Doggydaddy's Den: DoggyDaddy's UConn/Tulane Post Game Report

1995 Championship Team

UConn-Memphis Post game report

(pictures from the Hartford Courant, UConnhuskies.com, DannyK)

After a dominating performance against South Carolina, many fans were worried about a let down. But after the benching against Memphis of two of their leaders in Stewart and Tuck, it's clear this team got the message loud and clear with an 87-39 thumping of Tulane.

They came out strong against Tulane in the first meeting ever between the two programs and never looked back. The defense set the tone with constant pressure defense and as always that fueled the offense. They shot a large number of three's in this game with 31. UConn only averages around 20 per game. But five of those were by the end of the bench after UConn had pulled it's regulars so I wouldn't make too much out of that number.

Balance is the key word for this team. Six players were in double figures and believe it or not KML was not one of them.

As I said in my pregame report, Tulane is not a very good shooting team and combine that with UConn's defense and you get these results......a 39 point game for the Green Wave.

Some great numbers for UConn in this game. 12 steals, 25 assists on 36 baskets. And only nine turnovers. UConn is just playing some great basketball. As Geno said ''Everybody is doing what they are good at. We're playing well as a team.''

Game Quotes

Geno Auriemma

“We had a lot going on today, in addition to the game…Having those people (cancer survivors) out there at half court and having our kids interact with them made it really personal, so I enjoyed that. And seeing a lot of the guys from that ’95 team was personal as well… Just getting them back here and talking about what’s happened here, how much the place has changed and how different it is today. It’s just good to be around them.”

“I thought we did a lot of good things. There were a couple stretches where our transition stuff was so good, we made some great plays. I think Moriah added to what she did Monday night...Everybody’s done what they’re good at. We’re playing well as a team. It starts with our defense as it does all the time… I think for the most part, we did what we normally do. We play good defense, share the ball, and get ready for the next one.”

“I was saying this earlier… Morgan may be the most unsung really good player in the country…When people talk about our team, I know that Stewie, K, and Moriah get all the attention.. For our team, and what we need… she’s one of those kids that it’s like having more than one player when you have someone like that. For our team, she’s perfect, and maybe as important if not more important than anyone we’ve had this year.”

Moriah Jefferson

“Anytime you come off a big game like that (South Carolina) you definitely want to build off it. I think that we did a good job of that today. We were doing some of the same things that we were doing against South Carolina…we shot the ball very well. “You come out in a big game and you don’t want to move backwards…you want to move forward. We came out, we played very well, and I think it was a move in the right direction.”

Morgan Tuck

“We don’t want to look too far ahead and, yes, our next goal is to win a conference championship. I think its good to have those conference games, we don’t have many left so we have to treat them as really important. We just play hard, honest defense. Usually we don’t go a game without having the other team shoot free throws. I think today we just did a good job of playing good defense. Yes, they are going to score, but when they did we came down the next possession and got a stop."

Tulane Coach Lisa Stockton

"I think it was a great opportunity for us. I think in the first half we were nervous and in the second half we came out more aggressive. They have so many weapons. I think that's the one thing for us, to keep our focus and keep our intensity. That's a lesson we can learn from this. As we started cutting into their lead, then if we missed a couple of shift on defense, they would score on us. I think we learned a lot just about the level of intensity they played with. This is a great women's basketball environment. I'm very glad our kids had this opportunity. I think we're going to be a better team in the long run from playing here. They make us play fast. Also, because of their size they don't let us get a lot of opportunities in the paint. In the first half we had a lot of shots, they just didn't go in. In the second half we were able to get our shots, we hit some 3's and establish a little something on the perimeter. That was really key for us in the second half."

Here are the coach and player evaluations

Coach Geno Auriemma

What I love about this picture is who is in the game. One starter and four bench players. And Geno is coaching as hard as he expects his player to play.

Geno seems to be settling in with this team. Once he sent his "message" to the team, they responded with exactly what he wanted to see. And it carried over to this game. He is finding his rhythm with his substitution patterns, getting his starters enough minutes and his bench minutes with a few starters. It looks like since the blowup, he is having fun with his players. It's great to see.

Moriah Jefferson

Player of the Game

Most teams would die to have ONE game changer on defense. Two? Unreal. Three? Unfair.

While you have Stewart and Stokes to protect the basket and intimidate the opponent, UConn has the game changer from the guard position in Jefferson. Similar to how Sims impacted the game for Baylor in years past, Jefferson can take a game over with her quick feet and hand. Against Tulane, she was all over the place with 4 steals. She is starting to pick it up from the outside, going 4-6 from beyond the arc. Great game Moriah!!!! POG!

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis

Quiet scoring game for Kaleena, but she still impacted the game with her defensive toughness and excellent passing. Sometimes she just take a back seat to let others carry the load (in a good way). This was one of those. KML did make three more three pointers. That gave her 350 for her career. She's just the 15th Division I player to reach that mark.

Breanna Stewart

Here is the bad news. Stewart is getting dangerously close to going below the 30% average on her three point shooting with a 0-4 effort from behind the line. The good news is she was great doing everything else. I don't know if she will ever become a great long range shooter. But she doesn't need to be. Six rebounds, four assists, two steals, 2 blocks. I love the shot of this blocked shot. Her arms go on forever.

Morgan Tuck

Morgan is getting some major props from Geno that bear repeating. "It's like having more than one player on the floor when she is out there. For our team, she is perfect. I don't know how she fits in the big picture nationally, but for us she is perfect and maybe as important if not more important than anyone we've had this year."

She had another excellent game with 14 points and 8 rebounds.

Kia Nurse

Nurse scored seven consecutive points in UConn's early run, settting the tone for the blowout. It was good to see her make some shots. It always helps with the confidence. She had 4 single digit games in her last nine games after only 1 in the previous 14 games before that. It's not easy being a freshman. 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Kiah Stokes

A quiet game but her games always have an intimating play or two and this one was no different. After a quick couple of baskets her offense was basically non-existent. I just have a feeling that she is going to have a big game soon.

Saniya Chong

I posted in one of my recent Dailies that she needed to do hit high percentage in her next game to join the 50% shooting club with the rest of the regular rotation. Well, she did even better than she had to. After shooting 4-4 from the field and 2-2 on three's she is now shooting 50.8% from the field and 44.6% on threes. With 10 points, she has now scored in double digits in 3 out of her last 4 game.

Gabby Williams

Geno was going to go with the hot hand and get his starters plenty of time against South Carolina. And he specifically said it was no reflection on his plans for Williams. And true to his word, she saw plenty of playing time against Tulane. She responded with a terrific 19 minutes scoring in double digits for the sixth time in seven games, and added 6 rebounds and 2 assists and 1 block. AND she made her only free throw!

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Just some pictures that I really liked!!!