DoggyDaddy's UConn @ Chattanooga Pregame Report






        UCONN vs. Chattanooga

Day: Monday

Date: November 30th, 2015

Location:Chattanooga
Time: 6:30

TV: SNY/ESPN3

 

 

No. 1 UConn Huskies                             Chattanooga Lady Mocs 
3-0                                                                                                      5-2


Prior Meetings

 

First meeting between these two programs 

 

 Overview
 

UConn
 

  DATE     TIME           OPPONENT                              SCORE     ATTEND      HIGH POINTS                    HIGH REBOUNDS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/16/15 5:30 p.m.      at Ohio State                            W   100-56     11435      (24)STEWART, Breanna       (11)WILLIAMS, Gabby
11-23-15 7 p.m.         KANSAS STATE                     W   97-57       8369        (25)STEWART, Breanna       (12)WILLIAMS, Gabby
11-28-15 1 p.m.         NEBRASKA                             W   88-46      10113       (25)STEWART, Breanna       (10)STEWART, Breanna
 

UConn is coming off another terrific effort. Like the  Kansas State game, UConn was played tough and close by a quality opponent in Nebraska. What is amazing to me is the margin of victories were so big for teams that I expect to do some damage this season.

 

Stewart has been amazing and the last game the bench showed their potential against Nebraska. With Butler cleared to play, I'm excited to see what she adds to the already deep rotation.   

 

 Chattanooga

Date	Time		Opponent		Score	Attend	High Points	High Rebounds
11/13/15	6:30 p.m.	1	MCNEESE STATE	W	68-53	1565	(19)Keiana Gilbert	(13)Jasmine Joyner
11/15/15	2:00 p.m.		BUTLER	W	60-49	1549	(12)Moses Johnson	(9)Moses Johnson
11/17/15	7 p.m.		at Indiana	L	43-54	1960	(13)Keiana Gilbert	(10)Jasmine Joyner
11/20/15	6:30 p.m.	1	SOUTHERN MISS	Wot	53-48	1111	(20)Jasmine Joyner	(13)Jasmine Joyner
11/23/15	7:01 p.m.		at Tennessee	L	57-59	9449	(19)Queen Alford	(9)Keiana Gilbert
11/25/15	6:30 p.m.		ARKANSAS STATE	W	55-54	1189	(14)Keiana Gilbert	(8)Keiana Gilbert
11/28/15	6:00 p.m.		TENNESSEE MARTIN	W	61-46	1238	(31)Jasmine Joyner	(17)Jasmine Joyner

                         

Chattanooga is coming off a nice win over instate rival Tennessee Martin 61-46 led by their star 6'2" junior Jasmine Joyner who scored 31 points and added 17 rebounds and 7 blocks.

The Lady Mocs are undefeated at home, only losing to Indiana and Tennessee on the road. The Lady Mocs lost a tough game to No. 4 Tennessee 59-57 where they really had a chance to win the game.

 

UCONN STATS

 

UConn Starters

 

11 Kia Nurse

6' Sophomore Guard

 

  Kia had a tough outing against Nebraska. It seemed she was in between shooting and driving and struggled with her decision making in that regard. I expect she might be a little pissed off and will have a much better game against Chattanooga.     

 

2015-16 Stats

   3 Games - MPG 26.0, FG% .409, 3PT% .333, PPG 9.3, RPG 3.0, APG 2.3, 6 steals, 0 blocks

4 Moriah Jefferson
5'7" Senior Guard

 

With such a big rotation of talented players, Jefferson was not as offensive minded in the last game. She knows that setting up all these great players will just make them a better team. But she will take the big shot when she has to.

 

2015-16 Stats

   3 Games - MPG 29.7, FG% .690, 3PT% .286, PPG 14.0, RPG 3.0, APG 5.3, 6 steals, 0 blocks

3 Morgan Tuck
6'2" RS Junior Forward

A little slow start to the season but it's great to see her playing extended minutes. I'm sure you will see her shooting percentage slowly increase from her 41%. But no one can complain about her three point shooting. I wish she would take more. 

 

2015-16 Stats

   3 Games - MPG 30.7, FG% .441, 3PT% .429, PPG 13.0, RPG 6.3, APG 2.7, 3 steals, 1 block

 

30 Breanna Stewart 
6'4" Senior Forward

Speaking of three point shooting, Stewart is 6-11 so far this season. She said she is feeling more confident in the shot and that goes a long way in making a high percentage.

