UCONN vs. Chattanooga
Day: Tuesday
Date: November 29th, 2016
Location: Hartford
Time: 7:00
Time: 7:00
TV: SNY/ESPN3
No. 2 UConn Huskies Chattanooga Lady Mocs
4-0 3-5
Prior Meetings
In last years matchup, the first between these two team, UConn showed Chattanooga and the rest of the country that they were not only the best offense in the country, they were the best defense in the country. They hammered the Lady Mocs 79-31. They used both a 19-1 run and a 16-0 run to put the game away.
It was just another example of how dominating the 2015-16 team was on their quest for the perfect season and another national championship.
Last seasons game highlights
Overview
UConn comes into this game with a record of 4-0. They won their last game against Dayton by 33 and in their four wins there seemed to be a different star in each game. Clearly the star of stars so far is Katie Lou Samuelson. Napheesa Collier, Gabby Williams, and Crystal Dangerfield have all played well along with the emotional leader Kia Nurse. The team seems to be getting better every game.
Chattanooga come into this game with a record of 3-5, losing to Maine 49-39 in their last outing in Springfield Mass at the Hall of Fame Classic. They beat Rutgers 66-53, Lafayette 68-43 and Bowling Green 54-49. Their losses besides the Maine game have been against difficult opponents and they played them tough losing to at the time No. 19 Florida 72-61, No. 23 Indiana 79-76 , No. 4 Louisville 63-47 and a pretty good Green Bay team 71-55.
Chattanooga come into this game with a record of 3-5, losing to Maine 49-39 in their last outing in Springfield Mass at the Hall of Fame Classic. They beat Rutgers 66-53, Lafayette 68-43 and Bowling Green 54-49. Their losses besides the Maine game have been against difficult opponents and they played them tough losing to at the time No. 19 Florida 72-61, No. 23 Indiana 79-76 , No. 4 Louisville 63-47 and a pretty good Green Bay team 71-55.
Comparative Team Statistics
UConn Chattanooga
81.0 PPG 61.0
63.8 Defensive PPG 61.4
63.8 Defensive PPG 61.4
17.2 Scoring Margin -.4
48.3 Field Goal % 40.0
36.6 Defensive FG% 44.7
36.6 Defensive FG% 44.7
44.7 Three Point % 29.5
30.2 Defensive 3PT% 35.6
78.9 Free Throw % 77.630.2 Defensive 3PT% 35.6
39.2 Rebounds/game 32.0
3.8 Rebounding Margin -2.6
19.8 Assists per game 11.0
14.3 Turnover per game 12.6
1.4 Assists/TO ratio .9
6.0 Steals per game 6.1
4.0 Blocks per game 4.6
UConn Starters
33 Katie Lou Samuelson
6'3" Sophomore Guard/Forward
It's difficult to see a game where Katie Lou doesn't score a ton of points. Between her quick release and her height advantage, she can almost always get her shot off against any defender. Now that she has added an inside game she is doubly dangerous. Chattanooga has no one to guard her.
24 Napheesa Collier
6'1 Sophomore Forward/Guard
It's great to see the Collier I watched in USA basketball. She has added a three point shot, although I hope she doesn't fall in love with it. She just needs the defender to respect it and then the can drive by and score. I expect her to guard Joyner, who at 6'2" is a handful.
11 Kia Nurse
6' Junior Guard
Kia is still not 100% in the groove yet, but her season stats to date are getting better. She is leading the team in assist with 20 and only has 8 turnovers. But her shooting stats are just not good. Well, except for her foul shooting where she is 11-12 for the season. UConn really needs her to start playing more consistently and this would be a great game to start.
15 Gabby Williams
5'11" Junior Forward
This is the kind of game that Williams has excelled in the past. She can just dominate the boards when UConn is facing smaller teams. I expect her to do just that against Chattanooga. An overall solid start to the season for Gabby.
12 Saniya Chong
5'8" Senior Guard
Well, we all know she can play better. But she is playing to her strengths and that is what Geno wants. She needs to play better positional defense, but if she doesn't her minutes will be limited. Look for more solid ball handling and making the open shot. If so, 20 minutes could be in her future.
51 Natalie Butler
6'5" RS Sophomore Center
The often maligned (by some message board posters) Butler had a decent game against Dayton. But the facts remain that she can still play better. I love her rebounding skills. She keeps the ball high and when UConn is running she can really throw a mean outlet pass. She continues to take and make the elbow jumper. If she could just 1) stay on her feet and 2) keep her emotions under control I believe she could have the occasional double-double. I'm not sure how much time she will see against the smaller Mocs. Geno tends to sit her against teams like this.
5 Crystal Dangerfield
5'5" Freshman Guard
I loved Geno's quote. To paraphrase, you either get Chris Paul or Les Paul. But she has been much more of the former than the latter. She brings a very unique skill set to the table. Quickness, speed, court vision, and deep shooting. I would bet she gets plenty of minutes in this game.
Latest news is she will probably miss this game due to concussion protocol. Hopefully a quick rest and then back for DePaul.
10 Molly Bent
5'9" Freshman Guard
If UConn has a big lead, she will see lots of time. My guess is double digit minutes. Just keep playing great defense and her time will increase.
25 Kyla Irwin
6'2" Freshman Forward
This young lady has found a niche. A banger in the paint, she is defending the heck out of the post when she enters the game. Not much call for it in this one, but she will see plenty of playing time if UConn has a big lead.
GO TIERNEY!!!!!!
6'2" Freshman Forward
This young lady has found a niche. A banger in the paint, she is defending the heck out of the post when she enters the game. Not much call for it in this one, but she will see plenty of playing time if UConn has a big lead.
20 Tierney Lawlor
5'7" Junior Guard
GO TIERNEY!!!!!!
