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UCONN versus Temple
Day: Wednesday
Date: January 14th, 2015
Location: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Ct.
Time: 7:00
TV: SYN
Records UConn 14-1 (4-0), Temple 7-10 (3-1)
Overview
UConn has played Temple 5 times in their history, winning the last 3 after losing twice in the PG era (pre-geno).
1/16/81 L 68-71 A
1/16/82 L 49-62 H
The game in 2010 was in the NCAA and I remember it well. It was very emotional for Tonya and Geno. Their first meeting since Tonya left the program after 14 years on the UConn bench. She has been extremely successful at Temple but the last three years have been difficult. Last year, UConn played Temple twice, beating them by 44 and 37 points.
Temple comes into Storrs on a two game losing streak, a heartbreaker to Penn and a hard fought loss to South Florida. Before that they had won three consecutive games. They have had some good games this year and some really bad ones. Rutgers beat them by 33 and a terrible Delaware team beat them by 11. But they did beat uh...they beat....uh....ok.....I got nothin' here.
I tried to see the bright side for Temple, but their wins were against teams they should have beaten. LaSalle, Gerogetown, Harvard, Howard and three AAC teams that are just about the same level in Memphis, Cincinnati and SMU. The best I can say is they played South Florida tough, as well as two Power 5 teams in Alabama and Florida State.
UConn is coming off a devastating performance against SMU, winning 89-28. Yes, it was SMU, a team they had already beaten by 51 earlier this season, but there is always something you can take from games like this. UConn has now won 13 consecutive games and have looked like the best team in the country in doing it. Their performance seems to be improving game to game.
UConn Starters
11 Kia Nurse 6' Freshman Guard
It looks to me that Nurse has hit a mini freshman wall with two out of three games with zero assists Her scoring average has dipped the last few games as has her rebounds. Her game just seems a little off compared to her earlier play. But if this is the worst of it, UConn is in great shape.
2014-15: MPG 25.0, FG% .563, 3PT% .458, PPG 12.8, RPG 3.3, APG 3.2, 27 steals, 0 blocks
2014-15: MPG 25.0, FG% .563, 3PT% .458, PPG 12.8, RPG 3.3, APG 3.2, 27 steals, 0 blocks
Beep Beep....the roadrunner is in full speed mode and under control!!!! Moriah has been the best guard if not the best player in the country the last couple of weeks and shows no signs of slowing down. Leading the team in 3 point shooting percentage? Whew!!!
2014-15: MPG 27.8, FG% .559, 3PT% .500, PPG 12.3, RPG 2.1, APG 5.0, 39 steals, 3 block
23 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 5'11" Senior Forward
I'm getting a good feeling about KML this game. Look for a high scoring, double digit shot taking, all around AA playing performance from her. She has been letting the game come to her. It's time she take one over. On Sunday she set the program record for made 3 point field goal, passing the one and onle Diana Taursi. She also passed Stefanie Dolson for 12th on the all time scoring list. Tiffany Hayes is next with one more point for 11th.
2014-15: MPG 29.9, FG% .500, 3PT% .489, PPG 13.4, RPG 4.4, APG 2.7, 21 steals, 2 blocks
3 Morgan Tuck 6'2" Sophomore Forward
Basketball is such a mental game. Here is a player we all know can shoot the three point shot. I've mentioned before, a former McD's 3 point shot contest winner. Either she is rushing it, or just tightening up a little with miss after miss. But KEEP SHOOTING, Morgan. They will fall eventually. If I told you she would be second leading scorer half way through the regular season, would you have laughed at me?
2014-15: MPG 25.7, FG% .561, 3PT% .200, PPG 14.1, RPG 4.9, APG 2.7, 10 steals, 5 blocks
30 Breanna Stewart 6'4" Junior Forward
Great game last time out for Stewie. I think her disappointment in her performance to date will spur her on to a more consistent second half of the regular season games. If she can do that, the question of POY will become an easy one to answer.
2014-15: MPG 30.0, FG% .525, 3PT% .370, PPG 16.7, RPG 7.3, APG 2.9, 24 steals, 31 blocks
UConn Bench
I just love watching Stokes play. She should be able to dominate in this game. No one on Temple is strong enough handle her and I hope the guards look for her more often. She should get plenty of minutes this game, so keep an eye on that. She is still on pace to break Lobo's single season total block record.
2014-15: MPG 19.9, FG% .554, 3PT% .500, PPG 5.3, RPG 7.9, APG 1.1, 9 steals, 59 blocks
Can Saniya build off her best offensive game since the Stanford game? She has enough talent to do just that. This will be one of the more interesting story lines in this game and the other games against weak conference opponents.
