Doggy's UConn/Texas Post Game Report

Game Highlights

Game Analysis

I said most of what I had to say in the prior blog, but I will repeat most of it here.

Texas, right from the get go, was playing inspired ball. I believe they hit 4 of their first 7 three pointers. They outhustled UConn for 50/50 balls, they crashed the offensive board and fed off of the spectacular record breaking crowd of over 11,000 rabid fans. They are a really big and athletic team. 

But UConn battled back several times as they were down 10 points a few times in the first quarter. As usual ended both quarters with big runs. I believe that the previous two games, where they won easily but had to deal with physical play, prepared them for this physical Texas team.

Both teams missed a ton of opportunities but it seemed to me that UConn missed more shots they usually made. A lot of that has to do with the tough Texas defense. I don't want to take anything away from the Longhorns. They played a great game.

At the end, UConn just made more plays than Texas did.  Texas, after starting 4-7 on threes, only hit 1 of their last 14. If they didn't have 14 more shots than UConn, the game is not close. As my friend Dan predicted as we watched the game, this could go down to free throws. Texas went 1-4 in the last 2 minutes and the Huskies were 15-17 for the game. Dangerfield iced the game with two free throws to give UConn the final four point margin. After she made the two free throws, I turned to my friend Dan and reminded him of the game last year where Crystal had a chance to ice a game and missed her free throw. Geno recalled that same game in his post game interview. Actually, there were two games that she missed key free throws. The first game against Florida State and then later in the year against Maryland. You could see in the look on her face that she was going to make these two shots.

Geno was clear that he was going to focus on the bench over the next few games against Tulsa, Temple, Memphis and Tulane. He certainly showed his concern that the players could wear down. I'm happy to hear him say that. But it's up to the players to show they can contribute in the time that it looks like Geno is willing to give them. I hope they rise to the challenge.

Game Stats and Box Score

Take a good look at the box score for clues about how UConn won and how Texas stayed in the game.

- The Huskies made 9 more free throws.

- Texas took 14 more shots.

- UConn shot 49% from the field

- Texas shot 43% from the field

- UConn was 6-15 on threes for 40%

- Texas started out 4-7 and ended up 5-21 on threes for 23%.

- UConn had only 12 assists almost half of their usual total.

- UConn committed 17 personal fouls. They had averaged 12.5 coming into this game.

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Game Quotes from Geno

"I trust her"

"From my vantage point, we just made a couple of plays down the stretch and we did just enough to   win the game. They’re a really good team to play against, especially here. We're just so undersized in so many positions and they just manhandled us in the first half.  

"I thought we did a much better job in the second half. We rebounded better and we were a little bit more aggressive." 

"I thought we made just enough plays to win the game. 

"Getting off to a fast start....That’s what you’ve got to do at home. The last thing you want to happen on your home-court is the visiting team to start the game on a huge run and get the crowd out of it. I think the way Texas shot the ball early on got the crowd going and got them going. It just kind of 

built on itself. That’s what’s supposed to happen."

"I wish we had two of these a week. It would be a lot of fun for our players and be a lot of fun

 for me too."

  "We found out about how much tougher we have to be. There are some things we can’t make up for. 

We’re not going to get a lot bigger as the season goes along. This is who we are and who we’ve got. 

We’ve got to be better for everything that we aren’t going to be able to handle on the defensive end. 

We have to be really, really good at the offensive end and create problems for the other team.

"Today, for long stretches, we had trouble doing that. When we got into a little bit of a rhythm in 

the second half that calmed everybody down. Sometimes these games don’t happen until too late. 

You can’t manufacture these types of games. You’ve just got to play them. If you win by a lot, that’s 

not anyone’s fault. So, when you get a game like this, it’s perfect." 

"They were good. They made some big plays. Huge plays." 

Post Game Interview

Karen Aston and Brooke McCarty

Game Quotes from

South Florida Coach Karen Aston

"It's really hard playing an out-of-conference game and I thought that both teams played very hard. That was a fun atmosphere for our team to play in. I know UConn plays in these kinds of atmosphere a lot. For over 11,000 people to come to our own center on a holiday was exciting."

"I'm very proud of our players and proud that people came to watch women's basketball in Austin in that capacity. I hope we gained a few fans that will come back."

"It came down to a possession game, which we will for sure learn some lessons from. I thought there were some segments where we took some ill-advised shots, in which we will look back on and understand more about our possessions and which shots to take. It came down to getting in stops and free throws."

