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From the UConn Beat Writer
UConn WBB will NOT be adding a game before Tuesday's matchup vs. Butler, I am told.
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) January 13, 2021
This is out of precaution after UConn played Providence, who now has COVID-19 issues, this past Saturday.
Due to COVID-19 issues among opponents, UConn will go 27 days playing only 2 games
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Both my wife and my daughter only look at the blog to see pictures of my grandkids.
This is for them. You can enjoy them too!!!
My wonderful Clinical Program Director daughter got her first Covid shot today!!!!
The boys sure love their cookies!!!!
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So, when I saw this picture from a UConn game last year and saw Paige and Azzi having fun, smiling and laughing along with Amari DeBerry I was thrilled. I was hoping that this deadly duo would both come to Storrs. I'm not sure Amari had verballed already. Then I asked someone, "Is that another recruit next to Azzi?". I mean, she looked so detached and no smile. I was told that was Caroline Ducharme, a pretty good player from Massachusetts. Great I thought. Well, what the hell did I know. She missed her sophomore season with a knee injury but after her junior season, she zooooomed up the rankings before ending up at No. 5 in the Hoopsgurlz 2021 list. Once you see a few highlights, you will understand why.
Now if you go to ESPN.COM and look for the 2021 rankings, ignore their listed height for Caroline. They have incorrectly listed her as 5'10". It's not true. She is, in reality, 6'2". And like Saylor Poffenbarger, she can play multiple positions. Including point guard. Her basketball smarts are off the charts.
She has LONG three point range and one of the best hesitation move to the basket that I've seen in someone her height. Well, I could go on and on but thankfully there are several highlight videos I can share.
Ok, that was just a brief look at her skills. Pretty good so far, huh.
This one was taken by her father Todd.
He did a great job catching all her wonderful plays
Enjoy a wonder interview with a lovely young woman
done just a couple of weeks ago
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BIG schedule for Thursday that did get a little shorter with No. 12 Kentucky vs Auburn being postponed. There were several more that were postponed for Thursday, but I will list those in the Covid section Thursday night.
No. 2 Louisville vs Boston College
No. 5 South Carolina at Vanderbilt
No. 7 Texas A&M at LSU
No. 9 Maryland at Minnesota
No. 10 Oregon at No. 11 Arizona
No. 13 Michigan at Wisconsin
No. 14 Mississippi State vs Alabama
No. 17 Arkansas vs Florida
No. 18 Indiana at Purdue
No. 20 Gonzaga at Santa Clara
No. 21 Texas vs Kansas
No. 23 Tennessee vs Georgia
The Oregon/Arizona game is on ESPN at 7:00.
I predict two upsets. I just have no idea which games. Does it make me a bad person if I hope it's Tennessee???
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Ranking the top 25 players in women's college basketball 2020-21
Here is ESPN's article ranking the top 25 players so far this season. I'm not sure why now, since there still have been so few games played, but it's still fun to look at.
UConn comes in with three players, Paige Bueckers at No. 6, Christyn Williams at No. 20 and Olivia Nelson-Ododa at No. 21. Nice showing for the Huskies.
Kentucky's Rhyne Howard was the No. 1 player and has the best shot at POY. Time will tell.
I'm so happy that Paige came in so high. I've watched a lot of basketball already this season and I would have her in the top 3. She is just that good.
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No. 4 UConn @ Xavier postponed.
No. 4 UConn vs Seton Hall (replacement game for the Xavier game) postponed.
No. 6 Baylor @ Kansas postponed.
Due to the combination of positive tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Auburn women’s basketball program, the Auburn-Kentucky women’s basketball game on January 14 has been postponed, consistent with Southeastern Conference COVID-19 management requirements.
A pair of schedule changes were announced Tuesday for the UNC women’s basketball team, which has become quite familiar with moving games around over the last month. The first of those changes is a game against Syracuse scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 19 at noon. That game was originally scheduled to be played on Dec. 31 before COVID-19 issues among the Orange program forced a postponement. UNC will also now travel to face No. 2 Louisville on Jan. 28 in a game that has had four different dates scheduled, due to COVID-19 issues among both programs and problems working out travel logistics.
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By David in Naples
I'm so upset about 2 games being canceled that my Stats Don't Lie will be longer than normal.... 
* Paige leads the Huskies with 132 points and 36 assists. She is 2nd on the team with 13 personal fouls.
