No. 1 UConn Huskies No. 3 Notre Dame
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Post Game report
I don't care what the online fans think, when Geno is this happy, I'm that happy.
Game Highlights
What a game. Another UConn/Notre Dame Classic.
UConn ran out to an early lead and even with Notre Dame hitting 3 straight three pointers, UConn was able to score enough to take a 27-18 lead after one quarter.
The second quarter was all Notre Dame as UConn went cold from the field and started turning the ball over. Notre Dame took advantage of that outscoring UConn by seven for the quarter, closing the gap to two, 45-43.
The second half started with a couple of baskets being exchanged and UConn had a 49-47 lead. UConn pulled away some over the next 3 minutes, stretching the lead to seven, 58-51. Lindsay Allen hit a big three for Notre Dame to close to 58-54. And.......then it was over.
UConn went on a 14-2 run to end the 3rd quarter, making 6 free throws. UConn was now up 72-56. And they weren't done. UConn started the 4th quarter with a 6-0 run including four more free throws to take their biggest lead of the game, 78-56. I really thought at this time my 30 point prediction was looking good. But of course, Notre Dame had other plans.
The Irish went on their own run, making a layup and of course, two three pointers with help from two UConn turnovers cutting the lead to 14. The two teams went back and forth for the rest of the game with Notre Dame making two late baskets to make it a ten point final margin.
Notre Dame, short handed and playing six guards for 160 minutes of the game, gave UConn all they had. I'm sure McGraw had to be proud. the freshmen guards for ND off the bench were outstanding. Marina Mabrey was out of this world in the first half, scoring 21 points on 9-11 from the field and 3-3 on threes. And Arkie Ogunbowale scored 9 points in the second half. Madison Cable showed she can play at the highest level with 17 points including 3-6 on threes. I have to say that going 13-20 on three point shots is nothing short of miraculous. Only a some of those were wide open. Amazing.
Notre Dame other tactic was to be very physical with UConn. Pushing grabbing, holding and of course flopping. This play certainly showed in the box score, as UConn shot 24 free throws compared to Notre Dame's 10. I'm sure there are plenty of Irish fans complaining about the refs. Just sour grapes. The foul disparity was a byproduct of their rough play.
Here is the bottom line from McGraw herself - "You can't stop them; you have to be able to score with them. Maybe you get them on your court, and they don't shoot as well or something. But you definitely have to be able to score."
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Game Quotes From Geno
“There are times during the course of a season, and tonight was one of them, where you just have to outscore them [the opponent]. Sometimes you just have to score more points instead of focusing on how you’re going to guard them.”
“Whatever Moriah gives up size wise, and sometimes it’s significant, she makes up for in speed, toughness, and she is very disruptive. Also, she wants to, that’s the biggest thing. She came over to the bench and we suggested she take a break, and she said ‘No, I got it.’”
"Sometimes you just have to score more points than the other guy,"
"Trying to guard four people off the dribble is not easy,"
"That's two games in a row teams have made way more threes than they are accustomed to. There must be something about playing UConn."
"That's two games in a row now where teams made way more than they're used to making. Some of the 3s [Notre Dame] made were just ridiculous. Some of it, you just have to give them credit. They were tough shots that went in."
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Game Quotes from Notre Dame Coach Muffet McGraw
“We can’t afford to make those kind of mistakes. Our margin for error against this team is pretty small and for us to have 20 turnovers, I think that was the difference in the game.”
“Marina is coming off an All-Tournament selection in the Bahamas against really good competition. She’s played well for us this year. But as a freshman, to come into an atmosphere like this, that’s the fearless quality that she has. I think the thing I love about her is that she is not going to back down from anyone and that is really going to bode well for us in the future.”
“There are so many good things to take away from this. The way we shot the ball from the 3-point line I thought was really good. That’s what we have to become now that we are not as post oriented as we wanted to be. I thought we did a lot of good things execution wise. I thought we got a lot of really great shots. Even defensively I thought there were times that the zone was better than others. The turnovers were really kind of the bad part of the defense.”
"The first time I saw the fearless part of Marina Mabrey’s game was High school. I think I saw her in AAU first, I can’t really remember. I knew that she was going to be that feisty personality, a bit of a swagger. Just what we were looking for. We really need that. We haven’t had that since Skylar (Diggins) so it’s great to have it.”
