Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 12/5/17

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Ok, the biggest test of the season is over and UConn passed with flying colors. The biggest question about UConn was always going to be if they could handle being behind in a game for an extended period and could they make a late game comeback. Well, that was answered. If they had had a game like this last season before the Mississippi State game, I don't think they lose to Lady Bulldogs.

So, what's next? Well, on Friday they play DePaul. Look for my pre-game report later in the week. The Blue Demons are an unfamiliar team to me this season. They only have two starters back and a few players that came off the bench are filling the rest of the starting lineup. They lost their two best players in point guard Jessica January and leading scorer guard Brooke Schulte and best post player in Jacqui Grant, their leading rebounder.

Last season, with those players, UConn hammered DePaul 91-46 with a 37-6 first quarter. Believe it or not, it could be worse this year for Coach Bruno and his always well coached Blue Demons.

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If you haven't seen it yet (what is wrong with you!!!) here is my UConn/Notre Dame Post Game Report.

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By David in Naples!!!!!

UConn entered the 4th quarter against Notre Dame down by 8 points. Within 26 seconds, the deficit was 11 points and the Huskies needed a miracle to pull out a win against the 2nd best team in the country. With two All Americans injured on the bench, it wasn't a miracle, but heart and effort that produced one of the finest 4th quarters of UConn basketball ever. Consider:

1. No substitutions - Geno played the best five he had left for the full 10 minutes of the 4th quarter. (Not counting the Katie Lou free throw sub with 15 seconds left. No time went off the clock.) No subs, no problem..!

2. No scoring for you - For the final 9:34 of the game, the Huskies outscored ND 26-6 and turned an 11 point deficit into a nine-point victory.
3. Cold, stone cold - The box score shows Mabrey, Ogunbowale and Shepard scored 21, 19 and 10 points respectively. But, 47 of those 50 points were before the 4th quarter. Only 3, all by Ogunbowale, came when it mattered most. Combined, those three were 1-10 in the final 10 minutes, with 3 turnovers and 4 fouls. Burrrrr...!

4. No offensive rebounds - Notre Dame had 17 offensive rebounds for the whole game against the Huskies. Only 1 came in the 4th quarter and that was with 58 seconds left to play. Napheesa (4) and Megan (5) Walker had 9 combined defensive rebounds to limit the Irish to one and done for the whole 4th period.
5. Husky scoring - UConn scored 26 points in the 4th period without a basket from Katie Lou, Gabby or Napheesa..!

No need, because they got 8 pts from Z, 7 from Kia and 2 each from Crystal and Megan. (Plus some free throws.)
6. Clutch free throws - Despite playing hard the whole game, the Huskies went 7-8 from the charity stripe in the final period. Azura was 2-2, Megan 1-2 and Pheesa a perfect 4-4 to put Notre Dame away.
7. Conditioning - Napheesa and Crystal played all 40 minutes of the game. Kia played 33, including virtually all the 2nd half. They dominated a tired ND squad. The camera showed Pheesa making 4 straight free throws during the last minute to play and she looked like she had just woken up from a nap. The result of the 4th quarter was all about conditioning.