DoggyDaddy's UConn/LSU Post Game Report

  Post Game report

Not a great game for UConn. But LSU had a lot to do with that. LSU played tough throughout, and although that had 3 new starters, this roster is a big improvement for the Tigers. Red Shirt freshman Ayana Mitchell was outstanding on the defensive end with six steals and 2 blocks. She was everywhere. And Red Shirt Junior Raigyne Montcrief was terrific as well. A great pull up jumper and she knows how to get to the basket. No 10-21 season for Coach Fargas this year. 

Even though UConn won by 23, it was a game that UConn could have played a lot better. I can't remember the last game UConn played where they had more turnovers than assists, but there is was, 20 and 16. Geno will be working hard on the team to improve that. I suppose it's not surprising considering all the new roles the players are in.

It certainly was an interesting game leaving a lot to be desired in regards to UConn's performance. They will only get better.    

 Game Stats and Box Score

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 Game Quotes From Geno

"It was a hard game to watch. A lot of stuff going on out there that makes you shake your head. Sometimes when you shoot the ball really well like we did for long stretches, it makes everything else seem OK. I'm just glad we made a bunch of shots in that first half and kind of give us some breathing room."

"Every game this season is going to be something different," Auriemma said. "We're at that age. We're not experienced enough and mature enough as a group yet to be able to be the same every night. We're going to have the greats and the not-so-greats. So today was a struggle … but we did a bunch of things. We got better in some areas; we didn't get so much better in other areas. And that's what this is going to be all about."

"There were times in the past when that would happen. It's just magnified now because we don't have as many ways to score as we did. For us, we have to execute a little bit better. We have to be a little more precise. … We have to be a little better. When we're not, it shows up. When we are, we're really, really good. And when we're not, we're not. But, it's Game 3."

"The ball was flying all over the place, and it was just that kind of game. That's uncharacteristic for us. When we play, we like to make it tough for people to score against us, and for long stretches, that's true. Then all of a sudden, we give up a lot of layups. … We were good and then we weren't so good. It wasn't like one of those games where we start the game great, and we flow for four quarters. It was a very up and down kind of game."

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                                Game Quotes from Coach Nikki Fargas

“This game was definitely a great game for us to play this early on in the season. It allowed us to really look at the areas we are good at and I thought we did some good things defensively, turning over a Connecticut team with 16 steals. We did some things for three quarters that really allowed us to showcase the potential of this team. I thought at the beginning of the second quarter there was a segment there where they went on a 9-to-2 run and from there we had several opportunities to cut back into that lead, but we have to take care of the basketball. When you turn the ball over against a team like Connecticut, it turns into baskets. I am proud of these young ladies for fighting to the end and we will learn a lot from this game.”

“Great crowd, it was a loud crowd that stayed through to the end. Hopefully they will be back. This team has a lot of fight in them and we are going to continue to add. We got Rina (Hill) back and that was great and we are going to get Tatum Neubert back eventually and that is going to make this team stronger.”

“I will tell you that as far as being an undersized post player, I would put (Alexis) Hyder up against anybody 1-on-1 in the country. I think she is one of the more talented and more skilled post players in our game. You can see Raigyne Moncrief get to the rack anytime she wants to. I think she is getting back to where she left off. So I will definitely highlight those two players who potentially will have a great pro career. I wish we had Faustine (Aifuwa). She is the one player on our roster that can play around the rim and we really hate that we do not have her on our roster (because of a season-ending knee injury). I really like the combination of Moncrief and Hyder and they are two difficult players to guard.”

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Player Evaluations

PLAYER OF THE GAME!

Katie Lou Samuelson

Katie scored a career high 28 points and was a fabulous 7-11 on threes. She showed great confidence in her shot, even after missing her first few. Great shooters just keep taking them. She was also 5-5 from the line, aggressively trying to mix up her game with drives to the basket. There were many pictures of her taking shots, but I chose this one to show her leaping ability and how hard she has worked on her upper body. Wow.....!!

Kia Nurse

After another slow start, Kia showed that great determination pays off. She missed her first 3 threes but after that she was 3-4 . My friend Dan was pleading with her to stop taking corner threes and take her three from the top of the key and on the next possession she did just that and it got her started. She really ran the show and with 8 assists and only 2 turnovers in a sloppy game. She was tough, I mean REALLY tough in her drives to the hoop. Kinda like the Kia that was effective in the many of the Team Canada games.

Napheesa Collier  

Collier had a mixed bag against LSU. While she was on the court, she defended tough, and hit a really nice three pointer from the corner. But she struggled from the field, going 2-6 on her two point shots. She had issues with the physical defense in the paint that LSU put on her. She needs to finish stronger and draw fouls. And lastly, play smart on defense. Tough is good, but fouling out is not!  

Gabby Williams

Gabby, similarly to Collier, struggled with the physicality of the game. The picture above shows her about to lose the ball. She needs to play tougher when the defense is like this. She did grab ten rebounds, but her five turnovers were telling. And for a player that has hovered around 60% for her career, 2-7 from the field is unacceptable. I'm sure this game was an anomaly, and we will see the old Williams against Dayton's big front line.   

Saniya Chong

Not the best game for Saniya, although it started out great when she hit her first shot, a nice three pointer.She only took one other shot in her 16 minutes, but she did hand out 2 assists and didn't turn the ball over. UConn will need more from her than this in future games.

Crystal Dangerfield

It was a tale of two halves for Dangerfield. A nice first half where she hit two big threes to get the Huskies going and scored 10 points. But the second half was a lot of freshman mistakes. She had SIX turnovers and most of them were the real sloppy kind. Like Jefferson her freshman year, Crystal was just playing too fast.

   Natalie Butler

No pictures of Natalie from this game. But when you play only 9 minutes of non-descript action, why would they take your picture. A slight setback for Butler, but it was also a bad matchup for her. She should see more action against a bigger Dayton team.

Molly Bent

In her 13 minutes on the court, Molly showed once again that she can contribute. Her defensive footwork is excellent, keeping her man in front of her all the time. She is really athletic and will get plenty of minutes as the season progresses as she earns Geno's trust.   

Kyla Irwin

Kyla got some great minutes against LSU with 17 in total. She was aggressive on the boards with three rebounds. I loved her one nice post pass for her only assists. She also hit her only two free throws. I can see her continuing to get solid court time against the weaker teams leading to minutes in the big games as well.  

Tierney Lawlor

  

Lawlor only played 4 minutes but it was great to see her on the court.

 Final Thoughts

Next game is against a big Dayton team. At home? Should be an easy win for The Huskies. But they have to clean up some of the play that was prevalent against LSU. Way too sloppy and too weak in the post.