Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 2/13/17

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In case you missed them, here is my UConn/SMU Post Game Report and my UConn/South Carolina Pre Game Report.

Sadly, my tickets didn't come through so I'll be watching at home like most of you.

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Looks like Maya is sticking around for Monday's game and decided to work out a little with the team. Can you imagine how the current roster felt playing against the best women's player in the world.

Image may contain: 5 people, people playing sports and basketball court

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Make sure you click on the link about UConn 2017 incoming freshman Coombs in the UConn link section. Here are some highlights of the game.

Some great info about Andrea Espinoza-Hunter as well.

This 2017 class is going to be incredible when you add in No. 1 player Megan Walker and another excellent wing in Lexi Gordon.

Whew!

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Tennessee defended their home turf absolutely hammering Texas A&M to show everyone that they are a team to be reckoned with and a program on the way back to dominance.....NOT.

I said to my wife, "What do I always say? What feels almost as good as when your team wins?" and she rolled her eyes as she knew the answer, "When a team you don't like loses".

Well, my least favorite team in WCBB lost in a heartbreaker Sunday.

Tennessee played at home against Texas A&M coached by one of my favorite people in WCBB, Gary Blair. He had never beaten Tennessee on their floor and for most of the game it looked like that streak would continue.

Tennessee slowly pulled away in the first quarter behind Deshields and Russell with Middleton adding an unexpected couple of baskets. They led 20-15 and was only able to expand that by one, taking a six point lead at the half 38-32. Russell was the driving force in that quarter. A&M's rebounding advantage really kept them in the game. They had eight offensive rebounds in the first half.

The Aggies battled back in the third quarter, really hitting the boards and outscoring Tennessee 15-8 to start the third quarter and take a 47-46 lead with 2 minutes left in the quarter. It looked like it was going to be a close game and then it wasn't. Tennessee scored the last 8 points of the quarter in quick fashion behind two three pointers from Alexa Middleton and it was an 54-47 lead going into the final 10 minutes.

Tennessee then pushed that run to 12-0 to take a 58-47 with 8:49 remaining in the game. It looked like it was going to be a blowout. And then it wasn't. In one of the longest shooting slumps I have seen in a while to end of the game. The Lady Vols went 0-11 from the field and 1-2 from the foul line for their only point in the quarter during that timeframe. And Texas A&M was able to score 14 points. Yes, they outscored Tennessee 14-1 over the last 8:49. Incredible.

Now it wasn't like A&M was an offensive force. Scoring 14 points in a quarter usually doesn't bode well for a big comeback. But Tennessee was just that bad. A&M scored enough to close to three points 59-56 and with 2:44 remaining Jasmine Lumpkin hit a huge three pointer to tie the game at 59. Over the next 2:40 neither team could score. But after another A&M missed, Khaalia Hillsman grabbed her 5th offensive rebound and 15th overall and hit a 5 foot jumper in the lane for the 2 point lead.

Tennessee called a timeout so they could advance the ball to midcourt. A&M had two fouls to give and Nared was fouled two times to bring the clock to 2 seconds. The Lady Vols had a great play drawn up. They threw the ball in to Russell around 4 feet from the basket and her baby hook bounded off the rim along with the Lady Vols hope in this game.

What a tough loss for Warlick and her team. For good reason they looked shell shocked. This is going to be a tough one to recover from.

Fortunately for them, they play three of the worst teams in the SEC in Alabama, Arkansas and Florida with only one of those on the road. So at 16-9 and 7-5 in the SEC they should roll into No. 4 Mississippi State's home arean at 19-9 and 10-5 in the Conference. But who knows? This team has to be a mess after the loss to the Aggies. Say goodbye to the Top Twenty-five ranking.

Interestingly this is the same Texas A&M team that lost to SMU. And the same Tennessee team that beat South Carolina.

Now, in order to fix the bad mojo I might had created for UConn, I'm burning plenty of incense.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

UConn won their 24th game in usual fashion Saturday with an 83-41 pounding of SMU. The same cast of characters shot, drove and defended the Mustangs from Dallas into submission. Along the way, a number of milestones were passed. For example, Napheesa passed 200 rebounds in a season, finishing at 208 so far this year. That beat last season's total of 197. Katie Lou scored 22 points to pass the 500 point level for the season. She is well ahead of the 408 from last year.

Kia's 4 assists put her over 100 for the third year in a row. At 102 for this season, she is poised to surpass the 104 and 108 assists from the past two seasons. Gabby scored 11 points to pass the 300 point mark for the 2nd year in a row. She has now joined the 300 point, 200 rebound, 125 assist, 50 steal and 30 blocked shots club (for a season). Only Stewie and Maya members of that exclusive club. Saniya's 7 assists, with no turnovers, gives her a mind boggling 4.68 assist to turnover ratio. That is the best in the country.

As a team, the Huskies now have 565 assists on 790 baskets (71.5%), 317 made free throws (77.3%) and 252 steals (10.5 per game). All that will come in handy when UConn faces South Carolina on Monday on ESPN 2.

Go Huskies..!!

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