Game Analysis
Is there any question now about who is the best team in the country? Maybe after Mississippi State plays South Carolina and doesn't dominate like UConn people will get it. It shouldn't take for that to happen to convince people that the Huskies are by far the best team.
After a slow couple of minutes, UConn just dominated the Gamecocks. The starting five for the Huskies is just so difficult to defend. They move the ball in, out, side to side, back in, back out and do it so quickly the opponent has no chance to stop UConn from getting an open shot. The only difference between the two halves was UConn didn't his the open shots. They certainly had many of them.
I watched closely the two coaches throughout the game and I don't think I've seen Geno smile so much in that first half and conversely, I don't think I've seen Dawn Staley so passive. I think the white outfit was appropriate as she seemed to surrender to Geno's minions early in the game.
Some thought that UConn's road to success in this game would be to keep the ball out of Wilson's hands. But I think the key ended up being how difficult they made it for Wilson to get a good shot once she did get the ball. She was able to take 18 shots and made only 4 of them, a tribute to the quick defense UConn was able to slap on her. She had no chance, especially with the rest of the SC team not able to pick up the slack.
My big regret is my underestimating how good UConn is. I only picked a 15 point win for UConn. As I worked on my pregame report I could see how many advantages UConn had and how undermanned the Gamecocks were in this game. I just couldn't pull the trigger on a 25 point win. My bad!
After a slow couple of minutes, UConn just dominated the Gamecocks. The starting five for the Huskies is just so difficult to defend. They move the ball in, out, side to side, back in, back out and do it so quickly the opponent has no chance to stop UConn from getting an open shot. The only difference between the two halves was UConn didn't his the open shots. They certainly had many of them.
I watched closely the two coaches throughout the game and I don't think I've seen Geno smile so much in that first half and conversely, I don't think I've seen Dawn Staley so passive. I think the white outfit was appropriate as she seemed to surrender to Geno's minions early in the game.
Some thought that UConn's road to success in this game would be to keep the ball out of Wilson's hands. But I think the key ended up being how difficult they made it for Wilson to get a good shot once she did get the ball. She was able to take 18 shots and made only 4 of them, a tribute to the quick defense UConn was able to slap on her. She had no chance, especially with the rest of the SC team not able to pick up the slack.
My big regret is my underestimating how good UConn is. I only picked a 15 point win for UConn. As I worked on my pregame report I could see how many advantages UConn had and how undermanned the Gamecocks were in this game. I just couldn't pull the trigger on a 25 point win. My bad!
Game Highlights
Game Replay
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Game Quotes from Geno
South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley
Post Game Interview
South Carolina's Wilson and Jackson
Post Game Interview
''After that 29-8 run, If you really know about basketball, you're going to say, `Wow, that's amazing,''
"Those two (Nurse,Williams) when they play like they did tonight, it is really, really, really hard to beat us. When those two play like seniors, it's hard to beat us".
"I thought Gabby set the tone pretty early that, 'Yeah, we're undersized, but we're going to battle, we're going to fight and we're going to push the ball and do what we do". And that's what we did."
"We're trying to come out and play in such a way where if you know a lot about basketball you're going to say 'Wow, that's amazing'. And if you don't know but a little bit about basketball, you're going to be able to appreciate what we're doing and what those kids are doing. Our players thrive in this environment. It's why they come to Connecticut."
"This team, I've never felt at any particular time, all right, we're there. There's too many variables I don't like about this particular team, the way it's made up. So along the way I'm constantly trying to gauge...where are we on that spectrum? We've made great strides. A month ago, I would tell you, it would be hard for us to win this game."
Post Game Interview
Post Game Interview
Game Quotes
South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley
"With UConn, it is those times in which they can take control of the games. Where you're not getting back, you're turning the ball over, you're giving them second opportunities to score points, and then you're coming up with too many empty possessions. Once you have those lapses, it's hard to overcome. You have to get out significantly in front of them to have a shot at beating them."
"Obviously, we didn't get the performance we wanted. But in these kind of games, you have to take away what went well. We all know what we did wrong, but we also did some things well. If we get to play them again we will utilize it."