 

Stewie with a great three point shot? Fagetaboutit!!!!!!!

 

2015-16 Stats

   3 Games - MPG 28.3, FG% .634, 3PT% .545, PPG 24.7 RPG 9.0, APG 4.0, 4 steals, 10 blocks

 

 

15 Gabby Williams
5'11" Sophomore Forward

 
Ok...did I jinx her? I called her a superstar and then she has a very pedestrian game. But only on the offensive side. Her defense was just as stellar. Look for her to fill up the stat sheet against Chattanooga.      

 

 

2015-16 Stats

   3 Games - MPG 20.3, FG% .609, 3PT% .000, PPG 10.0 RPG 9.3, APG 1.7, 9 steals, 2 blocks

 

UConn Bench

 

 

51 Natalie Butler
6'5" RS Sophomore Center

Butler has been cleared to play. How much has yet to be determined. I'm just so happy for her. She will bring an intensity to the game similar to Nurse, only in a 6'5" body. It will be interesting to see how Geno uses her.

12 Saniya Chong
5'8" Junior Guard

 

Chong is looking like a seasoned vet now that she is playing again. Confident with the ball and her shot, she will allow Jefferson to play less minutes without UConn's quality of play to suffer.

 

2015-16 Stats

   3 Games - MPG 13.7, FG% .455, 3PT% .429, PPG 4.3, RPG 1.7, APG .7, 0 steals, 0 blocks

 

 

22 Courtney Ekmark

6' Sophomore Guard

Another example of a player looking more comfortable in her own skin. She is making great decisions in her limited playing time. She should see good minutes in this game.
  

2015-16 Stats

   3 Games - MPG 9.7, FG% .600, 3PT% .500, PPG 2.7, RPG 1.3, APG 1.3, 1 steal, 1 block

33 Katie Lou Samuelson

6'3" Freshman Guard/Forward

 

Can you say BREAKOUT!!! KLS finally starting hitting shots. I expect her to still have her ups and downs, but we all got to see the entire package of offensive moves.

 

2015-16 Stats

   3 Games - MPG 18.7, FG% .421, 3PT% .231, PPG 7.0, RPG 3.0, APG 1.7, 3 steals, 0 blocks

24 Napheesa Collier
6'1 Freshman Forward/Guard

Collier was a little sloppy in her last effort, but I love her game. She was strong on the defensive end and worked a two player game a few times.

 

2015-16 Stats

   1 Game - MPG 16.5, FG% .375, 3PT% .000, PPG 7.5, RPG 7.5, APG 0.5, 3 steals, 1 blocks

20 Tierney Lawlor
5'7" Junior Guard

What? She didn't score? Only because she didn't shoot.

2015-16 Stats

   3 Games - MPG 2.3, FG% 1.000, 3PT% 1.000, PPG 1.7, RPG 0.0, APG 0.3, 0 steals, 0 blocks

22 Briana Pulido 
5'7" Senior Guard

Finally on the stats board with an assist. Hopefully we will see more minutes in her future.

2015-16 Stats

   3 Games - MPG 2.3, FG% .000, 3PT% .000, PPG 0.0, RPG 0.0, APG 0.3, 0 steals, 0 blocks

Out for the game

35 De'Janae Boykin
6'2" Freshman Forward

UConn freshman forward De’Janae Boykin is still not ready. Is a redshirt in her future? Not yet.  





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Chattanooga Head Coach 

Jim Foster

 

Coach Foster is a good friend of Geno since Geno began his career as an assistant to Forster when the pair were together at St. Joseph’s (Pa.) during the 1978-79 season. He is also a terrific college basketball coach. Here is his Bio from the Chattanooga web site. It's long, but a great read. There is a reason Coach Foster was elected to the WCBB hall of fame.

 

Chattanooga Starters

3 Jasmine Joyner

6'2" Junior Forward

Joyner is the clear star and leader of this team. Last year she played and started all 33 games. She was named Southern Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player and selected to all-conference first team by coaches and media. Joyner broke a 26-year-old Southern Conference single season record for blocked shots with 132. She set a school and Purcell Pavilion record for blocked shots in a single game with eight against Notre Dame in 26 minutes.

 

So far this season, she is doing more of the same. She is leading the team in scoring and rebounding. She also has 33 blocks in 7 games.  

