Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's Dailies 2/15/17

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In case you missed it here is my UConn/South Carolina Post Game Report.

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It's always fun to look at the message boards after a big game like the Monday night matchup between UConn and South Carolina. Especially the South Carolina board. My god, could they complain enough about the fouls? Look at the stats. UConn had 17 fouls called on them. South Carolina had 18. UConn took 10 foul shots. South Carolina had 14. Yes, refs miss calls. They do every game. But they didn't just miss it in favor of UConn and it certainly didn't cost South Carolina the game. Man up, Gamecock fans.

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The ESPN Coaches poll came out and right now the AAC has as many teams in the top 25 as the SEC. Three.

Temple as joined the top 25 as Tennessee has dropped out.

Now, this won't last long. I think that South Florida has a chance to drop out after their loss Tuesday night to Central Florida. A really bad loss for the Bulls at home.

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Some pre-numbers from David -

Consider two of the most critical moments in the game last night, when South Carolina doomed themselves to defeat against UConn. Lack of conditioning? Nerves? Bad luck? Or is UConn just built for these moments in big games...

1. With 1:23 left to play in the 2nd period, South Carolina led 29-28 and had the ball. Gray turned the ball over and SC left Napheesa unguarded at the 3 point arc. Her basket put UConn back up 31-29. In their next two possessions, South Carolina committed a turnover by Coates and a turnover by Cuevas-Moore. The last one, with 11 seconds left in the half, results in Collier's layup, a 35-29 UConn lead and big time momentum.

Three possessions, three turnovers in less than a minute and a half. UConn scores the last 7 points and leads by 6. Don't tell me conditioning isn't important.

2. In the 3rd period, with 1:10 to play, the score was 46-39 UConn. South Carolina had the ball and desperately needed to score. In the next 70 seconds, they missed 3 shots (Gray, Davis and Harris) and 2 free throws (Gray). Collier, once again, scored 5 points in the last 39 seconds to leave the Huskies up by 12 points, 51-39.

Four possessions, 0 points in a minute and 10 seconds. UConn scores the last 5 points and extends the lead to 12. Game over...

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By David in Naples!!!!!

What do Baylor (#2), Maryland (#3), Florida State (#4), South Carolina (#6), Notre Dame (#7) and Texas (#8) have in common ? Yes, they are all very good teams and ranked in the top 10 in the country in women's basketball. But, more importantly, they all have been defeated by UConn. And, the Huskies won those six contests by 59 combined points, and average of almost 10 points per game. With the exception of Mississippi State (#5), UConn has played the very best teams in the country and beat them all.

In those six wins, the Huskies have scored 447 total points or 74.5 per game. The leading scorer has switched between Napheesa Collier, Crystal Dangerfield, Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams. That is the definition of balance. Last night, KLS scored only 6 points, but Gabby had 26. Versus Texas and Notre Dame, Collier had 44 combined points. Against Baylor, it was Crystal with 19 points. For the win against Maryland, Katie Lou was the high scorer with 23 points. Everyone on the Huskies can score and no defense seems to be able to hold all of them down.

The defense in those six games was brilliant, giving up only 388 points or 64.6 per game. Every scoring leader for the opponent, scored less than their average that night. Scoring 74 and giving up only 64 is a great formula for winning.

Four more regular season games to go and then the AAC tournament. If all goes well, then the NCAA run will begin. UConn has faced the best teams they could schedule and beaten them all. What more can they do.

Go Huskies..!!

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