2014-15: MPG 20.0, FG% .438, 3PT% .326, PPG 5.7, RPG 1.9, APG 1.6, 8 steals, 5 blocks
15 Gabby Williams 5'11" Freshman Guard
Wow, just Wow. Yes, I just gave her a double wow. Very rare. But 16 rebounds will get your attention. What a talented freshman. There is so much more we will be seeing from her. I'm in the camp that we have to see it against a top opponent so while I will enjoy her great play, I'll be waiting to see her against South Carolina before making a call on her improvement.
2014-15: MPG 15.1, FG% .658, 3PT% .000, PPG 8.0, RPG 5.6, APG 1.2, 20 steals, 5 blocks
Ti-i-i-ime is on your side.....yes it is.......
That song is perfect for Ekmark. As long as she keeps working hard, Geno will find minutes and hopefully the rust comes off and she starts hitting those threes. It would be great to have her as part of the regular rotation. Geno hasn't been comfortable with 9 players in a long time.
2014-15: MPG 13.2, FG% .214, 3PT% .200, PPG 1.6, RPG 1.6, APG 1.2, 4 steals, 0 blocks
UConn Complete Stats
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Temple Starters
42 Taylor Robinson 6'4" Sophomore Center
Honors: 2014 American All-Freshman Team honoree.
2013-14: Played in 24 games with 11 starts ... averaged 4.6 ppg and 3.8 rpg ... also blocked 11 shots
2013-14: Played in 24 games with 11 starts ... averaged 4.6 ppg and 3.8 rpg ... also blocked 11 shots
2014-15: MPG 14.3, FG% .415, 3PT% .000, PPG 4.1, RPG 3.0, APG .3, 6 steals, 6 blocks
22 Tanaya Aikenson 5'9" Freshman Guard
High School: Three-time All-State selection for coach Steve Bethke … All-State MVP … three-time All-SCC and All-Area honoree … All-Connecticut High School Coaches Association selection … finished prep career with 1,710 points … team won two SCC championships and the state championship during her tenure … as a senior, averaged 23 points and eight rebounds per game … New Haven Register All-Area and All-State selection
2014-15: MPG 28.9, FG% .404, 3PT% .424, PPG 11.1, RPG 7.1, APG .7, 18 steals, 4 blocks
1 Erica Covile 6'1" Junior Guard
Honors: Named the Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week [12/30/13] ... named the OwlSports.com Athlete of the Week [12/30/13] ... named the PhillyCollegeSports.com Player of the week [12/31/13] ... named the PhillyCollegeSports.com Honor Roll [12/23/13] ... 2013 Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for having a GPA above 3.0.
2013-14: Played in all 30 games with 26 starts ... averaged 8.1 ppg and 5.9 rpg
2013-14: Played in all 30 games with 26 starts ... averaged 8.1 ppg and 5.9 rpg
2014-15: MPG 28.6, FG% .470 3PT% .370, PPG 10.7, RPG 9.4, APG 1.4, 23 steals, 5 blocks
23 Tyonna Williams 5'6" Senior Guard
Honors: Earned Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week, OwlSports.com co-Player of the Week, and American Athletic Conference Honor Roll honors following career game against Auburn [11/18/13] ... named the PhillyCollegeSports.com Honor Roll [12/31/13] ... named to the 2014, 2013, and 2012 Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for having a GPA above 3.0 ... Dean’s List.
2013-14: Started all 30 games ... led the American Athletic Conference in free throw shooting (.902) ... third in team scoring (9.2 ppg) and second in assists (91)
2013-14: Started all 30 games ... led the American Athletic Conference in free throw shooting (.902) ... third in team scoring (9.2 ppg) and second in assists (91)
2014-15: MPG 32.5, FG% .307, 3PT% .283, PPG 9.4, RPG 2.5, APG 3.1, 14 steals, 4 blocks
15 Alliya Butts 5'4" Freshman Guard
Named to the ELITE 100 Watch List … 2014 second-team All-Jersey … as a senior, averaged 17.1 points per game
2014-15: MPG 22.3, FG% .323, 3PT% .343, PPG 10.6, RPG 2.1, APG 1.9, 35 steals, 1 block
Temple Bench
2 Feyonda Fitzgerald 5'7" Sophomore Guard
Honors: 2014 American Second-Team All-Conference selection ... unanimous All-Freshman Team pick ... 2014 All-Big 5 Second Team ... 2014 PhillyCollegeSports.com Rookie of the Year and All-Philly Second Team ... American Fourth Team All-Conference by College Sports Madness ... American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week [3/4/14; 1/27/14; 12/23/13; 12/1/13; 11/18/13] ... Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week [12/23/13; 12/2/13] ... American Athletic Conference Honor Roll [2/24/14] ... Philadelphia Big 5 Honor Roll [3/3/14; 2/24/14; 1/27/14; 1/13/14] ... PhillyCollegeSports.com Honor Roll [3/6/14; 1/13/14; 12/23/13; 12/16/13].