2015-16 Stats

 7 games - MPG 34.0, FG% .456, 3PT% .400, PPG 13.4, RPG 9.6, APG 2.0, 6 steals, 33 blocks

 

20 Keiana Gilbert

5'11" Sophomore Guard 

Highlight of her freshman season, Gilbert was named the ESPNW National Player of the Week following the Mocs’ win over Austin Peay and No. 4 Tennessee. She scored a career-high 27 points in the win over the Lady Vols.
 

2015-16 Stats
7 games - MPG 37.4, FG% .468, 3PT% .125, PPG 11.9, RPG 6.1, APG 2.1, 9 steals, 2 blocks

 

33 Queen Alford

 5'10" RS Junior Guard

 

Alford was moved into the starting lineup after Chelsea Shumpert was injured in their third game. Queen is a transfer from Jacksonville and had to sit out the 2014-15 season. At Jacksonville, she was named to the Second Team All-Atlantic Sun leading JU in scoring with 13.4 PPG and steals at 2.1.

   

2015-16 Stats
7 games - MPG 22.0, FG% .320, 3PT% .333, PPG 6.3, RPG 3.3, APG 0.7, 10 steals, 2 blocks

 

 

 

35 Aryanna Gilbert      

5'9" RS Sophomore guard 

 

Gilbert sat out last year after injuring her knee after 8 games and missing the rest of her sophomore campaign. She started 25 games as a freshman.

 2015-16 Stats

7 games - MPG 28.9, FG% .452, 3PT% .286, PPG 4.4, RPG 2.9, APG 2.5, 10 steals, 5 blocks
 

1 Alicia Payne

 5'9" Senior  Guard

 

Last year Payne was selected Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year. She is leading the Lady Mocs in assists this season and is the ONLY player on the team that has a positive assist/to ratio.

2015-16 Stats

7 games - MPG 36.7, FG% .412, 3PT% .231, PPG 5.7, RPG 2.3, APG 3.7, 13 steals, 3 blocks

 

  

 

Chattanooga Bench 

 

 

23 Moses Johnson

 6' Junior Guard

    

Johnson is the first player off the bench for the Lady Mocs. She adds a strong rebounder from the guard spot for Chattanooga.

 

2015-16 Stats
7 games - MPG 16.0, FG% .467, 3PT% .100, PPG 5.1, RPG 4.9, APG .4, 6 steals, 1 block

  

 

 Game Analysis

 

 

There are lots of issues for Chattanooga in playing UConn. Because they are a really well coached team they are able to handle teams with similar talent levels. And more talented that are not well coached (hi Tennessee) are also teams the Lady Mocs can compete with. But a team as talented as UConn and as well coached is a huge problem for Chattanooga.

 

Chattanooga has some issues that they just can't disguise. They only have 6 players in their rotation and with Joyner, Payne and Keiana Gilbert playing close to 40 minutes in most games they are at a  huge disadvantage against a high pressure, quick paced UConn team. Even with a terrific player like Joyner.

 

They also play a very small lineup with the 6'2" Joyner the only player over 6' tall. The remaning players are only  5'11", 5'10", 5'9", 5'9" with 6' coming off the bench. All listed as guard. Now, against a big Tennessee team, but managed to double the post on the entry pass and give up the three point shot. That will be a painful game for Chattanooga if they do that. But that really is all they can do. UConn also does too good a job passing from big to big for them to be too be impacted by any post doubling the Lady Mocs will do.

 

They also don't handle the ball well. They have ONE player with a positive assist to turnover ratio. The entire team has 90 assists and 119 TO's.    

 

If they fatigue, struggle to make shots, turn the ball over and lose the rebounding battle in a big way, UConn will just hammer them into submission.

 

UConn will do what they do best. Pressure defense, rebound misses and run run run. Stewart is certainly a match nightmare for anyone, but more so for a small team like Chattanooga. Geno will want to give Butler some minutes so it should be interesting to see how she plays. She might not see  that much as Geno might want to match up with his smaller team for much of the game. That is something else to look for.  

 

Final Prediction

I know that Coach Foster is a wonderful coach. And after watching his team against Tennessee, maybe he can pull a few rabbits out of his hat and make the game competitive. But there are just too many BIG advantages for UConn. I mean really big.

 

I don't see UConn starting slow like the last couple of games. They run out to a big lead. Only Geno's friendship with Jim Foster might make the game closer. The problem is unless he plays Lawlor and Pulido extended minutes the 2nd five are just too good to keep the score down.   

