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

UConn-Tulsa game report

(pictures from the Hartford Courant, UConnhuskies.com)

The first game of a quick road trip to Tulsa and Tulane was a great success for UConn. No one was injured, Stewart played like the NPOY and KML had her shot back. If those two play that well in the NCAA's, it turn out the lights, the party's over.

UConn started out slow defensively, allowing Tulsa to take and make several open shots. Geno blamed it on their inability to be a good pressure team. I don't know, I'm not totally buying that. It's just a way of making it easier to push them harder in practice. Geno is smelling the finish line and he want's the team to keep focused.

Tulane's Grovey hit her third three pointer to make the score 28-21 with nine minutes left. Geno got their attention by screaming at them in the huddle at one point, everyone seemed to get the message. The defense picked up and UConn went on a 30-2 run to end the half.

Stewart hit an NBA distance three pointer to close out the first half scoring and UConn had a 58-23 lead. It was a display of total domination, with Stewart and KML leading the way.

The second half was quieter as Geno had the subs in from the 12 minute mark to the end and held back from running the break very often and just played out the string.

Up next for UConn is Tulane on Monday night.

Game Quotes

Geno

''I don't think the team is ever where the coaching staff wants it to be. There is always something to work on, some things we can do much better. But we're in a pretty good place.''

''There's a lot to Stewie. I don't know that there is a player you could put on her who could take care of all the things she does. She's tough to handle in the lane if you're not big enough, and tough to handle on the perimeter if you're not quick enough. She's a great 3-point shooter. She took the last one in the first half from NBA range and it went up easy and in easy.''

“Our defensive pressure is not very good, like whenever we press its not even that great. I think I do it because they don’t like to do it. So I think that’s probably why I do it. I make them press because they hate it. But the kind of pressure we put on people by how quickly we score, I think that’s a difficult kind of pressure to deal with."

TULSA HEAD COACH MATILDA MOSSMAN

“First of all, I just want to say I am not disappointed with our team. I think our team grinded it out, I thought we played hard, I thought we never gave up, and for that I am excited. We held them to 92. We were just 14 less than what we scored at their place. The point difference makes it look a little worse, but they didn’t do anything different to us than they have done to teams in our conference all year long. Again, I’m just excited that our guys played as hard as we did. Man to man, we just aren’t as talented as they are, but I thought our kids played hard.”

“It is kind of like they trick you into thinking that you can stay with them. The score was 6-6, they get up by double digits and we cut it to eight a couple times, but then they go on a run you can’t physically do anything about. You wish you could just play 10 minutes.”

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Here are the player evaluations

Breanna Stewart

Player of the Game

Sure, she was playing against the residents of Munchkin City in the merry merry land of Ok. But Stewart looked like a pro in this game. She showed all of her moves. Strong drives to the basket, turn around jumpers, mid-range and long range baskets, leading the break, blocking shots. I particularly loved her Jefferson impression in the first picture above. The old Halfback drive to the basket.

28 points in 27 minutes, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks. Two great games back to back. Something tells me they are helping her go for the NPOY with a strong finish to the season.

''I'm just trying to be really aggressive. As we're coming down to the end of the season, you want to be clicking on all cylinders, and you've got to start it sometime. I'm just bringing my game to another level as we go into the end of the season and the conference tournament.''

Moriah Jefferson

Jefferson had a stat packed game with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. All in 27 minutes. It was clear that when she is out of the game, UConn slows down. You can bet that when it's a game that UConn needs her to do so, she will be on the court for close to 40 minutes. I knew she was fast, but so fast that the ref missed her two other turnovers? Wow.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis

Like I said in the last post game report where she went 0-4 from three point land, that her slump wouldn't last long. And wow...it sure didn't. She was 5-6 from beyond the arc in the first half and had what Geno called a "stumble" move where she went between her legs and put up a teardrop shot for two. KML replied that Geno was a "hater" and he won't give her props on her athleticism because she has a lot of it.....he can call it what he wants..."I made the move and I made the layup"...all said with a grin on her face. Obviously a senior.....who else could get away with that...!!!!

A nice line for her as well. 17 points, 5 assists and no turnovers.

Morgan Tuck

Morgan had a game to forget about. The foul trouble just kept her out of the game and prevented her from getting her usual inside game going. She was effective enough when in the game but she only played 14 minutes. 3-5 from the field keeps her shooting percentage in the high 50's.

Kia Nurse

Other than struggling from the outside, I really liked her game against Tulsa. As you can see above, her hustle is beyond reproach. She had double figure scoring early but focused on defense once Geno screamed at them in the huddle. She ended up with 12 points in 27 minutes.

Kiah Stokes

Not too much to say about Stokes. I thought her defense was as bad as she has played all season. The refs didn't help as I think Kiah got a little skitterish with their calling it a little tight. She did manage 2 blocks, closing in on Lobo's single season record.

Saniya Chong

A real up and down game for Chong. She was 3-6 on three's but her misses were bad, including one wide open air ball that missed by two feet. But she played hard on defense, and her overall stats were excellent with 4-7 from the field, 11 points and 3 assists. She was called for two offensive fouls. The first one was a terrible call. She needs to jump straight up when she is making that baseline move.

Gabby Williams

It just wasn't Williams time to score. She had another strong rebounding game with 8 and her defense was terrific as she managed two steals. Her free throw shooting is still atrocious, but that can't last forever....can it???

Courtney Ekmark

No action pictures of Courtney, but I just love this kid. She plays so hard and is always thinking out there. I wish she had hit that first three she took. It just rimmed out, but sometimes that first shot just sets the tone. She did grab 3 rebounds in her 9 minutes and did a nice job just controlling the point the last few minutes.

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