Post Game report
Well, being the glass is half full kinda guy, I'm going to focus on the best first half of basketball I've seen this team play so far this season. They shot an amazing 77% from the field in creating a 52-18 lead at the half. The offense was fantastic and the defense was equally great.
They were led by the two super sophomores, and it's so comforting to know that we will be watching Samuelson and Collier lead this team for two more seasons after this one.
You can read more about them and the other players in the player evaluations.
96 straight wins, 35 straight road wins. It just keeps on going.
They were led by the two super sophomores, and it's so comforting to know that we will be watching Samuelson and Collier lead this team for two more seasons after this one.
You can read more about them and the other players in the player evaluations.
96 straight wins, 35 straight road wins. It just keeps on going.
Game Highlights
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Game Quotes From Geno
"It was flawless, that first half,"
"The way we started the game on the defensive end, the way we approached every switch and every rotation and everything that we wanted to do to keep them off balance, we got it done. And what that did was, it led to some really good stuff down the other end because we wanted to attack them off the dribble because we knew the defensive pressure they want to put on you on the perimeter."
"We were very, very efficient. We got great shots. We didn't rush anything. We got the right people getting the right shots at the right time. I can't think of one thing, when we went in at halftime, [that] we said, you know we got to do a better job."
“That was probably the best first half of the season. That and the South Florida game was probably the best halves of basketball we played this year"
"We try not taking anyone for granted. We don’t look at the opponent and say tonight because it’s a great team, we’re going to play great. ... We try to treat everyone the same.”
"I hope they recognize that both South Florida and Temple are good teams, NCAA Tournament teams, and teams in our league that are going to be a bigger factor in the race and in the tournament. I think they know."
“Considering Crystal hasn’t practice except a day or two and hasn’t played in a long time I thought there were some good signs there. Her being out there helps out, gives us a chance to rest a couple players.”
Game Quotes from Coach Tonya Cardoza
“I watched us play them last year and I am watching Samuelson miss wide open shot after wide open shot and we are leaving her open. Well, there is no way you leave her open this year. Same with Gabby, she just played a role where she came in and worked hard. Now she is dominating games on both sides of the basketball. Napheesa, you didn’t even know who she was last year and it is just a credit to them. I know they spent all summer working on their game because you could totally tell. It is credit to Geno, I am sure he put the pressure on all of them, ‘everybody thinks this is the year and sure enough they turned it into something you certainly didn’t expect if you were from the outside world.”
“The first 20 minutes we were caught up in the hype allowing them to do what they wanted. Second half we just threw that out the window and played with them and competed with them. Found some success. I thought when we did that the game turned around a little bit for us.”
Player Evaluations
Katie Lou Samuelson
"We knew coming into this game what we had to be really ready to go. We didn't have the best energy the past couple of games, so we wanted to come out and just have a good start."
Napheesa Collier
Napheesa was clearly the player of the game with another double-double. She played a team leading 25 points along with 10 rebounds. She also added 4 blocks and three steals. The only negative was her going 0-2 on threes. Temple left her open for those shots and she wasn't able to make them. They continued to leave her open and other than those two times, she refused to take the bait. It would be nice if she could make them as teams will see this and do the same. She needs to make them pay for that strategy. I loved her hard drives to the basket from the left side. With her length and quickness, she is close to impossible to stop.
Gabby Williams
Gabby has really turned into a leader on this team. You can see it in the huddles, in the increased intensity on her face and you can read it in her quotes. She did get 2 first half fouls which limited her minutes but in the 24 minutes she played, she was terrific. She scored early with 8 points and set the tone defensively with 3 blocks. Her overall stats were excellent, as she scored 14 points and added 6 assists along with 4 blocks and a steal. Her rebounding was down, as were the entire team. I'd call that a product of UConn hitting such a high percentage of shots so there were no offensive rebounds available and Temple being hot in the second half, limiting the defensive rebounds available. And of course, Collier grabbed the one's that were there for the taking.
"It was a response to having come out against Houston. That's not what we want. We're trying to make it a habit to come out like that every single game. We want that to be normal for us."
"Ideally, we want every single game to be us at our best. But we definitely are aware of how good this team is. … We've just got to get in the habit of, no matter who we're playing, we come out with our best energy. For the entire game, too. We can't let up."
Kia Nurse
As the announcers said, Kia is nursing a sore ankle. But she still played 32 minutes. She scored 8 points, but struggled with her shot, going only 1-5 on threes. In spite of the sore ankle, she added 4 assists and only 1 turnover along with 2 steals. This young woman constantly leads by example both on and off the court.
Sanyia Chong
Steady Sanyia had a nice game against Temple. She was aggressive to the basket and it paid off in 7 foul shots and she made them all. Her FT shooting percentage is now up to over 75%. Much more like it! She ended up with 12 points and 6 assists with only 2 turnovers in her 31 minutes. She is fully integrated into the starting lineup as a big time contributor and not just a "role" player.
After a slow first half, Natalie had a another solid performance. She was 3-5 in the game and scored 8 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. She also added 2 blocks. All this in only 19 minutes. She is really working hard out there.
Quiet night for the end of the bench so no game pictures. Temple's second half play dictated that. But it was great to see Kyla's mom and dad in the crowd. I'm sure they loved seeing her in person!!!
Final Thoughts
The players you saw in this game is what you will see against South Carolina and in the NCAA tournament. A solid seven player rotation. They showed what they are capable of in the first half.
Up next is the rematch with Tulsa, who UConn beat 98-58 on January 17th. I'll have a pre game report out soon. It won't look much different than the first one. Both the game and the pre game report...lol.
It was great to see a picture of my friend Danny on the UConn team site.
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