 

UConn rocks the Mocs by 45+.   

 

 

DoggyDaddy's Dailies - 11/29/15

• Links to everything about UConn women
• Links to every top 25 score and game recap
• Links to every AAC score and game recap
• A list of top performers (Either 20+ points, a double/double or whatever I feel like) 
• Links to everything you need to find out about a team, a player, every statistic you can think 
• Links to every relevant WCBB message boards
• Links to every ranking, rating, SOS, RPI sites 
• Links to other great Blogs 

*******************************************************************************
If you haven't seen it, here is my UConn - Nebraska Post Game Report

Just a couple of highlights -

Stewart was dominating in her performance with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Natalie Butler will be available to play on Monday against Chattanooga. What great news for UConn. And just a reminder, she had surgery on her left hand to fix torn thumb ligaments. Thankfully that is not her shooting hand.  

Katie Lou Samuelson had her breakout game with 14 points in the second half. She was terrific.

The UConn bench scored 40 points.

And here is my UConn/Chattanooga Pregame Report.

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Another VERY busy Friday in WCBB with 20 of the top 25 teams on the schedule.

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The day after No. 10 Texas A&M helped Coach Gary Blair in winning his 700th game on the road, they lost at home to No. 11 Ohio State behind 42 points from Kelsey Mitchell.

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What a tough loss for previously unbeaten AAC team, East Carolina against No. 19 Northwestern.

After being down by eleven points at the half and sixteen points with 1:30 left in the third quarter, they made a furious comeback to take a four point lead, 70-66 with 3:24 left. Northwestern scored a quick six points to take a 72-70 lead with 2:14 remaining in the game.  I'Tiana Taylor made 3-4 free throws to give ECU the lead 73-72 with 1:51 on the clock. Nia Coffey made a jumper to give Northwestern the 74-73 with 1:34 left and at 1:21 I'Tiana Taylor made a jumper to give ECU their final lead, 75-74. After a couple of missed shots by both teams Christen Inman hit a jumper for Northwestern to give them a lead with 11 seconds left.

I'Tiana Taylor was fouled with 7 seconds left after she missed a layup and then grabbed her own miss. Sadly for ECU, she missed both free throws. I'm sure Taylor feels terrible about the game, but she did score 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. A monster effort in a losing game. Still ECU did the AAC proud!!! 

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As I said in yesterday's blog, Notre Dame struggled in beating UCLA in overtime. They initially said that both Turner and Reimer, the Irish bigs, would miss the game. But Reimer played in this game, albeit very ineffectively. In 24 minutes, she scored 2 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and had a team high 4 turnovers.

UCLA is a good but not great team and if ND can't get Turner back soon, they will start losing some games. They are very guard heavy. The good news for Notre Dame is they have some very good guards in the two Mabreys, Madison Cable and Lindsay Allen along with the freshman Arike Ogunbowale. They will have to carry this team. It could get really ugly if Turner is not back for the UConn game.
 

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So, without further ado!!!  

      

Ladies and Gents, DD looks at the news........

 

 

 

No. 1 UConn Earns 40th Consecutive Win, 88-46 Over Nebraska ABC News

 

UConn Women Come Out On Top With 88-46 Win Over Nebraska Hartford Courant

 

Huskers drop their first loss of the season to No. 1 UConn Daily Nebraskan

 

Women's basketball: After good start, Huskers lose big at No. 1 UConn  Lincoln Star Journal

 

No. 1 UConn earns 40th consecutive win The Day

 

UConn's Breanna Stewart More Confident Than Ever Hartford Courant

 

Nebraska Women's Basketball Drops Contest with UConn WKNOP

 

Gabby Williams is the L.T. of Storrs Roger Cleaveland

 

 

  

