This may be my all time favorite UConn picture!
Replay of the game including Post Game Ceremony!!
Game Analysis
As many have noted, it was a big of a strange game. A little disjointed, but that could be expected after a long layoff. But as usual the team found a way to pull away after a 13-3 Oklahoma run closed the gap to seven points.
I predicted a 45 point UConn win and boy, was I off. It was nice to see once of my favorite coaches Sherri Coale, have her team ready for the ultra-talented UConn roster. They played without fear, very aggressively on both offense and especially defense. They knocked Williams out of the game early who was thankfully not injured for long and hammered Dangerfield, taking her out of her game.
Offensively, Oklahoma struggled for much of the game but I was really impressed with their 6'2" guard Maddie Manning, a 6th year grad student who has a game similar to Kati Lou. She gave the UConn fits in the first half scoring 15 points. UConn was able to shut her down in the second half, but I really enjoyed watching her play. Gabby Ortiz played all 40 minutes, and hit a couple of threes that made me shake my head. A tough player and fun to watch.
The crowd was electric the entire game. When Oklahoma made their run, the crowd just got louder and louder! It was awesome being a part of it.
Thanks to my friend Carol for the tickets!
Game Highlights
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Post Game Interview
Game Quotes from Geno
"You know the first 12 were the hardest of all 1,000 of them trust me. Its a great memory i have of that group. they were so excited, so happy and I have never seen a bunch of kids happier to get 12 wins. To see them today and see where they have been, they still carry it around with them and they'll always be part of this."
''If you look back and you think about the significant accomplishments, not just in sports, but it's always done in pairs. Our best teams have been dominated by two people. I don't think anything this difficult can be accomplished by one person. I don't think so. My title makes me responsible, me the recipient of all this. There's no way that we'd be having this conversation if I had hired somebody different than Chris.''
"The celebration was a little over the top don't you think? I think the people that got the most satisfaction out of the celebration were the players. The players that have played here and this years players. They seemed most engaged and had the most fun. It meant a lot to them. We alwasy try to make it about our players and tonight was just another example of that."
"I remember thinking that it was going to be really easy, I thought how could it be hard? I was so self assure and so cocky and so full of myself that of course it was going to be easy.....It wasn't until the middle of January that it started to dawn on me and you're not as good as you thought you were and you're only going to be as good as the players you are able to get here. I realized I am pretty good at what I do but it doesn't matter unless you get the players that are really really good"
"I think it's a number that, it's significant because so few people have been able to do that. There's just so few opportunities to coach that many games. So you feel incredibly fortunate that you're one of a very, very, very select few and they're some of the great coaches that have ever coached. Next week, tw weeks from now, three weeks from now, a month from now when we're playing games, I don't know that I'll be referred to as '1,000-game winner Geno Auriemma'. I think it's over and done with once it happens and we move on and it's something that we put in our memory band and go from there."
''If you look back and you think about the significant accomplishments, not just in sports, but it's always done in pairs. Our best teams have been dominated by two people. I don't think anything this difficult can be accomplished by one person. I don't think so. My title makes me responsible, me the recipient of all this. There's no way that we'd be having this conversation if I had hired somebody different than Chris.''
"The celebration was a little over the top don't you think? I think the people that got the most satisfaction out of the celebration were the players. The players that have played here and this years players. They seemed most engaged and had the most fun. It meant a lot to them. We alwasy try to make it about our players and tonight was just another example of that."
"I remember thinking that it was going to be really easy, I thought how could it be hard? I was so self assure and so cocky and so full of myself that of course it was going to be easy.....It wasn't until the middle of January that it started to dawn on me and you're not as good as you thought you were and you're only going to be as good as the players you are able to get here. I realized I am pretty good at what I do but it doesn't matter unless you get the players that are really really good"
"I think it's a number that, it's significant because so few people have been able to do that. There's just so few opportunities to coach that many games. So you feel incredibly fortunate that you're one of a very, very, very select few and they're some of the great coaches that have ever coached. Next week, tw weeks from now, three weeks from now, a month from now when we're playing games, I don't know that I'll be referred to as '1,000-game winner Geno Auriemma'. I think it's over and done with once it happens and we move on and it's something that we put in our memory band and go from there."
Game Quotes from
Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale
"I think this game helps us for the rest of the season because you have to be on the floor with that (UConn) to understand the level, both in terms of intensity and execution. I did not think we were intimidated, I thought we played really hard, I thought we did good things and had success with things. So it just changes the way everybody else looks and feels when you go up against it."
"I'm a competitor. It's an amazing accomplishment, but I wish the 1000th win had happened against somebody else."
