DoggyDaddy's UConn/Florida State PreGame Report







 

      UCONN vs Florida State

           Day: Friday

Date: December 11th, 2015

Location: Mohegan Sun Arena

Time: 6:00

TV: ESPN2

 

 

                                         

 

No. 1 UConn Huskies                                    No. 11 Florida State 

           6-0                                                                                                          7-1

Prior Meetings

 

UConn leads 7-0

 

H: 2-0; A: 2-0; N: 3-0

12/30/02 W 74-55 A

11/25/03 W 81-53 H
3/22/05 W 70-52 N
12/21/08 W 83-71 N
12/28/09 W 78-59 A
3/30/10 W 90-50 N

12/21/10 W 93-62 H

 

Team Overviews

No. 1 UConn enters this contest undefeated at 7-0. According to Sagarin, they are No. 1 in RPI and No. 1 in SOS. 4-0 against top twenty five teams.

 

No. 11 Florida State enters at 7-1, losing their opening game to in state rival Florida. They had won their last seven games but while their overall RPI is good at No. 5, their SOS is a mediocre 137. They haven't played a top 25 team to date.

"We look at it as an opportunity to grow our program," coach Sue Semrau said. "But our measure is not just against UConn but the other top teams."

 

Stat by Stat Comparison
Starting these up again as there is enough data. Leader is in the team color.   

 

                               UConn                                                       FSU

 

                                                90.7         Points Per Game                     78.2

                                                55.9         Opp Points Per Game             49.4

                                                .545         Field Goal %                           .483

                                                .363         Opp Field Goal %                   .354

                                                .341         3 Point Field Goal %              .330

                                                .364         Opp 3 Point Field Goal %      .291

                                                .750         Free Throw %                         .720

                                                 41.9         Rebounds Per Game               41.4

                                                 27.9         Opp Rebounds Per Game       28.1

                                                 22.3         Assists Per Game                   16.5

                                                 13.6         Turnovers Per Game              15.5
                                                   1.6         Assists/Turnover Ratio            1.1

                                                 13.0         Steals Per Game                     11.8

                                                   5.1         Blocks Per Game                     3.8

 

 

 

 

 

UConn Starters

 

11 Kia Nurse

6' Sophomore Guard

 

Even in an extended long range shooting slump Kia impacts the game in many ways. She is in constant movement which helps her teammates get open. She runs, runs, and runs some more helping trigger UConn's deadly fast break. She finally his a three and her smile lit up the arena. I don't think her excellent three point shooting last year was an aberration. Look for her to pick it up.       

 

2015-16 Stats

   7 Games - MPG 26.3, FG% .480, 3PT% .316, PPG 9.4, RPG 2.6, APG 2.6, 12 steals, 1 block

4 Moriah Jefferson
5'7" Senior Guard

 

Moriah has really perfected the "Sue Bird" pull up jumper. She can hit the three, make the pull up and get to the basket. It seems the only thing to slow her down were the refs in the Colgate game.

 

2015-16 Stats

   7 Games - MPG 31.7, FG% .627, 3PT% .333, PPG 12.3, RPG 2.9, APG 6.0, 18 steals, 0 blocks

3 Morgan Tuck
6'2" RS Junior Forward

Morgan doubled her block total for the season in the Colgate game with 2. Hopefully the 10-11 game against Colgate is the start of her field goal % improvement to her prior levels. Can you say AA? She is on her way.
 

2015-16 Stats

   7 Games - MPG 30.9, FG% .500, 3PT% .286, PPG 15.1, RPG 6.1, APG 3.7, 6 steals, 4 blocks

 

30 Breanna Stewart 
6'4" Senior Forward

300 career assists and blocks. The ONLY player in WCBB history. Quite the amazing

accomplishment. She just seems so calm out there. Her confidence is sky high and that reflects in her off the shooting percentages.     

 

 

2015-16 Stats

   7 Games - MPG 31.1, FG% .638, 3PT% .458, PPG 23.9 RPG 8.6, APG 4.0, 14 steals, 21 blocks

 

 

15 Gabby Williams
5'11" Sophomore Forward

Geno cut her minutes in the last game and she didn't start in the last two second halves. Clearly Geno is doing this to send a message. I bet she gets it. 

 

2015-16 Stats

   7 Games - MPG 19.1, FG% .612, 3PT% .000, PPG 9.6 RPG 7.6, APG 1.4, 16 steals, 5 blocks

UConn Bench

 

 

 

12 Saniya Chong
5'8" Junior Guard

 

He sore knee kept her out of the Colgate game. I'm concerned this will be a year long problem. Geno might rest her again in this game and with the 10 day gap it might give her time to get this condition under control.
 

2015-16 Stats

   6 Games - MPG 13.3, FG% .412, 3PT% .364, PPG 3.7, RPG 1.3, APG .5, 0 steals, 1 block

 

 

 

33 Katie Lou Samuelson

6'3" Freshman Guard/Forward

 

Wow...was that strange? Katie Lou collapsed in pain late in the game. They said she was under the weather and got dehydrated. It was scary. Thankfully she is ok. She certainly didn't look like the player of the several games before this one. Hopefully she has a bounce back against FSU.
 

