Doggydaddy's Den

Doggydaddy

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Nice win for UConn, defeating SMU 88-41 behind 21 points from Katie Lou Samuelson clinching their third straight AAC regular season championship.

Katie Lou Samuelson -  It was the Katie Lou show to start the game. She defended 6'5" Collins in the post, stealing the ball and then hit a three at the top of the key on the offensive possession. Overall, you can really see a big difference in her defensive play. At 6'3" she has shown excellent quickness even taking a charge. She hit 5-10 threes to bring her season average up to a respectable 35.9%. She finished with 21 points and 5 rebounds.

Morgan Tuck - She was not wearing her brace and it was clear she was moving much better. She looked strong and quick in the paint, a big difference from the three previous games. In 22 minutes she had 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Breanna Stewart - She took it easy on SMU only putting up 6 shots, but she made 5 of them. Every one of her post moves was nicer than the next. In 23 minutes she had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. I can't wait until she plays 40 minutes of killer play against someone in the final four.

Moriah Jefferson - Believe it or not, she had NO assists in the first half. In 25 minutes she had 10 points, and 3 assists (in the second half). Her defense was terrific forcing the SMU guards into bad shots.

Kia Nurse - Talk about defense, Kia showed why even when she isn't shooting well (and that's been too often) her defense just makes it impossible to sit her too long. She ended up with 7 points, 4 assists and no turnovers in 24 minutes along with a great crossover on a fast break basket. You had to see it to believe it.

Gabby Williams - Geno mentioned at the half that Gabby really gave them a spark when she entered the game and it was on the defensive end. She forced turnovers and what I loved seeing was the 5'11 Williams posting up Collins at 6'5" twice with great moves. She had 8 points and 2 steals in only 15 minutes.

Sanyia Chong - Sanyia got in early in the game, but it was clear she just didn't have it. She only played 13 minutes and missed all three of her shots, all three pointers.

Napheesa Collier - She struggled scoring but in her 13 minutes in the second half and grabbed four rebounds and blocked 4 shots.

Natalie Butler - She didn't play until mid third quarter. But in her 15 minutes, she had 9 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. There is no way she doesn't average a double double next year if she gets 22-25 minutes per game.

Courtney Ekmark - A nice second half for Courtney. She really is playing better and better. In 13 minutes she had 5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists with no turnovers.

UConn moves to 27-0 and 16-0 in the AAC. Next game is Senior Night. It will be a real bittersweet night for all involved. Even this old crazy UConn blogger!!! There might be a tear or two. My wife will be making fun of me.

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In what must have been a great game to be in attendance, Minnesota beat No. 5 Ohio State 90-88 in overtime. Rachael Banham (please draft her Sun) had 35 points to lead Minnesota. She was 5-10 on threes. Mitchell and Alston, the great guard duo for Ohio State had 21 and 20 points, but it took 41 shots to score those 41 points.

It was a crazy finish in regulation as Minnesota scored on a put back with .5 seconds left in the game. But Ohio State (who had saved a TO to move to mid court) hit a back door lob to Alexa Hart to tie the game at the buzzer.

At the end of OT, Carlie Wagner scored with 0.8 seconds left to win the game. Wagner added 26 points. A great home victory for the Golden Gophers. I'm sure the fans went NUTS!!

Great seeding game for Minnesota.

The Big Ten has some excellent offensive teams. It's so much better basketball than that sludge basketball in the SEC.

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From David in Naples

UConn has been stealing victories this season, literally. Going into tonight's game against SMU, the Huskies have 322 steals vs only 163 for the opposition. That comes out to 12.4 steals per game for UConn, 5th in the country. Last season, the Huskies had 10.1 steals per game, so the improvement has been dramatic. Opponents have only been able to average about 6.2 steals when playing against UConn.

By far, the biggest basketball thief on the Huskies is Moriah Jefferson with 74. That comes out to 2.85 steals per game. The next two Huskies leading in the steal department are Gabby Williams at 50 and Stewie with 44. Fourth on the list is Napheesa Collier with 38 steals. Interestingly, none of the 2nd through 4th place players are guards, although Gabby does find herself at the top of the defense quite often. Kia Nurse is 5th in steals with 37 and then Katie Lou has 29.

When combined with UConn's 174 blocked shots, the 322 steals results in 496 offensive possessions without the ball reaching the rim. That is one more than the 495 baskets made by opponents. 8-)

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Well, the world is coming to an end. I'm not kidding!!!

It's true. Some Tennessee fans are calling for UConn coaches to leave the Huskies and come to Rocky Top to save the Lady Vol program. If that ever happened it WOULD be the end of the world. Here are what they are saying!!!

"I think we need to break from Pat's tree and go after one of Geno's pupils, say Chris Dailey. Don't like the guy but he demands excellence and his record and teams speak for themselves. Or possibly Moseley if Daily comfy in her gig."

Seriously? One of Geno's pupils? First of all, she is not an assistant coach. She is the associate head coach and as equal a partner as you can have in the coaching profession. Pupil? Too funny. Daily comfy in her gig? I would say after 30 years she just MIGHT be a little comfortable...lol.

"I don't see it happening, but I'd love to see Tennessee go after Shea Ralph. She seems to have a great head on her shoulders while being incredibly feisty and intense. She has also has said some really great things about Pat/Tennessee and is a proven winner."

Hey, Geno has said some great things about Pat in the past too. But Shea bleeds husky blue and to think she would go to coach that shit fest in Tennessee is just nuts. The next couple of quotes show how ignorant the crazies from Rocky Top are.

"We already tried hiring the assistant coach to a legend. You always want to hire someone who has already proven they can get the job done as a head coach. I would take someone who has torn it up at a lower conference before I would hire an assistant. The only skill we know Dailey has for sure is that she can hold Geno back when he gets fired up at the refs. For all we know that might her only function on the staff."

"We call Daily the Hold Back coach, for Geno. But, I don't think she would offer much as a head coach"

Yes, Chris Daily has held back Geno more times than I can remember. It's funny to watch. She has great footwork to say in front of Geno. I'm sure that is how she teaches her players to play defense. Stay in front of your man. But seriously, Chris Daily would coach circles around 99% of the head coaches in WCBB. To go from thinking she would be a good addition to Tennessee to then insult her coaching ability is just typical from the Tin Foil Hat brigade. They deserve this kind of season.

Tennesssee? You can't have them!!!!

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So, without further ado!!!

Ladies and Gents, DD looks at the news........

Canada's Kia Nurse Spent Three Days Inside of Enemy Territory UConn Blog

UConn women clinch third-straight AAC crown New Haven Register

UConn women clinch AAC title with 88-41 win over SMU The Day

UConn Clinches AAC Title With 88-41 Win Over SMU’s Lady Mustangs CBS DFW

UConn routs SMU, now 27-0 ESPN

Jefferson Watched USA Basketball, Thought About What Could Be Hartford Courant