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Here is my senior day report, if you haven't seen it yet. I've added the video from today's Senior Day ceremony. It's better seeing it the second time!!!
And I've completed my UConn/South Florida Pregame Report.
And I've completed my UConn/South Florida Pregame Report.
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The senior day game itself was very interesting. I thought for a moment that UConn had switched teams with Tennessee. It was like a bad dream that you can't wake up from .
Every shot UConn put up missed. Like every shot (Ok, they made one). And some missed by more than a little. They missed threes. They missed midrange jumpers, and they missed layups. Over and over. Meanwhile, Tulane hit almost everything. They made their layups, and they hit shots with hands in their faces. They started 5-7 from the field.
It was just crazy!!! For a while there I thought UConn was going to be stuck at two points (2 foul shots by Stewart) for the quarter.
As the quarter continues, Tulane slowed down and finally Jefferson made a layup on a great left handed pass from Stewart to make it 13-6. That is all UConn would get until a foul on Tulane with 2 seconds left. Williams hit her two foul shots to make it 13-8 after one. UConn was officially 1-16 from the field. I don't think I have EVER seen a UConn team shoot that poorly.
Thankfully, when the quarter ended so did the weird inability for UConn to make baskets. It was no surprise that UConn dominated the next quarter. They outscored Tulane 28-7 and shot 10-21 from the field. Katie Lou started hitting threes and she continued her hot shooting from prior games. She was 4-7 on threes for the half and hit one at the buzzer to give UConn a 36-20 lead. Samuelson led UConn with 13 points at the half.
Amazingly, the seniors were 5-24 from the field with Stewart leading the way with 2-12 shooting.
I've seen some shaky performances on senior day before but nothing like this one. I'm still stunned.
I've seen some shaky performances on senior day before but nothing like this one. I'm still stunned.
The second half was much more UConn like, with the team shooting 51.7% from the field and 45.1% on threes in outscoring Tulane 44-20. Stewart bounced back with a 4-4 second half but Jefferson and Tuck never found their strokes. The bench, as UConn took out his starting seniors one at a time to a raucous ovation, played well. They scored 23 points, with Ekmark playing well and hitting 2-3 threes and Butler playing big, scoring seven points and adding 3 rebounds in her 10 minutes. On one play, Butler blocked a shot and managed to dribble full court. I noticed her looking to her left, where Pulido was flying down the court with her. I'm pretty sure she wanted to get the ball to Briana for her senior day basket but she Pulido was covered so the big girl went right at the basket and was fouled. She made her two foul shots. UConn ended up doubling up Tulane 80-40. The only thing the first quarter did was ruin my 55 point prediction. I'll survive.
The game to me was insignificant with the senior day festivities going on. The honoring of Chris Daily was so special and I don't think I've ever seen Geno smile so much. He loves this group of graduating seniors, from the soon to be 4 time POY Breanna Stewart to the one time walk on and my favorite player on the team Briana Pulido. You can see the bond between Geno and Moriah every time they are together.
And we all know what he thinks of Morgan Tuck.
I just loved the post game speeches from the four seniors. Moriah started and was terrific with a big hellooooo, thanking the fans (I know she was talking to me) and was as cute as ever. She said coming to UConn was some of the "funnest" time of her life. I'm sure it was!! Briana was next. The ovation was LOUD for her and you could see her chest puff up with pride and nerves. And boy, she was a nervous wreck. But an adorable nervous wreck. She had her notes to read and even then she made a few mistakes. But she got through it and her fellow seniors embraced her. It was wonderful. Morgan was her usual calm and cool self, thanking the fans, the coaching staff her teammates. It was great to be on a team with the best players in the country and the best coaches in the country. Stewart was her goof ball self. Mugging for the fans and talking about how much they have grown. There was some side action between Moriah and Stewart....typical funny stuff. And after Stewart made her speech Jefferson grabbed the mike and went over to Shea Ralph to thank her for everything and making her the player she is today. They hugged it out and Shea was truly touched.
I did notice that during the Senior Day ceremonies, Shea was the one that got all choked up and she did again when Jefferson thanked her.