2015-16 Stats

   7 Games - MPG 18.6, FG% .426, 3PT% .281, PPG 7.6, RPG 3.0, APG 2.0, 7 steals, 0 blocks
 

24 Napheesa Collier

6'1 Freshman Forward/Guard

I thought the Colgate game was her best game to date. She looked much more active and confident in her play. She rebounded strong, took good shots, looked for her teammates and finished strong around the basket. The strong FSU front line will be a challenge for her. She should step up to the challenge.     

 

2015-16 Stats

   7 Games - MPG 18.7 FG% .486, 3PT% .000, PPG 6.4, RPG 5.3, APG 1.1, 16 steals, 3 blocks

 

22 Courtney Ekmark

6' Sophomore Guard

Ekmark played some nice extended minutes against Colgate. I'm still not sure Geno will trust her in a more competitive game like FSU should be. But if Chong is out, Courtney will be the first guard off the bench.
 

2015-16 Stats

   5 Games - MPG 11.8, FG% .600, 3PT% .400, PPG 3.0, RPG 1.6, APG 1.0, 2 steals, 1 block

 

20 Tierney Lawlor

5'7" Junior Guard

Miss Perfect!!!!

2015-16 Stats

   5 Games - MPG 3.4, FG% 1.000, 3PT% 1.000, PPG 1.6, RPG 0.2, APG 0.2, 0 steals, 0 blocks

22 Briana Pulido 
5'7" Senior Guard

Dr. Pulido!!!!

2015-16 Stats

   4 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

51 Natalie Butler
6'5" RS Sophomore Center

I'm going to list her here until we know different.
 

35 De'Janae Boykin

6'2" Freshman Forward

 

UCONN TEAM STATS





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

 

 FLORDA STATE SEMINOLES

Head Coach Sue Semrau
 

Semrau is now in her 19th season as the head women's basketball coach at Florida State. She is a four-time winner of the ACC Coach of the Year award.

 

Semrau has coached FSU to 11 NCAA Tournaments, including two Elite Eight appearances in 2010 and 2015. Here is an interesting tidbit. Over the last seven years, Florida State has averaged over 24 wins per season and had 14 players sign professional contracts either in the WNBA or with a European club team. Semrau was named president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association in the summer 2013 after serving as the vice president since 2010. Semrau finished up her tenure as WBCA President following the 2014-15 season.

Semrau had her best season last year.  Florida State finished with a 32-5 overall record, breaking the school record for wins while also setting new records for ACC wins (14), Top 25 wins (6) and regular-season victories (27). For the first time ever, the Seminoles finished undefeated at the Donald L. Tucker Center, going 16-0.

 

Florida State Starters

2 Adut Bulgak

6'4" Senior Center

Played two seasons in JUCO before transferring to FSU. She was the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association NJCAA Division I Player of the Year in 2014, Two-time NJCAA All-American and tabbed as the No. 1 JUCO prospect by All-Star Girls Report in 2014.

In her first year at FSU she led them in points per game (12.3), rebounds per game (9.5), offensive rebounds (113), defensive rebounds (219), total rebounds (332), field goals made (162), blocked shots (54) and double-doubles (12).  She is enjoying a terrific Senior season to date.

 

2015-16 Stats

 8 games - MPG 30.4, FG% .486, 3PT% .444, PPG 16.9, RPG 8.1, APG 1.8, 8 steals, 11 blocks

 

10 Leticia Romero

 5'8" Junior Guard

Honors (2014-15)
-Sue Galkantas Offensive Player of the Year
-Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American
-All-ACC Second Team (Blue Ribbon Panel and ACC Coaches)
-ACC All-Tournament Second Team
-NCAA Greensboro Regional All-Tournament Team

Romero became eligible last season after the first session. She recorded nine or more assists three times and joined Notre Dame’s Lindsay Allen as the two players who were in the Top 10 in FG % (50.4) and assists (5.4) in ACC play. She recorded a triple-double against Boston College.

She transferred from Kansas after a great freshman season. She averaged 14.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, five assists.

She has great international playing experience. She was named MVP of the FIBA U20 European Tournament in 2015 when she led Spain to a 66-47 win over France. She also played in her second stint with the Spanish Women’s National Team in the EuroBasket 2015, helping Spain to a bronze medal.

  

2015-16 Stats
5 games - MPG 27.8, FG% .490, 3PT% .400, PPG 12.0, RPG 2.6, APG 4.2, 12 steals, 0 blocks

 

 

 

12 Brittany Brown

5'8" Junior Guard

 

Honors

-All-ACC Academic Team (2014-15)
-All Sports Association Female Collegiate Award (2014-15)
-Alicia Gladden Defensive Player of the Year Award (2013-14)

 

Brown was rated the No. 64 prospect in the country by All-Star Girls Report and No. 85 by ESPN HoopGurlz. 