''We talked before we went out on the floor today about this was an opportunity to measure and see who we are and who we can be. 'As a coach, you hope that this group of girls decides that this is who they are all the time. And we have a really good thing if that's what they decide."

"Azura was the difference today just because Napheesa got into foul trouble and Napeesa's been a problem for us and I think we did a great job on her. Azura came in and picked up the load and that is kind of what happens."

Player Evaluations

Kia Nurse

Not the best game for Kia. But she played 40 minutes of tough defense, and was a big reason that UConn was able to force Texas into 1-14 three point shooting after their hot start. She did score 13 points and was 5-5 from the foul line and her one three pointer was huge. She also helped on the boards grabbing 5 rebounds. She didn't have an assists but only had 1 turnovers. Solid game again for the senior.

Kati Lou Samuelson 

What a terrific game by Katie Lou and two missed foul shots won't change that. Samuelson played 37 minutes, only coming out after she was smacked in the left eye by a Texas player where, unexplainably, no foul was called. She hit some big threes and showed her complete game where she drove to the basket and hit pull up jumpers as well. Add in her terrific defense and you have a complete player. She had team leading 19 points and didn't have a single turnover.

"One of our keys was to disrupt their offense and make the right people take the right shots. They
started off really hot, making almost everything. We just had to adjust and keep playing. We had
to make sure that every shot they took was contested. We knew they were going to make tough shots
but we just had to stay tough on defense."

Crystal Dangerfield

Mighty mite!!!! She is small in stature but big in everything else. The plays at the end of the first half were so important. A three pointers and then a steal that would lead to a basket by Stevens that she assisted on. Her conditioning is just spectacular. The camera shots from behind that show her incredibly muscular upper body are telling. The Texas point guard is quick, but Crystal is super-quick. She played the entire 40 minutes and scored 11 points with 3 assists. The two clinching foul shots were just money. Never a doubt. She is playing like an upper classman and two more years of her? A future AA and Lieberman Award winner.  

I posted a video of Geno briefly talking about Dangerfield. Basically he said "I trust her". No bigger compliment for a player than that from Geno.

"The calmness came from the foul shots that we shoot at practice. We've done it so many times that I
just remember what it feels like to see it go through the basket."

"The atmosphere was great. We knew it was going to be like that. Their fans were loud and we had
 to settle down during situations when they were going on their runs. I think our team was able to
 regroup and we needed a game like this."

Napheesa Collier

I chose this picture because it is an indicator of what a rough game Collier had. She only played 26 minutes due to foul trouble and she eventually became the first UConn player to foul out this year. It appears that when she misses her first couple of shots, she loses confidence. As a junior, she really shouldn't do that anymore. She had only 7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and more importantly had 4 bad turnovers. I'd expect a big bounce back game for her against Tulsa, one of the weaker AAC teams.

 Gabby Williams

 don't think I have seen Williams miss so many layups. She was 4-9 from the field and I'm not sure that all 5 of her misses weren't with her usually deadly left handed bank shot layup. Looks like the Texas size gave her a little trouble. If they play again I'm sure Gabby would make these shots. Williams played a tough 37 minutes scoring 9 points and soaring against the Texas bigs for 11 rebounds. She added 6 assists but too many turnovers with 5. A little loose with the ball at times that really hurt the Huskies.     

"The dribble penetration was pretty bad during the first half. Texas had a lot of offensive rebounds 
and I think they got a three point shot on almost every offensive rebound they got. We just needed to 
run our offense and make them play defense as much as they were making us play defense."

"Yes, I think we needed a game like this. Everything we said was going to happen in practice happened tonight. Hopefully we start to understand that we need to take these kinds of things seriously in practice."

Azura Stevens 

Stevens right not is the second scoring option behind Samuelson, and sometimes is the first option. Her post moves are just amazing. It's so much fun to see her keep that pivot foot anchored and then keeps twisting and turning until she has a clear layup off the glass. Text book. With Collier struggling, they really needed Azura to step up. I was surprised to see she only played 20 minutes. It felt like more to me. But she was effective in her limited minutes. Stevens scored 16 points on 6-11 shooting and 4-4 from the foul line.        

The Rest

Not one minute. That has to change. And Geno said he will use the next few games to see if he can make that change. Hopefully a couple of players will begin to earn his trust. I'm looking forward to see who does that. (nice legs Shea) 

 Final Thoughts

You know me. I always look at the positives and there were some big ones in this game. Games like this toughen a team and also give them confidence if they are in another tough game. Certainly Louisville at home and South Carolina on the road will be the possible competitive games before late in the NCAA tournament. Geno was extremely proud of the team. We all should be.