Geno talked about how they were just like any other freshman coming in. But they have grown up and accomplished things that no other group has done. Geno said he has grown a lot up with them. He is always thinking about the parents and how they feel and how quickly it's gone. And has it turned out like we talked about in the in-home visit? His main concern was the parents and that was nice.
On the surprise for CD, he wasn't sure that she was surprised, but they would come up with several names on who was behind the third panel. He said that no one deserves to be up there more than Chris and that all those other names wouldn't be up there without her. What nice words from her "boss".
I agree with Geno. A great day all the way around. And a great day for the UConn players, their parents, their coaches and us!!!!!! This has been an amazing four years and I'm hoping they can seal the deal and win that fourth straight championship.
Monday is the last game of the season against South Florida and it should be another tough game. Check it out on ESPN2 at 7:00. And look for my pregame report sometime tomorrow!
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I can't imagine a team going through two games like Ohio State has their last two times they played. On Wednesday, as I commented here, they lost to Minnesota 90-88 in overtime and in Saturday they lost to No. 20 Michigan State 107-105 in triple overtime. I'm curious to see what the voters in the AP and Coaches polls will do.
Kelsey Mitchell scored a career-high 48 points for Ohio State, who moves to 23-6 and 15-3 in the conference. They are behind Maryland now in the Big Ten standings and need Maryland to lose to Minnesota to share the title with the Terps.
Mitchell put up a remarkable 29 shots, making 15 and went 7-16 on threes. She also had 10 turnovers.
Michigan State was led by Jasmine Hines who had 36 points but was much more efficient than Mitchell going 13-17 from the field. Ariel Powers just missed a triple double with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists. And a quadruple double if you include her 8 turnovers.
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From David in Naples
Wins = 141
Losses = 5
Minutes = 10,031
Points = 5,036
Baskets = 1,977
Threes = 334
Rebounds = 1,947
Assists = 1,235
Steals = 616
Blocks = 434
....and counting.
Stewie, MoJeff and Tuck....
Wins = 141
Losses = 5
Minutes = 10,031
Points = 5,036
Baskets = 1,977
Threes = 334
Rebounds = 1,947
Assists = 1,235
Steals = 616
Blocks = 434
....and counting.
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I mentioned the other day that I thought that Oklahoma State was overrated. They just beat up a terrible Kansas team but had lost their two previous games to TCU by 14 and No. 4 Baylor by 25.
Against a West Virginia team that they had knocked out of the top 25 on 2/13, Oklahoma State lost Saturday to the same West Virginia team by 34 points, 82-48. Terrible loss for a top 25 teams.
Right now they are 2-4 over their last six games. And probably out of the top 25 now.
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So, without further ado!!!
Ladies and Gents, DD looks at the news........
UConn women roll past Tulane on Senior Day New Haven Register
UConn Women Celebrate Senior Day With 80-40 Win Over Tulane Hartford Courant
Could this be UConn's most talented class ever? Roger Cleaveland
Senior Day for UConn women and easy win American Republican
Video look at UConn's Senior Day festivities Jim Fuller
UConn Senior Class' ultimate legacy: Winning Jim Fuller
Upsets in Red
Late games in Green
No. 2 Notre Dame tops Boston College women 70-58 Chron
No. 4 Baylor wins at least share of sixth-straight Big 12 crown Chron
No. 8 Texas 71 TCU 58
No. 20 Michigan St outlasts No. 5 Ohio St 107-105 in 3 OTs Herald and News
No. 19 DePaul Women Beat Marquette 98-65 New York Times
No. 21 South Florida Women Top Temple 76-62 for 2nd in AAC ABC News
West Virginia Women Whip No. 22 Oklahoma State 82-48 ABC News
No. 23 Oklahoma hands Iowa State women third straight loss The Gazette
No. 25 Colorado State Women Win 74-56, Run Win Streak to 23 ABC News
No. 2 Notre Dame tops Boston College women 70-58 Chron
No. 4 Baylor wins at least share of sixth-straight Big 12 crown Chron
No. 8 Texas 71 TCU 58
No. 20 Michigan St outlasts No. 5 Ohio St 107-105 in 3 OTs Herald and News
No. 19 DePaul Women Beat Marquette 98-65 New York Times
No. 21 South Florida Women Top Temple 76-62 for 2nd in AAC ABC News
West Virginia Women Whip No. 22 Oklahoma State 82-48 ABC News
No. 23 Oklahoma hands Iowa State women third straight loss The Gazette
No. 25 Colorado State Women Win 74-56, Run Win Streak to 23 ABC News
Tulsa women pick up road victory at Cincinnati Tulsa Team Site
East Carolina Suffers Overtime Loss at Memphis, 93-83 East Carolina Team Site
SMU Falls To Houston In Rhonda Rompola's Final Home Game SMU Team Site
Thanks to Johnny C for sending me many of these numbers!!!
