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My daughter and Logan doing their best Pirate impressions.
ARRRRRGGHHHH MATEY!!
Hope that made you smile after a tough loss!!
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I'm really not good at writing after a loss. Especially one like this. So I'll just give you a few observations.
I jinxed Nelson-Ododa. I posted about her stats being like an All-American if she had more minutes. Then she goes out and has a stinker like this. Sometimes size dominates small and quick. And sometimes the quick is just too quick. She also didn't play very smart, letting the double teams just kill her. Her three turnovers were just awful.
Edwards did some good things on offense but her 4 turnovers killer. Notice how I keep mentioning turnovers. 12 in the first half let Arkansas stay in a game where UConn should have had a big lead.
As I said in my pregame, fouls would be a big part of this. I just didn't think it would be as bad as it was. I am usually against complaining about the refs, but I'll just say that when a team that usually leads the country in NOT fouling ends up with TWENTY-THREE fouls, when one play fouls out in 13 minutes after scoring 6 points and grabbing 6 rebounds, when another has 4 fouls in 10 minutes...well.......I don't think I have to say anything.
Williams going 0-5 was painful. Some of those would have been huge in a game like this. And her 2-5 from the free throw line really hurt especially that last miss.
Ok...enough bad stuff. I hurts my head to write about it. Let's find some good, and there was some good.
You can't start the good without talking about Paige Bueckers. She was just amazing in this game. If she's not a 1st team AA as a freshman...well...ok..too far?? She was fantastic with 27 points on 10-15 shooting, 3-3 on threes, 4-4 on free throws. She is just so efficient.
Westbrook just keeps getting better and better. 5-7 on threes adding to her 19 points. 7 assists and only 2 turnovers. She is one reason I still feel really good about this team.
And a special shout out to the much maligned Nika Muhl. She was 3-5 from the field, 2-4 on threes, 8 points, 2 assists and ZERO turnovers in a very sloppy game for the Huskies. Good for her!
It's an OOC game against a team that will still be ranked on Monday. It helps the SOS but not the .Net.
Next is DePaul and that game just got real important. Dare I mention the not losing two games in a row streak? Did I just jinx them again?
UConn Pressers
Evina amd Paige
Geno
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No Top 25 games impacted by Covid Thursday Night
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By David in Naples
Speechless........
Actually, David had a business dinner tonight.
I'm sure he will have plenty to say in the next Blog.
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No. 1 Louisville 79 North Carolina 68 - Olivia Cochran scored 14 of her 17 points in the first half to lead top-ranked Louisville to a win against North Carolina. They withstood a late rally to beat the Tar Heels. The Cardinals started strong. They made eight of their first 10 shots to take a 21-9 lead in less than six minutes and built a 67-35 lead late in the third quarter. But the Tar Heels made things interesting with a 17-0 second-half run. They got it down to an eight-point deficit with 1:18 left, but they could not get any closer. Cochran ended the first half with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the wing to make it 55-30. Louisville, which is 16-0 for the second time in school history, shot 56.8 percent in the first half. But the Cardinals made just 3-of-13 shots in the fourth quarter as North Carolina climbed back in the game. Petra Holesinska scored a season-best 26 points to lead the Tar Heels.
No. 2 North Carolina State 71 Virginia Tech 83 OT - I'll admit it. I had dreams of UConn moving in the No. 2 spot in the rankings. Oh well. NC State was missing their star player Elissa Cunane due to Covid protocol. Hard to think they still lose this game if she is there. But no excuses. The Wolfpack his a prayer three pointer to tie the game at the buzzer sending it into overtime. But in one of the craziest things I've seen in OT, Virginia Tech scored 26 points in overtime. Really...26 points.
No. 4 South Carolina 75 No. 21 Mississippi State 52 - South Carolina is really good. But Mississippi State is heading out of the top 25. They are now 8-5 and have lost three games in a row. Clearly they are miss Vic on the bench. South Carolina basically put the game away on the second quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 26-12. Mississippi State played them even in the third quarter but the Gamecocks put then away in the final team minutes winning the fourth quarter 21-11 for the final 23 point margin. I have to say that South Carolina won, but looked lousy doing it. They only shot 40% from the field, and 2-13 on threes. Zia Cooke led the Gamecocks with 19 points.
No. 7 Maryland 92 Michigan State 52 - Well, this was an ugly game for MSU. They are too good a team to lose by 40 points. They came into this game with only 2 losses. They missed their last three games because of Covid issues, so time off is always an issue. So how did they lose this game so badly? They had 24 turnovers for one thing. And shooting 24% from the field didn't help. And Maryland was 14-28 on threes. Both Miller and Owusu had 20 points each for the Terps. They are a terrific offensive team.
