded her second career double-double at home against SMU Jan. 7, tallying 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds... scored double-figures in 14 outings, reaching her season high 19-points two times, vs. No. 8 Mississippi State Dec. 30 and vs. Memphis Feb. 21... was sidelined for six games (Jan. 31-Feb. 15) due to injury.
9 games - MPG 14.6, FG% .386, 3PT% .423, PPG 6.0, RPG 2.8 APG 1.4
Game Analysis
While you can certainly say that UConn lost a ton of points, rebounds and assists with the graduation of the big three of Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck, you can also say the same about South Florida. They lost to graduation Courtney Williams, Alisia Jenkins and Shalet Stringfield who were the 1st, 3rd and 4th leading scorers on the team, the 1st and 2nd leading rebounders and 1st and 2nd in assists. That is a lot to make up. And other than Lakaa, there wasn't much proven talent coming back, unlike UConn with the "fantastic four" plus the No. 3 recruit.
The 6' Laksa has improved her scoring this year, trying to pick up some of the slack for the graduation losses. She is averaging 32.4 minutes and over 20 points per game. She takes almost 9 three point shots per game hitting them at a 42% clip. Word from the USF camp is that she has been playing the last few games with "a broken finger with two chips on her shooting hand. Two of her fingers have been taped". Just looking at her last few games you can see the impact the injury has had on her shooting. She has been only 7-30 from long range the four games prior to their last game against Tulsa. Not up to her usual standards. But she bounced back in the last game against Tulsa Saturday night with a 37 point performance going 7-14 on threes. We will see if she can get the same looks at the basket against UConn as she did against Tulsa. I don't think she has seen anyone like Williams defending her this season.
The rest of starting lineup is made up of returning players that didn't have much impact statistically but have stepped up their game.
Maria Jesperson started 11 games last year and is an anchor in the starting lineup this season. The 6'2" forward has made a huge jump in her junior season. In her 32.4 mpg, she has her scoring up from 5.9 ppg to 14.0 and her rebounding up from 4.5 to 9.4. An amazing improvement for the young woman from Denmark. Even against the weak schedule, it's an impressive change. She is a terrific spot up three point shooter. And loves to drive hard right to the basket. She will find this much harder to do against the Huskies.
Another new starter this year is Ariadna Pujol, the 6'1" guard/forward from Spain. She has made as amazing a jump in her play as Jesperson has. Pujol started 2 games last year but has started every game this season. Her scoring is up from 2.9 to 14.5 and her rebounding up from 1.1 to 6.5. Some of that can be attributed to her increase in minutes, from 8.6 to 33.4. That she is performing well with those increased minutes is a great tribute to this young woman. She had a really nice handle and loves to tricky dribble in the lane. But UConn's quick hands will force turnovers.
Laia Flores, the 5'7" point guard is from the same town in Spain as Pujol. She started 26 games last year, so starting the game is not new to her. But she only played 13 minutes per game and this year, she is playing a ton more at her 34.9 mpg. Her scoring is up from 1.8 to 9.8 and rebounding up from 1.4 to 4.1. She also has a good handle and a nice eye for finding the open player.
As you can see, these four starters are from around the world, 2 from Spain, one from Latvia and one from Denmark. A world of experience even if they didn't play nearly as much last year except for Laksa.
The fifth starter just doesn't match the profile of a Coach Hernandez's player on this years team. One, she is from Palm Coast, Florida not overseas and she is a freshman, not an upper classman like her starting teammates. Tamara Henshaw is a big 6'1" forward that has pushed her way into the starting lineup by rebounding like a demon. She is only averaging 6.1 ppg, but her rebounding has been solid at 7.2 per game. She has had a few double digit rebounding efforts.
I believe this is a really tough time for South Florida to be facing UConn. From what I can see from the box scores, they are only playing 6 players. Laura Ferriera, the 5'11" junior forward from Portugal, hasn't played in the last 4 games suffering from a recurring foot injury. It's not expected she will play in the UConn game. The only other player off the bench seeing significant minutes is Dorottya Nagy, a 6'2" freshman forward from Hungary. She missed some time recently with the same foot injury but she did play the last few games.
I have no idea why 6'5" Katlyen Weber is not playing other than she is a little slow and her skills seem to be eroding. Oh...I guess I just said why. Maybe she has an undisclosed injury. Not sure.
South Florida plays almost exclusively man-to-man, and they do it very well. They are not that quick, but they know how to move their feet to keep the defender in front of them. They have been well drilled. They held a high scoring UConn team to under 80 points three times last year, so I don't expect a high scoring game for the Huskies but I have to say that I could be off here. It's always all about matchups. And this might be a bad one for USF.
UConn will try to tire out the Bulls as four of their starters will be close to the 40 minute mark. UConn will press, run off misses, run off makes, run run run.
UConn will also be able to get to the rim as USF has no shot blocking presence. I would expect the post moves of Collier and the quick drives by Williams will be very effective in this game.
Final Prediction
While both teams have lost a ton of points, rebounds and assists, UConn was able to replace them with stars, while USF had only good but not great players. The three games last year were in the 20 point range in MOV for the Huskies. With the injuries and really short bench, I think the talent disparity and skill advantage has widened. Hey, they lost their only WNBA type player in Courtney Williams and didn't come close to replacing her.
Before watching the game they had Saturday against Tulsa I was sure they could hold UConn to around 75 points. Not I'm not so sure. They played their starters 39,39,37 and 34 minutes. Against a team that runs like UConn I can see them tiring out. Because of that I would bet UConn can get to the mid-80's. They do have some offensive weapons in Laksa and Jeperson, but I'm not sure that they can get to 60 against this excellent UConn defense.
UConn by 25+.
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