Player Evaluations
Kia Nurse
Kia just did it. She hit her open threes early like they were layups. She played outstanding defense on South Carolina's point guard Harris. And her senior leadership was on display in this game. In her team leading 39 minutes Kia scored 23 points, was 5-10 on threes and 4-4 from the foul line. She set the tone early and UConn just fed off of her play.
"Its a growing, learning experience every single day, but I think today was a great step forward in me and Gabby taking ownership of the team. There's a lot that goes into it. People have done it before and they have done it for a year so you get one year, one chance at it and that is when you start to grow. Last year was a bit of a taste of it, now it is building on it and we have done a better job of it."
"I guess in a sense, yeah, you could think about being favorites in the NCAA's. The coaches have done a good job of getting us to think about what's next. But obviously, you take the positives away from every win."
Gabby Williams
Sore hip or not, Gabby was more dominant player on the court. She does it on both ends of the court. She hit her short jump shot, rebounded like a demon, defended like a madman and at times intimidated the South Carolina players. She only played 28 minutes, but she managed to score 14 points, grad 14 rebounds, hand out 5 assists and added a steal. She also made 3-4 plays that had the announcers going nuts! Make sure you look at the picture I posted at the end of this blog. It will blow your mind!!!
"We all see it. We all feel it. It's an intangible thing. Our chemistry is improving and our maturity is improving, our approach."
"We've player here before, we know how it goes. It's our fourth time playing them now so we kind of have to show how it's done. We want our young guys to be in our position to be better than us even. We've been blessed to have the best leaders in the world to show us how it is done. We want to give back to make sure this legacy and tradition keeps going. It's not just you having a good year. It's you not letting down 30 years before. You never want to be that team where the tradition ends, that reign, the empire kind of falls so that is kind of what is on our shoulders."
Kati Lou Samuelson
It felt like a quite game for Kati Lou, but after looking at the stats she had a really good game. In 38 minutes she had 20 points and was 3-7 on threes. She added 8 rebounds and 3 assists. I love the rebounding number. Geno (and many fans) have been all over her for not being more of a force on the boards. Not in this game!
Crystal Dangerfield
Not Dangerfield's best game, but as Geno has said in the past, just because you didn't shoot well doesn't mean you didn't play well. Crystal really pushed the envelope on that statement! She was 1-10 from the field and 1-5 on threes for her only 3 points. But she had 3 assists and ZERO turnovers in her 27 minutes. Her defense on whatever guard she was defending was also solid. I'm sure she is kicking herself for missing so many shots. Better days ahead.
Napheesa Collier
I loved Colliers effort in this game. She was tough on the boards and tough in defending Wilson for much of the game sharing the load with Gabby. She didn't hesitate to take the open three and went 2-2 from long range. She also didn't let early foul trouble bother her. She managed to play 33 minutes and had 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 blocks and 2 steals. Yeah, she really filled up the box score!
Azura Stevens
Who was this stranger in the No. 23? I don't think I've seen Stevens as timid as she was in this game. The early two fouls didn't help but I would have loved to see her more aggressive anyway. She ended up with 4 fouls and was only able to play 17 minutes. She did block 2 shots and those were really helpful in UConn holding SC down in scoring but on offense, she just disappeared. Hopefully it was a learning experience and we will see her play better in UConn's next big test against Louisville.
Megan Walker
Ok, Walker is not quite there yet. I thought her 10 minutes were solid, but she wasn't able to hit a shot and that certainly is a case of a lack of confidence. But I did like that she still took them. Her big issue was fouls. Four in ten minutes? Not good. But I replayed those fouls and only 1 of them looked legit to me.
And the rest
Not a game for the bench, but I will say that coombs looked good in her two minutes. I loved the floater in the lane!
Final Thoughts
My High School friend John was at the game and took some great pictures. This one is our favorite.
Cincinnati is up next and while I love Jamelle Elliot, this game will not go well for her and her Bearcats. They've had some tough losses this year but are still 13-9 and 5-4 in the conference.
My High School friend John was at the game and took some great pictures. This one is our favorite.
Look at Gabby over rim for this rebound. Yeah, it's the angle of the shot, but damn, doesn't it look like she is going to slam the ball in the basket????
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