No. 8 Texas A&M 84 Auburn 69 - Auburn put up 35 threes but only hit 10 and it wasn't enough to come close to No. 8 Texas A&M. The Aggies made enough plays down the stretch to survive the barrage and escape. Texas A&M expanded a slim one-point lead in the third quarter and pulled away to win 84-69.
Auburn fired 28 3-pointers in the first three quarters alone, matching the team’s season-high for 3-point attempts in a game this season in just 30 minutes. The Aggies doubled Auburn star Unique Thompson inside, and the Tigers let shots fly when she kicked back out. Auburn hit a share of those shots, though, and trailed 33-27 at the half. In the third quarter, Alaina Rice’s 3-ball in the cut A&M’s lead to 44-43 with 6:03 left in the third. Thompson battled with the Aggies from there, scoring Auburn’s next three baskets with her last making it 50-49, but A&M closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 59-51 lead into the fourth. Thompson finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Honestly Scott-Grayson led the team with 21 points, hitting four of those 3-pointers. Texas A&M was led by N’dea Jones’ 21 points and the Aggies moved to 15-1 on the season and 6-1 in the SEC.
No. 14 Ohio State 78 No. 16 Indiana 70 - Braxtin Miller made 3 of 5 from 3-point range with a season-high 25 points, and No. 14 Ohio State overcame an early 11-point deficit to beat No. 16 Indiana. Dorka Juhász added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Buckeyes. Aaliyah Patty scored 13 points. Grace Berger matched a season high with 26 points and Mackenzie Holmes scored 17 for the Hoosiers, who scored the first 11 points of the game. Ohio State erased the deficit late in the second quarter but trailed 39-38 at the break and 54-53 after the third quarter. The Buckeyes opened the fourth with 11 straight points and pulled away for good with a 7-0 run that made it 71-60 with 2:02 left. The Buckeyes had wins over No. 11 Michigan and No. 7 Maryland and can make it four straight wins over ranked opponents when they visit No. 23 Northwestern on Monday.
No. 15 Kentucky 81 Alabama 68 - Rhyne Howard had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Kentucky used its balance to defeat Alabama.. Robyn Benton added 15 points for the Wildcats. Chasity Patterson and Dre’Una Edwards scored 10 apiece with 10 different players scoring. Jazmine Massengill had seven points, seven assists and six rebounds off the bench. The game was locked at 17 at the end of the first, but a 14-2 run by Kentucky in the second helped the Wildcats to a 39-28 lead at the half. Kentucky would go on to lead by as many as 22 in the third, however solid shooting from beyond the arc for Alabama would cut the lead down to eight in the final quarter. The Wildcats went on to score 12 of the final 19 points down the stretch to secure the win. Jasmine Walker led Alabama with 27 points and 11 rebounds in addition to a three blocks. She was joined in double figures by Jordan Lewis, who added 15 points and seven assists for the Tide.
No. 18 Gonzaga at Pacific - LATE GAME
No. 20 Tennessee 68 Ole Miss 67 - Tennessee had all they could handle against Ole Miss, but the Lady Vols were able to escape with the win against a very game Rebel team. The game was close throughout with a lot of lead changes. But Tennessee put the game away from the foul line in the last 2 minutes. Shakira Austin, the transfer from Maryland was terrific in this game with 16 points and Johnson added 19 for Ole Miss. Tennessee was led by Rennia Davis with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Rae Burrell added 17 points for the Lady Vols. A very unimpressive win for Tennesse but a win is a win.
No. 22 Georgia 52 vs LSU 60 - LSU jumped out to an early lead before No. 22 Georgia took the advantage, but in the end, the Lady Tigers pulled off the upset on the road. The Lady Tigers came away with the 60-52 victory over the Lady Dawgs. Sophomore Tiara Young led the way for LSU with 17 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Senior Awa Trasi added 13 points and eight rebounds. Senior Faustine Aifuwa chipped in 12 points and six rebounds. Senior point guard Khayla Pointer scored just five points but had six assists. Another SEC team leaving the Top 25 soon? Could be!
No. 23 Northwestern 87 Iowa 80 - Northwestern turned 23 Hawkeye turnovers into 28 points and the 23rd-ranked Wildcats took advantage of a 34-8 advantage in free throw attempts to frustrate the Iowa women’s basketball team 87-80 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Monica Ciznano knocking down her first 15 shots as part of a 17-of-19 effort which led to a career-high 34 points but it wasn’t enough for the Hawkeyes to overcome their own mistakes. Lindsey Pulliam led Northwestern with 27 points. The second best freshman in the country Caitlin Clark had 23 points and 8 assists for Iowa.
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still wanting to throw up after the loss, but always appreciate your reporting, DD. Thanks.
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