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Chattanooga Head Coach
Jim Foster
Coach Foster is a good friend of Geno since Geno began his career as an assistant to Forster when the pair were together at St. Joseph’s (Pa.) during the 1978-79 season. He is also a terrific college basketball coach. Here is his Bio from the Chattanooga web site. It's long, but a great read. There is a reason Coach Foster was elected to the WCBB hall of fame.
Chattanooga Starters
3 Jasmine Joyner
6'2" Senior Forward
Joyner is the clear star and leader of this team. Named All-Conference First Team by the SoCon coaches and media and was named to the SoCon All-Tournament team. She was a three-time SoCon Player of the Week and a two-time College Sports Madness SoCon Player of the Week
Joyner started all 32 games and led the SoCon in blocked shots for a second straight year. At only 6'2" and ranked second in the nation for blocked shots with 3.94 per game.
Joyner started all 32 games and led the SoCon in blocked shots for a second straight year. At only 6'2" and ranked second in the nation for blocked shots with 3.94 per game.
So far this season, she is doing more of the same. She is second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding. She also has 33 blocks in 7 games.
20 Keiana Gilbert
5'11"Junior Guard
Last season Gilbert was named to Southern Conference coaches All-Conference Second Team and the SoCon Media All-Conference Second Team. She started all 32 games and was second on the team in scoring (12.6) and rebounding (5.7). She shot .486 percent from the field and .421 from beyond the arc and averaged 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game with 22 blocked shots.
33 Queen Alford
5'10" RS Senior Guard
35 Aryanna Gilbert
5'9" RS Junior guard
In the 2015-16 season Gilbert returned to the court after an injury and played in 27 games and started 25. She was fifth on the team in scoring with 5.9 points per game and pulled down 2.8 rebounds per game. Gilbert played 27.6 minutes per game and shot 26.7 percent from beyond the arc (8-of-30) and was 12-of-16 from the free throw line. She was also fourth on the team with 43 assists and had 31 steals and 15 blocked shots.
Lakelyn Bouldin
5'8" Freshman Guard
In her senior year in HS Bouldin led her team to their first-ever state tournament appearance in girl’s basketball in the 2015-16 season . She was the 2016 Tennessee Class A Miss Basketball. She was also four-time District 6A MVP and Player of the Year, three-time Region 3A MVP and three-time Tennessee Sports Writers Association All-State Player … four-year starter for Van Buren County … led her team to four District 6A championships. She was the all time school record holder for scoring with 2,948 career points and in her senior campaign compiled 707 points, 266 rebounds, 128 assists, 101 steals and shot 78 percent from the free throw line.
Chattanooga Bench
23 Moses Johnson
6' Senior Guard
Last season Johnson played in all 32 games and started seven. She averaged 18.1 minutes per game. Johnson was third on the team in rebounding with 4.8 per game. She also averaged 4.6 points per game and shot 39.6 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. She had 23 assists and 16 steals along with 11 blocked shots.
22 Shelbie Davenport
6' RS Sophomore Guards
Davenport sat out last year as a transfer from Clemson. Her last season there she played in 29 games for the Tigers and started 20. She was second on the team in scoring with 8.6 points per game, 28.0 minutes per game. Davenport was second on the team for 3-pointer made with 43 and attempted with 143.
21 Sydney Vanlandingham
5'11" RS Senior Forward
As a Redshirt Junior she played in 24 games for Chattanooga where she averaged 1.6 points, 1.3 rebounds per game and dished out 15 assists with seven steals and a blocked shot.
25 Chelsey Shumpert
5'4" RS Junior Guard
Shumpert sat out last year as a RS sophomore. She started all 33 games the previous season. She was second on the team in scoring with 11.5 points per game and led the team in 3-point shooting with 68 .and had 81 assists and 40 steals.
She has missed the last few games so I don't know if she will be playing against UConn
Game Analysis
The first three years at Chattanooga Foster did a great job coaching his teams to 29, 29 and 24 wins with several upsets during the regular season. This year, he just doesn't have the players to repeat that success.
There are lots of issues for Chattanooga in playing UConn. Because they are a really well coached team they are usually able to handle teams with similar talent levels. And more talented that are not well coached (hi Tennessee) are also teams the Lady Mocs can compete with. But like last season, a team as talented as UConn and as well coached is a huge problem for Chattanooga.
Chattanooga has some issues that they just can't disguise. They play a very small lineup with the 6'2" Joyner the only player over 6' tall. The remaning players are only 5'11", 5'10", 5'9", 5'8", 5'4" with 6', 6' and 5'11" coming off the bench. All but one are listed as guard.
They also don't handle the ball well. They have very few players with a positive assist to turnover ratio. The entire team has 86 assists and 104 TO's.
If they fatigue, struggle to make shots, turn the ball over and lose the rebounding battle in a big way, UConn will just hammer them into submission.
UConn will do what they do best. Pressure defense, rebound misses and run run run. I can see Collier and Williams playing big off the boards in posting up in the paint. Chattanooga will struggle to stop that. And they have no one to stay with Samuelson on the outside.
Shumpert didn't play in their last few games, so it doesn't look promising for the UConn game but if Shumpert at 5'4" is playing, I'm looking forward to her matching up with the 5'5" Dangerfield. Maybe Crystal will be posting her up?...lol.
Final Prediction
I know that Coach Foster is a wonderful coach. But there are just too many BIG advantages for UConn. I don't see UConn starting slow like the last couple of games. They run out to a big lead. Only Geno's friendship with Jim Foster might make the game closer. The problem is the 2nd five are just too good to keep the score down.
I had UConn wining by 35+ before I saw the results of the Maine game. My guess now is UConn rocks the Mocs by 45+.
Great synopsis
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