Upsets in Red

No. 2 South Carolina Beats Cal State Bakersfield 90-71 ABC News

Cable helps No. 3 Notre Dame beat UCLA 92-84 in overtime USA Today

Davis scores 30 points to help No. 5 Baylor beat Michigan St ESPN

Jones Helps No. 6 Maryland Rout Pittsburgh 70-49 ABC News

Weisner Leads No. 7 Oregon State Women Past Arkansas ABC News

No. 11 Ohio State women beats No. 10 Texas A&M KHOU

Smith Leads No. 13 Stanford Women Past Dayton 74-66 ABC News

No. 14 Florida State Women Beat Sam Houston State 94-37 ABC News

No. 15 Duke women roll over Texas State 85-34 in Cancun Yahoo News

No. 16 Arizona State women run away from Hawaii, 75-49 MyNorthwest.com

Liberty's Comeback Falls Short Versus No. 16/15 Cal Liberty Team Site

No. 19 Northwestern Women Beat East Carolina 78-75 ABC News

No. 21 Oklahoma Women Defeat Boston College 76-61  ABC News

Purdue Women Edge No. 22 Louisville 62-60 ABC News
No. 23 Syracuse Women Pull Away From Fordham 76-54 ABC News

Wright State women rally past No. 24 George Washington 77-71 USA Today

Disterhoft Leads No. 25 Iowa Women to 64-50 Win Over Houston NY Times






Tulane Women’s Hoops earns 67-62 win over Virginia Sports NOLA

Disterhoft Leads No. 25 Iowa Women to 64-50 Win Over Houston NY Times

Zykira Lewis nets 1,000th career point in UCF's 66-60 loss to Buffalo UCF Team Site

Jayhawks’ Comeback Falls Short against SMU, 64-73  Kansas Team Site

Tulsa women lose to Drake in UNLV tournament Tulsa World
 

 

Thanks to Johnny C for sending me many of these numbers!!! 

 

Seanna Johnson Iowa St. 28 points 12 rebounds

Geraldine McCorkell Idaho 24 points 12 rebounds

Taylor Pierce Idaho 27 points

Tyonna Snow Missouri St. 25 points 11 rebounds

Sigi Koizar Maine 30 points

Amber Bogard Delaware St. 29 points

GeAnna Luaulu-Summers Pacific 37 points 10 assists

Olivia Parker Gardner-Webb 28 points 14 rebounds

Jenny Lindner Milwaukee 20 points 15 rebounds

Camille Zimmerman Columbia 17 points 19 rebounds

Jamie Weisner Oregon St. 26 points

Kelsey Mitchell Ohio St. 42 points

Leticia Romero Florida St. 10 points 10 assists

Kim Demmings Wright St. 32 points

Jonquel Jones GW 17 points 19 rebounds

Lexi Martins Lehigh 18 points 16 rebounds

Sophie Taylor Loyola Marymount 22 points 13 rebounds

Rachel Howard San Francisco 25 points 6 assists

Kelsea Newman Youngstown St. 27 points

Indiya Benjamin Youngstown St. 21 points 13 rebounds

Zahna Medley TCU 31 points

Bego Faz Davalos Fresno St. 21 points 10 rebounds

Zykira Lewis UCF 25 points 12 rebounds

Nina Davis Baylor 30 points

Brionna Jones MD 22 points 14 rebounds

Alexis Peterson Syracuse 25 points 8 assists

Maggie Lyon Northwestern 26 points

I'Tiana Taylor E. Carolina 27 points 17 rebounds

Jada Payne E. Carolina 22 points 13 rebounds

Jasmine Joyner Chattanooga 31 points 15 rebounds 7 blocks

Rachel Banham Minnesota 29 points (ot)

Kelsey Plum Washington 34 points

Rayven Brooks Texas Tech 26 points 

 

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 Statistical Sites

NCAA 2015 Stats

NCAA Division I basketball records thru 2013-2014

ESPN Women's Basketball Stats

Women's Basketball State

Rankings and RPI Sites
 

 Realtime Daily RPI 

Massey Rankings and Matchups

Jeff Sagarin Basketball Ratings 

NCAA D1Women's RPI 

ESPN AP and Coaches Poll

ESPN Conference Standings

Warren Nolan RPI and SOS 

 

 

Message Boards
 

UConn Territory - The best UConn women's message board ever!!! 

