Post Game report
Well, another interesting game for the Huskies. While the talk of the fans was the bad defensive second half against Temple in their last game, this game was a slow start against Tulsa in the first quarter.
It's no surprise to me when this UConn team has a bad quarter here and there. It's easy to forget how young this team is. And it's easy to forget that these are young women, not machines. Sometimes they look so efficient you just can't imagine them missing so many shots, including wide open layups. But it happens. And it happened in the first quarter against Tulsa. Geno was so upset with Williams, he just sat her for 13 minutes in the first half. Now THAT was surprising.
In that quarter, the NCAA leader in three point shooting was 1-8 from beyond the arc. Overall they were 7-21 from the field and scored only 16 points. Katie Lou herself was 2-10 and 0-4 on threes. They only got to the line four times, all by Gabby where she was only 1-4. Hey, it happens.
The second quarter was much better. While they still couldn't hit from the outside going 1-5 on threes (that's 2-13 for the half!), they got to the FT line going 7-7 and their shooting percentage overall was much better shooting 53%. They scored a more reasonable 24 points taking a 40-23 lead after the first half.
The second half was a great offensive and defensive show for the Huskies. Williams shrugged off the first half benching and took it out against Tulsa. UConn was 24-33 from the field (72%) and 6-10 on threes. I think Geno got their attention at the half. The one stat that stuck out to me was the 32 assists on 39 baskets. That is just remarkable.
Game Highlights
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Game Quotes From Geno
"Sometimes you get so used to shots going in that you forget that there are times where it doesn't. As a coach you have to decide if your taking bad shots or if your taking good shots and they are just not falling. I don't think I would trade any of the shots we took in the first half. They were the same shots we have been taking all year they just were not falling today."
"I don't know if it's physical or mental but Gabby's just not herself right now. It's been like that the last couple days she's just a little bit out of sorts. I thought it would be best to give her a chance to sit and watch for a little and then she played great in the second half."
"Our 2 sophomores are very impressive. With Lou your dumbfounded every time one of her shots doesn't go in and with Napheesa every time she gets the ball in the lane and does not score your like, what wrong with her?"
Game Quotes from Coach Matilda Mossman
"We felt like after what Shug did the first time that she would be defended tougher. They had (Napheesa) Collier on her a little bit, they had Kia (Nurse) on her a little bit and we couldn't really get anything. Even when we would hand off and force them to switch, she couldn't get by (Saniya) Chong. Defensively they did a great job on her. Kendrian just didn't get a lot of touches in the second half."
"We tell our kids to enjoy the atmosphere. This is why you play college basketball, to play in front of crowds like this. I think after the game gets going, they don't think about it anymore. We just try to get them to play off of the electricity of the crowd."
"Offensively we're better at being patient, moving the ball side to side and getting post touches. Obviously we scored 100 against East Carolina last week so offensively I think we've gotten better."
Player Evaluations
Katie Lou Samuelson
What a horrible start for Lou. 2-10 from the field. 0-4 on threes. She ended up the game 0-7 on threes. Crazy!!! But was we have learned about Katie Lou this season, she is much more than just a shooter. She went 6-7 on two pointers in the second half, on the receiving end of some terrific passes from her teammates. She only played 26 minutes and was able to score 16 points and had 1 block and 1 steal along with 4 rebounds. Her on the ball defense was great. There where times where Lou was guarding players that were 6+ inches shorter and quicker. Who would believe that she would adapt to playing "UConn" defense so quickly.
Napheesa Collier
A star in the making no longer. Just a star. In a game where her teammates struggled early to make a basket, she carried the offense. In her 31 minutes she scored 24 points, had 9 rebounds, and three assists. On her way to 20 PPG average?
"I think we came out a little slow today so maybe we weren't as focused as we needed to be. Coach really stressed that we need to treat every game the same, so we tried our best to come out with a little more energy."
"All of us, if someone is having a bad game, we try and pick them up however we can. The team has been doing a good job giving it to me in the post, so you know, I just shot it."
"I think we came out a little slow today so maybe we weren't as focused as we needed to be. Coach really stressed that we need to treat every game the same, so we tried our best to come out with a little more energy."
"All of us, if someone is having a bad game, we try and pick them up however we can. The team has been doing a good job giving it to me in the post, so you know, I just shot it."
Gabby Williams
Interesting game for Gabby. Geno thought she just "didn't look right" in the first half and took her out of the game. She only played 7 of the 20 minutes available. She only played 17 minutes overall, but she was just incredible in the second half. In her 10 minutes she had 9 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block and 5 steals. I think the benching had her looking right in the second half....lol.
Kia Nurse
The Rock was rock steady again. In her 31 minutes she had 14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assist and a block. And other than the brace on her ankle, I didn't see any sign of an issue in her play. She is one tough cookie. Her defense was excellent as usual. I love her post game interviews. She is smart and basketball wise.
"I think that Napeesha does a great job putting herself in a situation where she can be successful. For us, anytime she has someone on her back it is easy for us to put the ball in there and she will make something happen."
"I mean obviously we didn't have a good shooting half in the first. I think it wasn't something that slowed us down, but we needed to execute better"
Sanyia Chong
The better she plays, the more confident she is and the more confident she is, the better plays. If she keeps improving exponentially she will soon be the best player on the team. She is reminding me a little of Keitia Swanier, who had a run in the WNBA. I think it's possible she makes a roster after this season. Don't count her out. In this game she played a team high 36 minutes, and was just terrific. She scored 17 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and ZERO turnovers. She hit all her foul shots, was 3-6 on threes and added 2 steals and a block.
"I was just trying to go out there and play my hardest and things didn't go so well in the first half, but as long as we were all working hard and doing what I can do, helping out my teammates in some type of way, then it would help out"
"I was just trying to go out there and play my hardest and things didn't go so well in the first half, but as long as we were all working hard and doing what I can do, helping out my teammates in some type of way, then it would help out"
"Because I am a senior and I can't get the past years back, I try to work hard and stay consistent."
Crystal Dangerfield
Geno was really pleased with her play, so who am I to argue? She was 2-3 on threes scoring 6 points. But her calling card was the pick and roll with Napheesa. Crystal would thread the needle with a bounce pass allowing Collier to score an easy basket. She had 6 assists and only one turnover in 27 minutes. It was good to see her get that many minutes.
Natalie just contributes every game. Nothing spectacular, but she will do a lot of things. Her screen setting is maybe the best on the team and her 10 foot "jumper" is almost a guaranteed basket. I loved her post defense in this game. Geno didn't play her as many minutes. Only 12. It's usually about matchups when he does that. But she had 4 points, 2 rebounds and THREE blocks. She was a real presence in the paint on defense.
Molly Bent
Molly had a quiet game. Her minutes have gone down since the return of Dangerfield and I don't see that changing much. She played 6 minutes and 2 assists.
Kyla Irwin
Kyla is looking like she is getting it. From setting solid screens to hitting from the outside, she is settling into a nice role for this team. In 11 minutes she had 5 points, hit her only 3 pointer, had 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Tierney only played 3 minutes in this one. No stats but she always looks good!
Final Thoughts
So, how many games has UConn this season where Samuelson didn't hit a three and Collier didn't have a block?
I'll leave that to David in Naples to figure out. I'm thinking none....until this game.
I'll leave that to David in Naples to figure out. I'm thinking none....until this game.
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