No. 1 UConn Huskies SMU
90 37
Post Game report
This game was a typical "UConn versus any AAC team not named South Florida" outing. Even though there is no denying the rest of the AAC teams are slowly improving (just look at the OOC scores), UConn is just so much better. Part of the problem for the AAC teams is UConn has had a tough OOC of their own and by the time league play starts, UConn is rolling into midseason form and getting better and better.
In this game, even though UConn was ice cold from the outside (mostly due to Nurse and Samuelson) the rest of UConn's game was in top form. UConn ran out to an 11-2 lead and continued to build the lead behind the two best players in the country (my opinion) in Stewart and Jefferson. At the end of the quarter it was 24-5.
The second quarter was a course in team play by UConn. Jefferson made two passes to Nurse on plays she could have easily score herself. I think she recognized the offensive shooting issues that Nurse was having and wanted to try and get Kia going. Alicia Froling for SMU was terrific in this quarter with 8 points. She is going to be a great player for SMU. But no matter, UConn led at the half 52-20.
The third quarter was more of the same as UConn dominated on defense when Stewart was on the court. She had 5 blocks and SMU had 5 points. Amazing. UConn didn't shoot well in this quarter but still managed 20 points and a 72-25 lead after three quarters.
UConn closed out the game as they usually do. Lots of bench players and not as much defense. UConn only scored 18 points and allowed 12. The highlight of the quarter was when Geno finally took Jefferson out to a big round of applause by both the UConn and SMU fans. Another dominating win for UConn with the final of 90-37.
UConn ended up shooting 52.9% from the field, 39.1% from behind the 3 point line, went 9-10 from the FT line, 24 assists on 36 baskets, 15 blocks and 18 steals. A terrific team effort.
In this game, even though UConn was ice cold from the outside (mostly due to Nurse and Samuelson) the rest of UConn's game was in top form. UConn ran out to an 11-2 lead and continued to build the lead behind the two best players in the country (my opinion) in Stewart and Jefferson. At the end of the quarter it was 24-5.
The second quarter was a course in team play by UConn. Jefferson made two passes to Nurse on plays she could have easily score herself. I think she recognized the offensive shooting issues that Nurse was having and wanted to try and get Kia going. Alicia Froling for SMU was terrific in this quarter with 8 points. She is going to be a great player for SMU. But no matter, UConn led at the half 52-20.
The third quarter was more of the same as UConn dominated on defense when Stewart was on the court. She had 5 blocks and SMU had 5 points. Amazing. UConn didn't shoot well in this quarter but still managed 20 points and a 72-25 lead after three quarters.
UConn closed out the game as they usually do. Lots of bench players and not as much defense. UConn only scored 18 points and allowed 12. The highlight of the quarter was when Geno finally took Jefferson out to a big round of applause by both the UConn and SMU fans. Another dominating win for UConn with the final of 90-37.
UConn ended up shooting 52.9% from the field, 39.1% from behind the 3 point line, went 9-10 from the FT line, 24 assists on 36 baskets, 15 blocks and 18 steals. A terrific team effort.
Game Stats and Box Score
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Game Quotes From Geno
"There's not a lot we can do about the final score of the games. Everyone wants to win every game. I've been through this before. Back in 1995, this [large margins of victory] was an ordinary occurrence in the old Big East. It's nothing new for me and I don't worry about what the score or the streak is. I just try to make sure that we're better as a team, try to do the right things the right way and we're constantly putting ourselves in position to be good when March comes around."
"It's good and bad that we get updates [on statistics] on the bench now. In the past, I wouldn't have known what was going on. When I looked and saw she had nine blocks, that kind of surprised me. She put on a nice show for the fans today."
"The game Moriah played today is a perfect example of how much she's grown as a player. I didn't want to take her out and I would have left her play the whole 40 minutes so her family and friends could see her. She put on quite a performance and it's typical of what she's done. Every year she's added something physically and mentally to her game. There are times she plays the way she did today for long stretches."
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"It's good and bad that we get updates [on statistics] on the bench now. In the past, I wouldn't have known what was going on. When I looked and saw she had nine blocks, that kind of surprised me. She put on a nice show for the fans today."
"The game Moriah played today is a perfect example of how much she's grown as a player. I didn't want to take her out and I would have left her play the whole 40 minutes so her family and friends could see her. She put on quite a performance and it's typical of what she's done. Every year she's added something physically and mentally to her game. There are times she plays the way she did today for long stretches."
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Game Quotes from Coach Rhonda Rompola
"Maybe some coaches might not admit this but it is hard to look forward to playing a team when you know your kids are probably not going to feel good after they leave the court. . I don't think they gave up."
Here is her post game presser. Easier to post this than to transcribe her words. Interesting take on how playing a team as good as UConn impacts her team and how she handles it.
Player Evaluations
Breanna Stewart
Maybe her most impressive performance. In 26 minutes she scored 15 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished 7 assists and swatted 9 shots. Her dunk attempt was so much fun to watch as was her reaction as well as the teams reaction to the attempt. I watched it several times and I'm not sure she had enough lift to do it, even if she had a better handle on the ball. What is amazing to me is that this was off an offensive rebound not a pass or a dribbling and then dunking attempt. So athletic.