Kelsey Mitchell Ohio St. 48 points
Jasmine Hines Michigan St. 36 points 11 rebounds
Arrial Powers Michigan St. 23 points 16 rebounds 9 assists
Kaylon Williams Oklahoma 32 points
Alisia Jenkins USF 18 points 16 rebounds
Ashley Clark Tulsa 27 points
Hannah Kimmel Sacred Heart 28 points
Kamilah Carter IPFW 30 points
Jasmine Joyner Chattanooga 21 points 10 rebounds
Kahlia Lawrence Mercer 34 points
Breanna Mobley W. Michigan 20 points 16 rebounds
Monique Maximilien Charleston Southern 13 points 16 rebounds
Stephanie Reid Buffalo 21 points 8 assists
Taylor Jones Oakland 26 points 11 rebounds (ot)
Haleigh Ristovski Detroit 17 rebounds (ot)
Brianna Banks Penn St. 13 points
K'lynn Willis Hampton 31 points
Alayshia Hunter Louisiana Monroe 30 points 10 rebounds
Ashley Beverly Kelley Troy 27 points
Kayleigh Valley Montana 31 points
Paige Crozon Utah 28 points 16 rebounds
Danielle Rodriguez Utah 28 points
Mikaela Shaw Omaha 22 points 11 rebounds
Kendall Noble W. Kentucky 11 points 11 assists
Taylor Proctor San Fran 20 points 10 rebounds
Maya Hood San Diego 24 points 10 rebounds
Tiasha Gray Austin Peay 27 points
Ashley Southern Lipscomb 20 points 12 rebounds
Adella Randle-El Sacramento 28 points 11 rebounds
Shernise Robertson Sam Houston 25 points 10 assists
Chatrice White Illinois 29 points 11 rebounds
Annie Tarakchian Princeton 20 points 11 rebounds
Nyasha Sarju Yale 30 points 12 rebounds
Kate Letkewicz Dartmouth 27 points
Jessica January DePaul 23 points 9 assists
Bria Holmes W. Virginia 27 points
Kierra Adams Jackson St. 20 points 12 rebounds
Tori Jarosz Marist 25 points 15 rebounds
Kelsey Minato Army 23 points 7 assists
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Statistical Sites
NCAA 2015 Stats
NCAA Division I basketball records thru 2013-2014
ESPN Women's Basketball Stats
Women's Basketball State
NCAA 2015 Stats
NCAA Division I basketball records thru 2013-2014
ESPN Women's Basketball Stats
Women's Basketball State
Message Boards
UConn Territory - The best UConn women's message board ever!!!
College Fans Only - WCBB board where no holds are barred
Vol Nation - Tennessee women's basketball board
CockyTalk - The upstart South Carolina women's basketball board
CockyTalk - The upstart South Carolina women's basketball board
ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board
UCONN Information
Interesting Blogs and Links
Carl Adamec's blog, SNY
John Altavilla's blog, Hartford Courant
Jim Fuller's blog, New Haven Register
A Dime Back - A great web site for all UConn Sports, Including UConn Women
A Dime Back - A great web site for all UConn Sports, Including UConn Women
I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:
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