2013-14: Started all 30 games at point guard ... top scorer with 12.9 ppg ... averaged 3.8 apg
2014-15: MPG 29.9, FG% .315, 3PT% .288, PPG 12.5, RPG 2.9, APG 2.8, 18 steals, 1 block
13 Mama Traore 6'1" Junior Forward
High School: Before coming to the U.S., was a member of the under-19 and under-21 African teams at the FIBA World Championships... joined the Mali senior team for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing as the country made its first-ever appearance in women's basketball … played prep ball at Lycee Notre Dame Du Niger for coach Korentin.
College: Played two seasons at Burlington County Community College for coach Carolyn Jones ... two-time team captain … named the 2013 NJCAA Region 19 Player of the Year … 2013 Garden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year … 2013 NJCAA All-Academic Team … 2013 NJCAA Region 19 first-team selection … 2013 GSAC first-team All-Conference … 2013 team MVP
2014-15: MPG 15.2, FG% .240, 3PT% .000, PPG 2.1, RPG 3.9, APG 0.4, 7 steals, 3 block
21 Kadijiah Berger 5'10 Freshman Guard
High School: The 2014 Player of the Year, MVP, and All-Conference selection for coach Alan Jones at Hampton HS … team won the 2014 5A South conference championship … named to the All-Star Team … 2013 All-USA Today Honorable Mention selection
2014-15: MPG 15.4, FG% .254, 3PT% .333, PPG 2.9, RPG 2.2, APG 1.3, 8 steals, 1 block
35 Safiya Martin 6'4" Sophomore Center
2013-14: Played in 26 games ... averaged 0.9 ppg and 1.7 rpg ... also had 14 blocks on the season
"Owls’ forward Safiya Martin, who started eight of the team’s first nine games and averaged 27.8 minutes in those contests, suffered a lower body injury in practice in December and has been out since."
2014-15: MPG 26.3, FG% .500, 3PT% .000, PPG 4.4, RPG 6.8, APG 0.1, 3 steals, 18 blocks
Game Analysis
Temple will come out shooting threes if they have a crack of an opening. They don't have the inside game to do any damage. All of their players in the regular rotation shoot threes except for the bigs. They shoot around the same number per game as UConn but they don't make as many. They need to shoot out of their minds to keep it relatively close. It's not going to happen. At least not while the regular rotation is playing. What you will see is a typical Cardoza team. Disciplined, smart, and hard working.
UConn will do what it has to in order to improve from game to game. Now, after that great performance against SMU, I'm not sure you will walk away from this game feeling the same level of dominance. But UConn will be able to pretty much do whatever they want to do. The disparity in the talent level is just big. Geno will go easy on Temple eventually. But he won't do it at the expense of making his team better.
UConn will do what it has to in order to improve from game to game. Now, after that great performance against SMU, I'm not sure you will walk away from this game feeling the same level of dominance. But UConn will be able to pretty much do whatever they want to do. The disparity in the talent level is just big. Geno will go easy on Temple eventually. But he won't do it at the expense of making his team better.
Final Prediction
Geno will have his team going full out to start the game. Playing as hard as they did against SMU. And Temple will be powerless to stop it. Sad to say, this is not a good Tanya team. The last three years has been tough for her and this season might be even worse. She starts two freshman and a sophomore and has two freshman and two sophomores coming off the bench so the future will be better. TC is a terrific coach. I'm just hoping the Temple AD feels the same way. Losing will change things quickly if she doesn't turn it around soon.
So, I digressed. What is my final prediction? UConn gets off to a big lead early. Geno calls off the press and the running game late in the first half. He starts it again in the second half and Geno calls off the puppies with 10 minutes to go and subs all the bench players.
80's to 50's is my final. 30+ win for UConn. Only because Cardoza is the coach.
So, I digressed. What is my final prediction? UConn gets off to a big lead early. Geno calls off the press and the running game late in the first half. He starts it again in the second half and Geno calls off the puppies with 10 minutes to go and subs all the bench players.
80's to 50's is my final. 30+ win for UConn. Only because Cardoza is the coach.
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