Doggy's UConn/Notre Dame Post Game Report

Nothing like a full Gampel!!!!

Well, that was fun! I'm going to focus on the first three quarters. As Geno said "Second half, eh". It was mostly just emotionally and mentally losing focus after getting a large lead. Play is just not as crisp. It's going to happen more times than not, especially when Geno takes his foot off the gas.

The team just looked ready to play anyone coming out of the gate. They were intense, and sharp. Read the quotes I posted from Megan Walker and Crystal Dangerfield and you will see why. Chip? Say hello to shoulder! 

I have to say that while it looks like a game against an overmatched opponent, something we have seen many many times, this was something different. This was against Notre Dame. It's kinda funny to hear about UConn's down years (and that this is one of them) like the 2004-05 to 2006-07 era. In those years UConn went 25-8 (Sweet Sixteen), 32-5 (Elite Eight) and 32-4 (Elite Eight). No, I don't see a 5-6 team like Notre Dame is now.

I have a ton of videos, quotes and player by player analysis, so enjoy!!

Here is the full game replay

Game Highlights

Game Stats and Box Score

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Game Quotes from Geno

“A lot of times when you play Notre Dame, you’re trying to figure out how to keep them from scoring 100 because they have so many good offensive players. This year, with the situation that they find themselves in, we wanted to speed the game up. We wanted to make the game really, really fast, and we wanted to see if they could keep up with us scoring-wise. That’s what the challenge to our players was, and they responded. They responded perfectly in that first half. Second half, eh. But that first half was pretty darn good.”

“Megan’s playing like she’s a first-team All-American player.I don’t know anybody who’s playing better than her in the country. ... And there’s a lot left in her tank of what she can do. She’s just beginning to scratch the surface.”

“Try selling tickets to our fans if you tell them we’re in a rebuilding mode.  They’ll go, ‘All right, call me when they’ve built it.’”

“The one thing I’ve said to players, that I try to remind them of, you don’t want to live off other people’s accomplishments. You — this particular team, as individuals — haven’t won a damn thing since you’ve been at Connecticut. They’ll say we won our conference. Who gives a damn? We went to the Final Four. So does everybody else who plays at Connecticut. What have you won?”

Game Quotes from

Notre Dame Coach Muffet McGraw

(Praying won't help) 

“It’s a great learning experience for all of them, particularly the freshmen. It’s about continuing to battle, which we did. It’s about the little things that we can do better in practice, that we can control. You can’t control the ball going into the basket, but you can control rebounding and setting screens.”

“We hoped to be good in January. That was our goal. Our problem is we really over-scheduled. This team wasn’t ready for our schedule. We put them in a really bad situation, and it’s not going to get any easier. So we just have to keep improving — and that’s always our goal, to get better every day — and see what happens. … We’re just getting beat up so much. I don’t know how we’re going to recover from this.”

UConn Post Game Interviews

Geno Interview

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Megan Walker Interview

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Olivia Nelson-Ododa Interview

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Crystal Dangerfield Interview 

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Post Game Interview
Notre Dame Coach Muffet McGraw

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UConn Player Evaluations

Megan Walker

“We wanted to prove something. Just as a team we heard that we’re not the typical UConn team, or we’re not this or we’re not that. We wanted to play together. We wanted to prove that we’re capable of doing those things.”

Wow!!! I'll admit it. I thought she would be good this year bordering on great. But her play this year so far is much more than that. She was clearly the best play on the court once again and not only that, she looked like maybe the best player in the country. Hyperbole? Maybe. Maybe not. 

In her 38 minutes (Geno doesn't want to take her out) she scored 26 points, grabbed 13 rebounds (4 offensive), 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. A complete box score. 

I posted two pictures of Megan. Take a good look at the second one and focus on her arm. Think she has been in the gym? Muffet was asked about Megan's play and she said a big part is the change in her body. So true. She is now bigger and stronger and so much more fit. 38 minutes? She looked like she could go 48.     

Crystal Dangerfield

“Day by day, we’re figuring it out. We had the tie game down at Seton Hall. We had a game here where we could have easily kept it close, not put our foot on the gas in certain areas of the game. We’re playing against ourselves, at the end of the day. We want to hold ourselves to a standard and play with a certain energy level, focus, and attention to detail, and right now I think that’s the most important thing for us.”

It was great to have Crystal back. She means so much to this team. You have to love her senior leadership. Her long and I mean LONG range shooting forces the opponent to respect that shot opening the lane for her to drive and dish. She did look a little rusty with 5 turnovers, some of those were real head scratchers, but she played a solid game in her return.  Geno was able to limit her minutes some with only 33. She had 10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.  

Christyn Williams

It's hard to believe, but Williams seems to be an afterthought at times in this game. Yet, she played 38 minutes and had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. What I noticed is that she only took 8 shots. It appears to me that she is still deferring. Last year it was to Samuelson and Collier. This year it's Nelson-Ododa and Walker. Is that good or bad? I'm not sure. But she has been efficient in her play and was just that in this game. She has skills on this team that no one else has.     

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Olivia Nelson-Ododa

Olivia is still figuring it out. That should scare the hell out of the rest of WCBB. Her post moves are still a work in progress and her outside shooting is still inconsistent.  Yet, she still puts up numbers that anyone would be happy to have. In her 29 minutes, she scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. Nice numbers. However, she had no assists. Nary a one! And her passing out of the post is an important part of the UConn offense. I'd like to see this game be an anomaly and not the norm.  

Watch her post game interview and see the maturation of Olivia!

Kyla Irwin

Kyla didn't score much, but her first basket was a thing of beauty. It was fun to see UConn set a play for her to start the game and she hit the open corner three. It was a perfect play to call against the zone that Notre Dame plays and Kyla just drained it. She is not entrenched in the starting lineup and getting her 20+ minutes each game. In this one she played 21 and had 5 points, 4 assists and 1 block. That might not seem like big stats, but she contributes the entire time she is on the court. I'm so thrilled for her to have earned this starting position and that she is really contributing.

Molly Bent

Who is this aggressive player wearing number 10???  Yes, it's Molly Bent! The picture I posted here is her driving hard for a layup and making it in spite of being fouled. She has now turned into the perfect player to spell Dangerfield at the point. She only played 9 minutes but she did score 5 points and had 1 assist. Like Kyla, it's great to see her part of the regular rotation her senior season.   

Aubrey Griffin

I'm sure there will be some fans that are upset that Aubrey only received 17 minutes after her great outing in the previous game. Such is the life of a freshman playing for Geno. He is constantly building up and breaking down players. Or is that breaking down and building up. Whatever. In her 17 minutes, she still had some good play. She scored 4 points and grabbed 3 rebounds. She only had 1 assists but she didn't have a turnover. That will always get you more minutes.

Anna Makurat   

Another freshman game for another freshman players. Anna played 15 minutes but other than hitting one three pointer, it was like she wasn't on the court. After a big rebounding effort in the previous game, she only had one more than I did in this game. I'm sure there will be better games ahead for our Polish Rifle. 

 Final Thoughts

After every game, the team stats keep improving. They are shooting better, even at the foul line. And I noticed they are rebounding better too. Part of this is who they are playing against. But the team is a very good TEAM rebounding group.

Notre Dame is going to win a few games. But just a few. They are not a very good team this year. They still look like they are in pre-season play at times. It makes sense. These players really haven't played together at all. 

The next game is against DePaul on Monday, December 16th on the Blue Demon's home court. Yes, I am very nervous about this game. Maybe by the time I finish the Pregame Report I won't be as worried.