 

 2015-16 Stats

8 games - MPG 33.2, FG% .410, 3PT% .304, PPG 11.0, RPG 5.6, APG 5.0, 30 steals, 5 blocks
 

23 Ivey Slaughter

 6'1" Junior Forward

 

 Honors
-Alicia Gladden Defensive Player of the Year (2014-15)

 

Slaughter was ranked the No. 21 forward in the 2013 signing class and the No. 79 overall player by ESPN HoopGurlz. She was rated the 69th-best player in her class by All-Star Girls Report and No. 86 by National Basketball Insider.

 

2015-16 Stats

8 games - MPG 28.0, FG% .563, 3PT% .000, PPG 9.6, RPG 6.5, APG 1.8, 19 steals, 7 blocks

 

  

 

3 Emiah Bingley

 5'7" Senior Guard

    

 Honors

-Nominee for the WBCA Good Works Team

 

2015-16 Stats

6 games - MPG 29.3, FG% .268, 3PT% .316, PPG 5.2, RPG 3.8, APG 2.2, 6 steals, 0 blocks

 

 

 

 

Florida State Bench 

 

 

20 Shakayla Thomas

5'11" Sophomore Forward 

-ACC Sixth Player of the Year (Blue Ribbon & ACC Coaches)
-All-ACC Freshman Team
-ACC All-Tournament First Team

Rated as the No. 12 overall player in the 2014 recruiting class according to Dan Olson Collegiate Girls Basketball Report, as well as the third-ranked small forward...Ranked 15th overall and the second-ranked small forward by All-Star Girls Report

 

2015-16 Stats
8 games - MPG 24.8, FG% .577, 3PT% .000, PPG 16.5, RPG 6.4, APG .9, 10 steals, 2 blocks

  

 

11 Maria Conde

 6'1" Freshman Forward

    

 Following Romero from Spain she has great international experience.

 

2015-16 Stats
8 games - MPG 20.0, FG% .400, 3PT% .286, PPG 4.9, RPG 2.5, APG 1.5, 6 steals, 1 blocks

 

 

42 Kia James

 6'5" Junior Center

    

Ranked the No. 22 overall player in her class by ESPN HoopGurlz, No. 12 by All-Star Girls Report, No. 19 by Full Court and No. 23 by Blue Star Basketball Report

 

 

2015-16 Stats
7 games - MPG 10.6, FG% .552, 3PT% .000, PPG 5.7, RPG 2.9, APG .3, 6 steals, 1 blocks

 

 Game Analysis

 

  

This game has five of the Naismith watch list so there is certainly a ton of talent on both teams. Romero and Bulgak are terrific player on the Florida State side and congrats to them for being on the list along with Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck.      

 

Offensively, FSU looks to create a lot of their offense from their defense. They use a trapping press. They play both what looked like a matchup zone that they trap off of and a man to man similar to UConn with lots of help/switching. They just like to create chaos in a similar fashion to DePaul only without the hockey like changing of 5 players at a time.

 

When they are not running and have to play half court, you will see a lot of Romero bringing up the ball and dribble left looking for a screen. If that is not there, she will dribble back across the lane off another screen looking for either a drive to the basket, a kick out to someone or pull up for a short jumper. I must have seen that play 10 times in the game I watched. She is pretty darn good at it.

 

FSU has some size with the 6'4" Bulgak, 6'1" Conde, 6'1" Ivy and the 5'11" Shakayla Thomas. Thomas plays so much bigger than her height, similar to UConn's Williams. But Thomas is more dynamic offensively than Williams.

 

There are a lot of fun matchups. The aforementioned Thomas and Williams matchup will be fun to watch. I'm looking forward to the two big guards for FSU, Romero and Brown go up against a bigger guard in Nurse. If the refs don't go whistle crazy, there will be some big time physicality going on.

 

The Bulgak and Stewart matchup should be interesting as well. Both tall, long, with nice post moves and an outside game.

 

They may only matchup for a few minutes as I don't think she will get much playing time, but James for FSU going against Tuck should be seismic. James is 6'5 and BIG. I mean really big. 

 

Ivy for FSU is a solid player for them and will defend the heck out of whoever she is guarding. She is especially tough in the trapping defense with her long arms.

 

The wildcard for all this is Jefferson. You probably noticed I didn't match her up with anyone. That's because FSU has no one to match up with her. She will use her speed to get into the lane and either kick out or drive to the basket. They have no one to stop her. Defensive, I can see Romero in for a long night. Jefferson will be in her grill the entire game.    

           

 

Final Prediction

 This could be a close game for a while.  FSU has a very experience lineup as they start 2 seniors and 3 juniors. They can definitely defend. I'm pretty sure they don't have enough offensive game to stay with the Huskies. UConn does need to take care of the ball or FSU will take advantage of the turnovers.

 

I expect that UConn will defend the three better in this game and Jefferson will make sure that the ball is in the right players hand at the right time. UConn's D will turn up the heat.

 

In the end, UConn wins by 20+.