Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 2/25/20

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Image result for not pretty has to be gritty

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UConn is taking on Cincinnati in their second match up of the season. In the first game, UConn beat the Bearcats 80-50. After that game I asked the question - Is Cincinnati the new UCF? Tough defense boarding on chippy? It sure seemed that way to me. I hate teams that play this way.

It looked to me that UConn really let it get to them in that horrible second quarter. Granted, it's on the Huskies when they play like that, but the refs need to call all the fouls. It's the "the refs can't call everything" defense.

UConn busted out in the third quarter to extend the lead and never let Cincinnati make any runs to close the gap.

The star of that game was clearly Crystal Dangerfield. She ran the offense and against some physical defense, had 5 assists and only 1 turnover. She also led the Huskies in scoring, hitting 7-13 from the field, 5-7 on threes and 5-6 from the free throw line for her 24 points.

Walker was terrific in this game as well with 21 points on 8-12 shooting along with going 2-4 on threes. She added 11 rebounds. The turnover bug has not been cured for Megan as she had 5 of them, most of them unforced.

I really liked how Olivia Nelson-Ododa played in that game. She was 6-6 from the field for her 12 points. She was strong in the paint. She is still making stupid fouls and that is limiting her time on the court. She has to be smarter than that. She added 9 rebounds.

UConn did a great job on defense other than a lousy 2nd quarter. They held the Bearcats to 32% shooting and 27% on threes. UConn outrebounded Cincinnati 47-28, a big difference maker in this game.

Overall a great game for the Huskies. Now, on the road, can they play that well again? I'm betting it might be a little closer. Home games for the opponent sometimes do make a difference.

Cincinnati is a very experienced team. They returned 5 of their top 6 scorers and those returning players are 4 seniors, 1 junior. That is the beauty of WCBB, with most players staying for four years, you have a chance to have a team that starts 4 or 5 seniors and all upper classmen. That is certainly the case for the Bearcats.

5'10" junior forward llmar'l Thomas has been terrific this season. She is leading the AAC in scoring with a 20.7 average, and the team with 8.7 rebounds per game. She gets to the free throw line often and hits at an 80% clip. Thomas is only 5'10" but she is a wide body and does a great job carving out space in the paint. However, UConn held her to 12 points and 2 rebounds in the first match up.

5'6" senior guard Antoinette Miller is the second leading scorer for Cincinnati at 16 ppg. She is second in assists and has a decent assists/to ratio. She scored 19 points and had 8 rebounds. But she only shot 7-22 from the field.

The rest of the starters are 6' senior forward Angel Rizor, 5'10" senior guard Sam Rodgers and 5'7" senior guard Florence Sifa. Off the bench are 5'10"RS sophomore Addaya Moore and 5'6" freshman guard Aleah Nelson.

As you can see, this is not a big team, but they are tough and seasoned.

Look for more tough but chippy defense by Cincinnati and if the refs don't call enough fouls on them, it could be a long and physical night.

UConn by 20+.

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Player of the Week
Megan Walker * Jr. * F * UConn

Walker averaged 19.0 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per contest in a pair of conference victories against Tulane (Feb. 19) and UCF (Feb. 22) last week. The wins clinched UConn’s seventh consecutive American Athletic Conference regular-season championship. Walker scored 18 points and chipped in five rebounds and five assists against Tulane, shooting 58.3 percent from the field (8-for-12). She led all scorers with 20 points and pulled down 11 boards for her ninth double-double of the year in the win over UCF, to go along with six assists and three steals.

Freshman of the Week
Anna Makurat * Fr. * G * UConn

Makurat earned freshman of the week honors for the third time this season after logging 17.5 points per game and 5.0 rebounds for 2-0 UConn last week. She finished the week hitting 65 percent of her shots from the floor, including a 50 percent clip from beyond the arc. Makurat scored 18 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and six steals in the win over Tulane (Feb. 19). Against UCF (Feb. 22) she scored 17 points, all in the second half, on 75 percent shooting while adding five rebounds in the win for the Huskies.

In 15 weekly awards, Anna leads the way with 3 FOW honors, Regan Bradley-SMU; Madison Griggs-Memphis; Elena Tsineke-USF Taniya Thompson-ECU all have 2. Aubrey has 1.

On the POW honors, Meg leads the way with 4, Iimar'i Thomas-Cin has 3, KayKay Wright and Olivia Nelson Ododa each have 2. Christyn Williams has 1.

UConn has only had 2 FOY with Kia Nurse and Christyn Williams. UConn has won all 6 POY-Breanna with 3, Katie Lou and Pheesa with 2 each. They tied in 2016-17.

Looks like the Huskies have a chance to sweep these two award. GO UCONN!!

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By David in Naples!!!!

Everyone is making a big deal about Sabrina Ionescu reaching the 2,000 point, 1,000 assist and 1,000 rebound level for her career. While that is noteworthy, Maya Moore's stats are more impressive. Much more impressive.

For starters, Maya score 3,036 points. That is 1,000 more than Ionescu. Moore also finished with 1,276 rebounds, far more than Ionescu. Maya's 544 assist total is far less, but for a reason. UConn uses multiple ball handlers and regularly finishes the season with 3 or 4 players with over 100 assists. Last night, Sabrina had 12 of her team's 13 assists. Everything goes through Ionescu in Oregon's offense. Apples and oranges...

Maya also added 310 steals and 204 blocked shots in her UConn career. So, in addition to being the #1 scorer, #2 rebounder and #9 assist leader, Moore is #4 in steals and #8 in blocks in UConn history. She also had 2 National Championships. We will see if Ionescu can get even 1.

Go Huskies..!!