“I think she really hurt us. She was the difference in the game. You expect (Breanna) Stewart to get what she got, but to have Morgan Tuck come in and get eight assists, one turnover and 21 points? She did everything she needed to do. I think she was the x factor for them and I felt like she really played well. I’ve always admired her game.”
"So many things happened in the third quarter, things we can't afford to have happen," McGraw said. "The margin for error we have for this team right now is pretty small."
Player Evaluations
Breanna Stewart
How many times can I call her the best player in the country? Obviously there is no limit. Just like her talent. Another spectacular game with 28 points and 10 rebounds along with 3 blocks. A woman on a mission. And one more ESPN top ten play with that amazing offensive rebound put back. Check out the highlight video I linked. WOW!
Moriah Jefferson
A very good game for Jefferson on the offensive side. 14 points and 6 assists. But once again she had too many turnovers with 4. Defensively, after the freshman Mabrey scored 21 points in the first half, she took it on herself, without Geno asking, to hold her to 2 points in the second half. "I got this". That was all Geno needed to hear.
"It's definitely harder for our bigger guys to play against their guards because they have to make sure they're staying in their stance the entire time but, for me, I love it. That's the type of game I love to play."
"We have to do a better job of making sure shots are contested and that teams don't have any wide open looks."
"I didn't want Mabrey to touch the ball. I wanted to make her uncomfortable."
Morgan Tuck
Morgan is still not shooting with her usual efficient percentage, but she was so strong in the lane that all Notre Dame could do was foul her. She went to the line 13 times making 9 of them. she was a true warrior in this game. And even more impressive was her passing out of the post. She ended up with 21 points and an amazing 8 assists along with 7 rebounds, 4 on the offensive side. She is averaging almost 4 assists per game from a front court position. You don't see that very often in WCBB.
"It feels good that Coach McGraw thinks I had an impact but I think as a team a lot of us stepped up and made big plays."
"We always want to beat Notre Dame just how they always want to beat us. It's one of the biggest rivalries in women's basketball and there's always that motivation to play your best game."
"We try to help out Stewie because all the teams are going to focus on her so we try to make sure we're contributing and make it a little bit easier for her."
Nurse had a tough game. Foul trouble (4 fouls) took away from her aggressiveness and for some reason she passed up some three point shots she would usually take and make. Her shooting percentage is down this season and that showed up big time in the Notre Dame game. It's doubtful it's a season long issue so I'm looking forward to her breaking out. She did play 31 minutes scoring 9 points and grabbing 3 rebounds along with 2 assists and 2 steals.
Gabby Williams
As good an athlete that Williams is, she struggled against the quicker Notre Dame players. She only played 16 minutes because of that contributing 6 points and an uncharacteristic 2 rebounds.
Katie Lou Samuelson
It was great to see Lou continue her great play and against a tough opponent like Notre Dame. Especially in such a crazy environment. Geno trusted her with 23 minutes where she scored 13 points on 4-7 shooting and 3-6 on threes. She added 2 rebounds and 3 assists. Geno was NOT happy with her defense but that will be a work in progress this season.
Napheesa Coller
Napheesa had a tough outing. Hey, she is a freshman and this was a tough matchup for her with Notre Dame playing four guards at a time. Geno only player her 10 minutes and she was scoreless, going 0-2 from the field. Better times ahead.
Sanyia Chong
You would think this game would be one that she would get significant minutes with Notre Dame playing Small Ball. But Geno did not show much trust in her, only playing Chong 7 minutes. Thus the reason for no action picture above. She missed her only three pointer and had zeros across the box score. I'm sure her weaker defensive work was part of the lack of play. Not a good sign for the junior guard.
Final Thoughts
So, what have we learned from the DePaul and now the Notre Dame games? We learned that DePaul and Notre Dame have some pretty good shooters that were out of their minds against UConn. DePaul was 13-29 and Notre Dame was 13-20 from beyond the ark. I thought the 44% by DePaul was great but 65%? That is just nuts. In their next game, DePaul was 11-37. That's 29%. And I'm sure their looks were just as open.
We also learned that for a team to stay close to UConn you have to shoot like that. If they shot their regular percentages, UConn would have beaten Notre Dame by close to 30 points.
UConn's next game is at Colgate in Stewarts homecoming game. The cowards at Syracuse wouldn't play UConn so this was the next best things. Look for Butler to make her season debut before the following game against Florida State and their two week break.
6-0 is a great start against some serious competition. GO HUSKIES!!!
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