* #13 is Christyn's number. Williams has 11 made threes, 11 free throws and 11 turnovers.
* #11 is Mir McLean's number. Mir has 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 2 more offensive rebounds than defensive.
* #2 is Autumn Chassion's number. Autumn has yet to score and is 0-3 from three point range. She also has 3 combined rebounds and assists.
* #3 is Aaliyah Edwards' number. Edwards has 24 baskets on a team leading 66.7% accuracy from the field.
* #24 is Anna Makurat's number. Makurat has 33 rebounds, all defensive. Anna is now 10-31 from three range for 32%.
* #32 is Piath Gabriel's number. Piath has the same number of assists, 2, as Ailiyah Edwards despite playing only 20 minutes.
* #20 is Olivia's number. Liv leads the team with 54 rebounds, 19 made free throws and 14 blocked shots. She averages 22 minutes per game.
* #22 is Evina Westbrook's number. Evina is 2nd on the team with 28 assists & 15 steals. SHe has made 10 three point shots.
* #10 is Nika Muhl's number. Nika, unfortunately, is 0-10 from the field, including 0-6 from three. SHe averages 0.5 rebounds per game.
* And 5 is Paige's number....
Go Huskies..!!
* Paige leads the Huskies with 132 points and 36 assists. She is 2nd on the team with 13 personal fouls.
* #13 is Christyn's number. Williams has 11 made threes, 11 free throws and 11 turnovers.
* #11 is Mir McLean's number. Mir has 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 2 more offensive rebounds than defensive.
* #2 is Autumn Chassion's number. Autumn has yet to score and is 0-3 from three point range. She also has 3 combined rebounds and assists.
* #3 is Aaliyah Edwards' number. Edwards has 24 baskets on a team leading 66.7% accuracy from the field.
* #24 is Anna Makurat's number. Makurat has 33 rebounds, all defensive. Anna is now 10-31 from three range for 32%.
* #32 is Piath Gabriel's number. Piath has the same number of assists, 2, as Ailiyah Edwards despite playing only 20 minutes.
* #20 is Olivia's number. Liv leads the team with 54 rebounds, 19 made free throws and 14 blocked shots. She averages 22 minutes per game.
* #22 is Evina Westbrook's number. Evina is 2nd on the team with 28 assists & 15 steals. SHe has made 10 three point shots.
* #10 is Nika Muhl's number. Nika, unfortunately, is 0-10 from the field, including 0-6 from three. SHe averages 0.5 rebounds per game.
* And 5 is Paige's number....
Go Huskies..!!
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No. 15 Ohio State 84 Iowa 82 OT - Wow. what a great game!! Ohio State came back from a 44-32 deficit at the half to send the game into overtime and finally subdue Iowa and end the Hawkeye's 42 game home winning streak. Iowa came into the fourth quarter with a 6 point lead but couldn't hold on. Caitlen Clark was fantastic as always in this game with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists but missed a 3 pointer at the buzzer that would have given the Hawkeye's the lead. Ohio State was led by Madison Greene with 20 points and she played 42 minutes. The Buckeyes stayed undefeated both overall and in the Big Ten conference.
No. 16 South Florida 72 Tulane 53 - South Florida continued it's dominance of the now UConn-less AAC with an easy 19 point win over Tulane. Elisa Pizan led the Bulls with 22 points and 7 assists. Arsula Clark led Tulane with 20 points and 5 rebounds. Overall, the game was not a thing of beauty as USF under 40% from the floor and under 30% on threes and Tulane was no better. I'd guess I would say it was a typical AAC game, just ugly. But not ugly enough for an UGGY!
No. 19 DePaul 101 St. John's 84 - Well, that was a typical DePaul game. Lots of points...by both teams. But it was an easy 17 point win for the Blue Demons. The Red Storm just couldn't keep up althought they had two fantastic performances. Qadashah Hoppie had 28 points for St. John's hitting 6-9 three pointers. Kadaja Bailey add 22 points on 10-13 shooting. It was not enough. DePaul had all five starters in double figures in points and they also were in double figures in shots taken. Four out of five starters had multiple three point shots as well. In fact, the starters were a very nice 9-20 on threes. They continue to show they are the second best team in the Big East.
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No Aubrey (#44) in David's team stats? Oops?
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks, DD for the '21 recruits' profiles. So much to look forward to.