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I'm heartbroken for Kyla Irwin, who injured herself on a rebounding play where she hit the floor hard landing on her left arm. She was taken for x-rays but Geno said it's serious. My uniformed medical back round tells me she won't be back again and her senior season is done. She also broke her finger a few days ago in practice and has been dealing with a foot issue that will require surgery after the season.
Life is not fair sometimes and this young lady has given her all to the UConn program. I personally want to thank her for her dedication and commitment to the Huskies and their fans.
The play was a push from behind and a totally unnecessary play by the USF player.
Heal quickly Kyla and enjoy your post UConn life. And UConn, bring it home for Kyla!!
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Yes, there was a game today and UConn was really off with their shooting. After several game where they were just on fire, the Huskies struggled from the field and from the three point line. They shot only 46% from the field and 34.8% on threes.
Oh yeah, they won 79-38. So close to the 80-39 score in the game against USF played just a week earlier.
Other than the lower shooting percentage, UConn played pretty well in this game. The defense was just outstanding for the Huskies, holding USF to 20.7% from the field, 27.8% on threes and forcing 19 turnovers. The Bulls were bullish on the boards, grabbing 1 more than UConn and they killed UConn off the offensive glass grabbing 17 of those boards.
Megan Walker led the Huskies with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Christyn Williams had a nice total game with 15 points and 4 rebounds. She looked more under control in this game.
UConn/USF Game Replay
Post Game Interview
Megan, Christyn and Geno
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The Huskies will play Cincinnati for the third time this season, this time for the AAC championship.
The game is Monday at 7:00 and can be found on ESPN.
Cincinnati had a solid regular season this year. They were 20-9 and 11-5 in the conference, tied for second in the AAC. They beat UCF twice this season, the latest in the AAC tournament semi-finals beating the Knights 57-51 to have the opportunity to play UConn for the third time. I'm really glad that UCF lost. I hate their style of play. However, Cincinnati is not much different. I just want UConn to come out of this game injury free.
They returned 5 of their top 6 scorers from last season 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. She scored 12 points in the first game against UConn and 6 points in the second.
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 in the first game and 17 in the second game. I'm sure Geno will be having his players pay special attention to her in this game.
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. They lost to Ohio State in overtime, beat UCF twice, the first time by 17 after scoring 81 points against what we know is a tough team to score on.
The last time they played, UConn might have had their best offensive game of the season. The Huskies did a great job moving the ball around with 27 assists on 39 baskets. But it takes more than great passing to score, it takes good shooting and UConn was just amazing from the field and from deep. They were 39-69 for 56.5% from the field and an astounding 16-23 on threes for 69.3% on threes. Wow!
What they didn't do was turn Cincinnati over on defense which usually accounts for a lot of the Huskies scoring. The Beatcats had only 10 turnovers and actually took three more shots than UConn. Unfortunately for them, they made only 23 of 72 shots and 6-20 on threes.
UConn also hammered Cincinnati on the boards, out-rebounding the Bearcats 52-28. The margin just didn't seem that big because the offensive rebounds were almost equal with a 16-14 UConn advantage.
With some late game scoring, Christyn Williams busted out bigtime with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. She was 8-14 from the field and 4-6 on threes.
Megan Walker had another terrific game with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. She was 10-15 from the field and 4-6 on threes. The last 3 threes were just wonderful to see. In just a minute of play she hit three corner threes that hit nothing but net. So smooth.
The last 20 point scorer was Anna Makurat who had 20 points on 7-11 shooting and 4-5 on threes. When she is on she is ON! What I love is that she added 6 assists. She is just a terrific player who is crashing through that freshman wall and becoming that 5th option.
Crystal Dangerfield had a nice game as well. She scored 14 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and handed out 6 assists. Solid performance for the Huskies senior leader. And only one turnover against Cincinnati's pressure defense.
UConn got some nice performances from the bench. Aubrey Griffin is just a physical marvel. She grabbed a pass from Irwin under the basket and did a great job finishing under contact. She ended up with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals. AND she went 2-2 from the foul line.
It would be difficult to duplicate that kind of play, so I'm expecting a closer game. But closer doesn't mean close. I expect UConn to win by 25+ points.
The last time they played, UConn might have had their best offensive game of the season. The Huskies did a great job moving the ball around with 27 assists on 39 baskets. But it takes more than great passing to score, it takes good shooting and UConn was just amazing from the field and from deep. They were 39-69 for 56.5% from the field and an astounding 16-23 on threes for 69.3% on threes. Wow!
What they didn't do was turn Cincinnati over on defense which usually accounts for a lot of the Huskies scoring. The Beatcats had only 10 turnovers and actually took three more shots than UConn. Unfortunately for them, they made only 23 of 72 shots and 6-20 on threes.
UConn also hammered Cincinnati on the boards, out-rebounding the Bearcats 52-28. The margin just didn't seem that big because the offensive rebounds were almost equal with a 16-14 UConn advantage.
With some late game scoring, Christyn Williams busted out bigtime with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. She was 8-14 from the field and 4-6 on threes.
Megan Walker had another terrific game with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. She was 10-15 from the field and 4-6 on threes. The last 3 threes were just wonderful to see. In just a minute of play she hit three corner threes that hit nothing but net. So smooth.