"I didn't know I had nine blocks until CD [Chris Dailey] told me. That's a lot of blocks. You want to fill out the stat sheet to show people you can do more than one thing."
"I saw the ball coming off the rim and I was going in to put it back in. I figured the opportunity was there so I might as well try it. It was close but I didn't have a great control of the ball but I think to even see that, it will be nice for the next time. When you hear the crowd gasp like that and the rim rattled a little bit and you don't hear that in a women's game. I think that raised some eyebrows and it was awesome."
"Dunking is not extremely important. But if I can do it in a game it would be cool because I think it would do a lot for women's basketball. It would also be a cool experience for me, but it's not like I am dying to do it."
"I didn't know I had nine blocks until CD [Chris Dailey] told me. That's a lot of blocks. You want to fill out the stat sheet to show people you can do more than one thing."
"I saw the ball coming off the rim and I was going in to put it back in. I figured the opportunity was there so I might as well try it. It was close but I didn't have a great control of the ball but I think to even see that, it will be nice for the next time. When you hear the crowd gasp like that and the rim rattled a little bit and you don't hear that in a women's game. I think that raised some eyebrows and it was awesome."
"Dunking is not extremely important. But if I can do it in a game it would be cool because I think it would do a lot for women's basketball. It would also be a cool experience for me, but it's not like I am dying to do it."
Moriah Jefferson
In her last homecoming, Jefferson didn't disappoint. Geno gave her the most minutes, with 32. And in that time, she scored 19 points to lead the team and added 6 assists and 6 steals. She was all over the court and showed her full array of offensive moves. Just like the team, she is building on each performance in preparation for a National Championship.
On the dunk try - "We were going to try and get out into the open court. She went up for it and it was so close. If she made it, I probably would have just walked off the court, never to be seen again."
"It is just fun. Anytime you are on the court when something like that happens, if you see the next couple of plays we were kind of out of it. I don't even know what we were doing after that, we were really just focusing on that play but those are the type of memories that you are going to remember fro a long time so I am excited to be on the court when that happened."
“It was my last time playing in Dallas with UConn across my chest, so I just wanted to make the best of it and I just had a good time,”.
On the dunk try - "We were going to try and get out into the open court. She went up for it and it was so close. If she made it, I probably would have just walked off the court, never to be seen again."
"It is just fun. Anytime you are on the court when something like that happens, if you see the next couple of plays we were kind of out of it. I don't even know what we were doing after that, we were really just focusing on that play but those are the type of memories that you are going to remember fro a long time so I am excited to be on the court when that happened."
“It was my last time playing in Dallas with UConn across my chest, so I just wanted to make the best of it and I just had a good time,”.
I know, I'm repeating myself. She is still in her shooting slump. 3-8 from the field, 0-4 on threes. It doesn't take much to throw a shooter off and into a slump but sometimes it takes a long time to get out of it. I have no doubt she will but this certainly has to be in her head. But as I have said all season, she doesn't let that effect her level of play in all the other facets of her game. On one play she was fouled but it wasn't called on a layup attempt, but it didn't stop her from running full out to get back and defend the basket. In her 24 minutes she had 9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and ZERO turnovers.
Katie Lou Samuelson
Another poor shooting night for Katie Lou, only going 1-7 on threes. But she was 4-5 on her other shots and she played some solid defense. In her 28 minutes she scored 14 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.
Napheesa Collier
A quiet but efficient game for Napheesa. In 19 minutes she was 3-4 from the floor for 6 points and added 7 rebounds and her usual two blocks along with 2 steals and 1 assist.
Gabby Williams
Gotta love how Gabby is taking it upon herself to have Tuck like numbers while Tuck is out. In only 17 minutes she had 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 assist, 1 block.
Natalie Butler
Natalie didn't have her best game since getting regular time. It was so quiet that I couldn't find a picture of her in any of the game shots. In 17 minutes she had only 2 points on 1-4 shooting and one turnover. On the plus side, she grabbed 3 rebounds, had 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Saniya Chong
Nice game for Chong. She played 23 minutes and that is great considering her ongoing battle with her knee. She hit a big three early when UConn was struggling from beyond the arc. She ended up 3-5 from the field, 2-3 on threes, and finished with 10 points, 1 assists, 1 steal and NO turnovers. Great job!
Courtney Ekmark
She only got 9 minutes in this one but I thought she played great. She hit 2-3 of her threes for six points and added two assists and two rebounds. Very active on defense as well.
Tierney Lawlor
I think she's figured out if she doesn't shoot, her percentage won't go down. 0-0 and still perfect!!
Brianna Pulido
She added a rebound to her career total.
Morgan Tuck
Morgan is in the middle of this picture. I just wanted to show you she was there.
I'm sure she is counting the days until she can play again!!
Final Thoughts
Thanks to DannyK for his pictures of Tuck, Butler, Ekmark, Pulido and Lawlor. DannyK posts them on Facebook. If you watched the game you heard Danny doing his UConn cheer as he does at all games he goes to. And he goes to a ton!!!
I just love this shot of Geno and Moriah. He is always teaching the she is always listening.
Next game is Wednesday night at Tulsa. UConn has already beaten Tulsa 95-35. In a preview of my Pre Game report I predict a similar result.
GO HUSKIES!!!
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