College Fans Only - WCBB board where no holds are barred

Vol Nation - Tennessee women's basketball board     

ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board

Rebkell - WCBB for everyone that thinks they are smarter than everyone else

 

Videos
 

UConn Women Video Replays
 

BBallnut's Games from the 90's/00's

 

UCONN Information
 

2015-16 Online Media Guide

UConn 2015-2016 Roster

UConn 2015-2016 Statistics

UConn 2015-2016 Schedule 

 

Interesting Blogs and Links

 Women's Hoops Blog By ThisJustIn
 

Carl Adamec's blog, SNY

John Altavilla's blog, Hartford Courant

 

Jim Fuller's blog, New Haven Register

A Dime Back - A great web site for all UConn Sports, Including UConn Women
 

 

I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:

doggydaddy.UConn@gmail.com

DoggyDaddy's UConn/Nebraska Post Game Report

 






 

 

 

No. 1 UConn Huskies                                                Nebraska

88                                                                    46 

 

 Post Game report

Congrats to Breanna Stewart, who was honored before the game for scoring her 2000th point for her career. It's doubtful she can catch Maya Moore who had 3036 points. But she will pass everyone else eventually.     

This game was pretty similar in how it played out in the first quarter compared to the UConn/Kansas State game. A little sloppy play by UConn early. At one point Nebraska had a lead at 13-12. It was 16-14 UConn before Stewart hit a three pointer with a few seconds left in the quarter. Stewart was dominating in the quarter with 10 points and 3 blocks. 

 

UConn showed how dominant they could be starting in the second quarter. Including Stewart three pointer to end the 1st quarter, UConn went on a 14-2 run to take a 30-16 lead with 6 minutes left until halftime. Nebraska settled down some but it was really the Breanna Stewart show. She added 8 more points to finish the half with 18.

 

Nebraska played well for the first 9:30 of the first quarter being only down 16-14 and the last 6 minutes of the second quarter, where they were only down to UConn 10-8. That's a 26-22 score over 15:30 out of 20 minutes in the first half. Doing the math, that's 14-2 over those fateful remaining 4:30. It's what UConn does to opponents. It only takes one big run.

 

Behind some terrific defense from Jefferson and Tuck, UConn ran and ran against the slower Huskers. They moved out to a huge lead by outscoring Nebraska 23-6 in the quarter. At that point, the game was over and UConn put in the bench players Collier, Samuelson, Chong and Ekmark to finish out the game in the 4th quarter. They did a fantastic job, mostly behind the breakout game from Lou who had 9 points in the quarter.   

 

I nailed the MOV in this game in my game analysis post where I said UConn by 40+.

 

 Game Stats and Box Score 

 

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  Game Quotes From Geno

On the difficulty of guarding Breanna Stewart

“Every day in practice we are trying to put Stewart in situations that we think will be difficult for the other team to guard. You watch her now and there's this really, really deliberate way she goes about what she wants to do. And she comes from different spots on the floor to do what she wants.''

On the outstanding performance of bench
“We hadn’t been getting a lot of contributions from our bench. Today was great, everyone that came off the bench played very well. I think that’s what we are capable of doing. I think we are capable of having players come off the bench and change the complexion of the game a little bit.”

On next game versus Chattanooga
“I’m looking forward to it. I know it will be a different type of game than Wednesday’s game against DePaul. There will two completely different kinds of approaches to the two games. I am looking forward to playing them in their arena, I’ve never been there before and I am sure they will have a great crowd.”

 

 *****************************************************************

Game Quotes from Nebraska Coach Connie Yori

 

On the game
“If the game had ended at the six minute mark we would have been fine. It’s a 40 minute game and we got exposed in a lot of ways. I thought we stayed positive. There is a reason why UConn has won 10 National Championships. There’s a reason why they are as good as they are. They obviously have great players but they have great detail and discipline as well. Not every talented team has those things, and that is what sets them apart.”

On their defense
“We have played nothing even remotely in the vicinity, in the same galaxy as the competition level we saw today. We got exposed. I thought we played well early, but as the game got going we got to cognizant of our own players. Our help defense wasn’t very good, but again, UConn will expose what you are doing wrong.”

On the play of Jessica Shepard
“Jess has got a chance to be a very good player for us. Just like a lot of freshmen, she has a lot to learn. She needs to continue to learn how to play hard and be consistent doing that. She isn’t in the basketball shape we want right now, but she is someone who has lots and lots of ability and can be a great player for us if she continues to do the right things.”

On what she will take away from this game
“I think we can find some good possessions. We can say we played x number of good possessions out of x number.”

 

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Player Evaluations 

Player of the Game - Breanna Stewart 

 

This was maybe the most complete game I've seen Stewart play. She was 10-11 from the field, 3-4 on threes and added 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 assists. She is making the game look so easy.  

 

"Coming out of halftime, we wanted to make sure we were running appropriately. We wanted to come out and make sure they were having a difficult time scoring the basketball."