"Obviously he has set the bar at a crazy high level. It's both the way his teams play and the way they conduct themselves. It's total class and the momentum that he has been able to capture and ride through a couple of decades is almost incomprehensible."
Player Evaluations
UConn Player Post Game Interviews
Kati Lou Samuelson
Kati Lou is back. She showed no issues from her previous foot issues on the court. She ran free and looked comfortable. That is huge for these Huskies. Geno had her on the court for 39 minutes and she looked no worse for the wear. She was hot early one, hitting a couple of threes, but it was her overall game that was impressive. She helped break the pressure, made some great entry passes to the post and had a couple of her own post moves. She scores 19 points and handed out 6 assists. A nice complete game for Samuelson.
"We have that confidence going into every game that we want to win it and we want to give ourselves an opportunity to win. Kind of balancing that is what Coach and CD are really good at having us go. People who played last season kind of understand how to play and just focus on the game because it felt like we were playing for something every single game last season."
Crystal had an unusual game. Pre collision and post collision. She was all over the court, making great decisions, hitting her threes and pull up jumpers. Than Oklahoma put the squeeze on her and knocked her for a loop. She seemed to be off at that point until Geno finally pulled her. She looked ok again later in the game. In her 34 minutes she had only 8 points and 1 assists. She also had 4 turnovers in one of her overall weaker games.
Kia Nurse
Kia had a terrific second half, especially when it appeared that Dangerfield was struggling. She ran the point and made some great decisions. She showed her senior leadership in settling down the team after Oklahoma closed the margin to seven points. Kia played 39 minutes scoring 17 points and hitting 3-6 on threes, continuing her hot shooting from long distance.
"We were just talking about trying to get stops on defense and moving the ball, making sure people were getting to open spots and trying to get inside as much as possible and have our bigs do as much work as they needed to."
"In a sense the break was a really good thing because you get to step back and be home for a little while after long travels and you get to refresh your mind. At the same you're not necessarily playing games, you're just practicing and trying to get better at the little things. I think today we came out ok and we had to keep pushing through."
"This milestone they came up on is extremely special and they're special people that absolutely deserve this. What's so great about them is that they genuinely want you to be better basketball players and better people. They go out of their way to come back and have a passion for this game and a passion to make you a better person and when people care about you like that, that's why you see so many alumni coming back for this."
Napheesa Collier
Collier had a terrific game in spite of her foul problems. In her 32 minutes Napheesa had 21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. She was 9-16 from the field but only 1-5 on threes. That means she was 8-11 on 2 point shots. Believe it or not, there were some fans complaining about her performance. Just dumb. She worked really hard to get open under the basket and scored when she did get the ball.
Gabby Williams
A tough game for Gabby. She got hit in the stomach early in the game and had to leave the court. She ran into the locker room. I was happy to see it wasn't a leg issue, but boy, was she in pain. She had several tough foul calls against her, but when you are guarding someone as big as the Oklahoma center, sometimes the refs just don't see it her way. She only played 24 minutes, and did not make an impact scoring as she had only 3 points on 1-5 shooting. But she did have 8 assists and 10 rebounds, so she wasn't totally ineffective. Williams also had a steal and a block.
Stevens is just looking better and better every game. In this one she played only 26 minutes, but was able to score 20 points on 8-10 shooting and she was also 1-2 on threes. The picture above is after her only three. Think she was excited? Azura was also 3-3 from the free throw line, grabbed 8 rebounds and added three asssts. Her movements are becoming more natural as she adjust to Geno's system and her new teammates. Loved her under the basket moves. Very few players her size can do what she does.
"I think they just came out attacking, they were making shots and getting some easy scores in the lane so they had momentum. Usually we try to take momentum away from teams early on in the game and we just let them hang around."
"We new this big game was coming. I talked to him before the game and asked him how he felt about it. The pressure is in performing how UConn performs every night and not really on this. He didn't make it a big deal but I know it's a special moment for him."
"It's amazing to see all the tradition and the history, and to live that out everyday. It's cool to see the first team come back and to see Coach and CD after the game and how happy they were. This is just a really great moment for all of us."
The Rest
Great game of cheering by the bench, as Oklahoma made it such that UConn had no margin for error. Just a minute of play for everyone but Megan Walker, who was out sick.
Final Thoughts
I could write forever about this game. It was so much fun to see all the former players, to hear Geno talk about his journey and give so much credit to Chris Daily. He can be sarcastic but he is a really good person who cares so much about his staff and his players, present and former.
Next is Duquesne University in Kia Nurse's Canadian homecoming game. Over the next 6 games UConn has only one possible tough one, against South Florida. Then they meet Texas!!!
It's been a great season to date. The team is rounding into shape. It's only going to get better.
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