The last 20 point scorer was Anna Makurat who had 20 points on 7-11 shooting and 4-5 on threes. When she is on she is ON! What I love is that she added 6 assists. She is just a terrific player who is crashing through that freshman wall and becoming that 5th option.
Crystal Dangerfield had a nice game as well. She scored 14 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and handed out 6 assists. Solid performance for the Huskies senior leader. And only one turnover against Cincinnati's pressure defense.
UConn got some nice performances from the bench. Aubrey Griffin is just a physical marvel. She grabbed a pass from Irwin under the basket and did a great job finishing under contact. She ended up with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals. AND she went 2-2 from the foul line.
It would be difficult to duplicate that kind of play, so I'm expecting a closer game. But closer doesn't mean close. I expect UConn to win by 25+ points.
First Game Highlights
Second Game Highlights
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So, there has been lots of talk around the 5th and 6th seed between UConn and Louisville. Even though the Cardinals lost in their last game to No. 22 Florida State, the Guru of Bracketology Charlie Creme believes that UConn will stay in the position, head west and be assigned the unenviable task of possibly meeting the red hot Oregon team in the Elite Eight.
As you probably have guessed, I think that is totally unfair and UConn really has the better overall package and should be the 5th overall seed and be in Maryland's region.
The argument I hear is that UConn has no big wins and is only 2-3 against the Top 25.
Louisville is getting a lot of mileage out of that November win against Oregon. A team that would be the Cardinals by 20+ points if they played today.
Can you name the Top Ten teams that have NO losses to teams ranked lower than them?
No. 1 South Carolina lost to Indiana
No. 2 Baylor lost to Iowa State
No. 3 Oregon lost to Arizona State
No. 5 Louisville lost to Ohio State
No. 6 Maryland lost to Iowa
No. 7 Stanford lost to Texas
No. 8 UCLA lost to Washington
No. 9 Mississippi State lost to West Virginia
No. 10 North Carolina State lost to North Carolina
Every one of those loses were to teams that were unranked except for South Carolina losing to Indiana.
UConn it the only team without a lose to a team they were ranked higher then. That has to count for something.
In the big upset of the day, No. 2 Baylor lost to unranked Iowa State 57-56 on a foul shot by the Cyclones with .1 second remaining on the clock. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey was so incensed by the foul being called she threw herself on top of the scorekeeper's table. What a drama queen. I'm sure Baylor would like to play Iowa State again in the Big 12 Tournament next weekend.
There was some talk that if No. 7 Stanford beat No. 3 Oregon, the Cardinal they would move past UConn into the No. 5 overall seed spot. Well, that didn't work out, did it. Stanford lost to Oregon 89-56 behind 20 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists from future POY Sabrina Ionescu. Ruthy Hebard scored 24 points on 9-11 shooting. Oregon really does look like the team to beat.
No. 6 Maryland solidified there spot as the No. 4 overall seed and a No. 1 seed with an 82-65 win over unranked Ohio State in the Big Ten conference final. They now have won 17 consecutive games. I still would like to see UConn in their region.
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By David in Naples!!!!
With games coming one after the other this weekend, the Stats are bound to be a bit confusing. Let's start with the Temple victory Saturday.
Thoughts are as follows:
1. A good defense should hold teams to 15 or less points per period. UConn held Temple to 13, 15 and 15 in the 1st, 2nd and 4th periods.
2. Aubrey has a stat line of 15, 16, and 17. The 15 was points, the 16 rebounds and the 17 free throw attempts. 17 free throws...!!!!!!
3. Aubrey also had matching rebound totals of 8 defensive and 8 offensive. Very rare...
4. Anna had 11 free throw attempts coming into the game. Got 3 against Temple and now has 14. Aubrey has 90 attempts.
5. UConn shot 54% from beyond the 3 pt arc & only 41% inside it. Weird...
6. The five starters went 11-11 from the charity stripe. Only Aubrey missed 6 of her 17 tries.
7. Neither Olivia nor Christyn has an assist vs Temple. But, Irwin, Camara, Bent and Griffin each did.
8. Neither Anna nor Megan had a turnover. (But 11 assists)
9. UConn is 15-2 against Temple. The last loss was in 1982.
Today’s game against USF was over in the 1st period. Consider USF’s opening 15 minutes:
1. The Bulls shot 1-12 from the field.
2. They had 9 turnovers.
3. Also, they had 3 shots blocked.
4. USF didn’t even score for 2 1/2 minutes.
5. They finished the period with 5 points.
6. Their defense gave up 18 points and forced only 2 turnovers.
UConn moves on to the final Monday at 7 pm.
Go Huskies..!!
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Top Twenty-Five Scores and Links
Upsets in Red
Rankings and RPI Sites
Message Boards
UConn Territory - The best UConn women's message board ever!!!
College Fans Only - WCBB board where no holds are barred
Vol Nation - Tennessee women's basketball board
CockyTalk - The upstart South Carolina women's basketball board
ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board
Rebkell - WCBB for everyone that thinks they are smarter than everyone else
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I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:
I believe that Aubrey and Anna May have set or tied some AAC tournament records for a freshman. I haven’t seen anything written about it. Do you think David might have some information about that?
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