"I thought the first quarter they hung in with us and the score was close, and then we went on a pretty good run. From there we just kept pushing the tempo and made them uncomfortable."

"I was just feeling confident and getting shots from all over and they were going in. I don't think I was forcing anything. It was fun."

 

 

 

Moriah Jefferson

 

Interesting game for Jefferson. It was another game where she just let everyone else shoot. She took only five shots, but she made three of them. She was also 1-2 on threes. She added 5 assist to her 7 points and 2 steals in only 26 minutes. She missed a few in the first half with either a wardrobe malfunction or a full bladder. Mo sprinted to the locker room and sprinted back with a grin on her face.   

 

 Morgan Tuck

 

Morgan is still missing a few post shots that she made regularly last season. I'm sure she will have a few games where she misses only a few shots and bring up her FG% to over 50%. That being said, she had a solid performance and played some great defense. She scored 9 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and doled out 5 assists.

  

Kia Nurse

Nurse had a tough night shooting going 1-6 from the field, 0-3 on threes and 1-2 from the FT line. Her line was a pedestrian 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. I'm sure she is disappointed with her results. She still played a big part in holding Nebraska to 46 points with her terrific on the ball defense.
 

  Gabby William

  

Gabby played only 16 minutes. Partly because of early foul trouble, but I think Geno will keep her minutes down to keep the wear and tear on her knees to a minimum. She still managed 4 points 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

Katie Lou Samuelson

 

 YES!!! Finally a breakout game for Katie Lou. She looked good in all aspects of her game. Lou played a robust 22 minutes and took advantage of her time on the court. After a slow 8 minutes of play in the first half, where she was scoreless, Samuelson played 14 minutes in the second half. In that half she was 5-6 from the field, 2-3 on threes and 2-2 from the free throw line. She scored 14 points and added 2 assists with zero turnovers. Can this carry over to her future play? I don't see why not. I believe that THIS is the real Katie Lou Samuelson, not the nervous imposter of the first two games.    

 
"I felt like my finishing was very good this game. I had good finishing with contact and trying to box out. More than ever, I'm focusing on the team."

"Did I need this? Definitely. It felt good to get things going finally. But you just can't be happy with this. I have to keep moving forward." 

“(Saturday), especially, I was not really focusing on my shot and I think that’s why everything started to fall in place for me. This game I tried to do more things and that just got me going and then I did hit some shots. So it was just really good and I’ve just got to build on it from here.”

 

Napheesa Collier

  

Napheesa had a similar game to Katie in that she really didn't make a splash in the first half. She was 2-2 from the field in only 5 minutes. She had NO rebounds as well. Geno gave her 17 minutes in the second half and she played much better. She was 3-3 from the field. She scored 10 points and added 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Her defense was excellent. She did have five turnovers. Eh.....she's a freshman.       

 

"We're trying to help out the team as best we can. We come off the bench trying to have as much energy as possible."

"That was exciting. Since I've been on the team, we haven't trailed yet. It was a close game and it was fun to go back and forth with them and see how we handled the pressure."
 

Sanyia Chong

 

Chong had a terrific game. As with Collier and Samuelson, Sanyia had a terrific second half. She played 12 minutes in the second half going 3-5 from the field and 2-3 on threes. Overall she scored 10 points and 3 rebounds in 20 terrific minutes.

 

I particularly liked her drive to the basket in the second quarter showing great quickness with her ball fake and dribble drive. 

 

Oh, she also played improved defense. This was a great performance for Chong.   

 

Courtney Ekmark

 

Ekmark only played 11 minutes but she showed great maturity to her game. She scored 6 points and added 2 assists with no turnovers. She looked confident and even Geno pointed to her play after the game.  

  

Final Thoughts

  

Great news on the injury front as it was announced by the SNY announcers. Butler is expected to see some minutes against Chattanooga Monday night. I can't wait to add her to my pregame analysis.  

 

Not so great new about Boykin as it appears she is not that close to returning.

 

The great contributions by the bench is the story of the game to me. You expect the starters to do what they do, but Samuelson, Collier, Chong and Ekmark scored 40 of the 86 points for UConn. Add Butler to the mix and you have a terrific 5 player team.

 

Next up is Monday in Tennessee. No, not the Lady Vols. UConn is visiting Chattanooga. The Mocs played an excellent game against Tennessee before losing 59-57. Something tells me this game won't be that close.