***********************************************
********************************************************
The NCAA has announced their latest reveal of the top 16 teams and UConn remains the No. 1 overall seed.
Only one team dropped out, West Virginia and Arkansas took their place.
I wonder if they did this after any of the games Sunday. I mean, why would South Carolina still be in the top four with the last No. 1 seed? I don't believe they deserve it after losing to Texas A&M. Arizona is still a number 2 seed after losing to Arizona State. No. 14 Kentucky lost to Ole Miss today. And finally, No. 15 Oregon They both should drop out.
I'm OK with UConn's pairing 1. UConn, 2. Arizona, 3. Georgia, 4. Arkansas.
1.UConn
2.Stanford
3.Texas A&M
4.South Carolina
5.NC State
6.Maryland
7.Arizona
8.Baylor
9.Louisville
10.UCLA
11.Georgia
12.Indiana
13.Tennessee
14.Kentucky
15.Oregon
16.Arkansas
As I've said after the first release, there are still games to go, including conference tournaments. So whatever you see here won't be the final brackets. More to come!!!
**************************************************
"Edwards is light years better than ONO." There, I said it. Now prove me wrong. 
1. Aaliyah Edwards is a great player, and getting better. By the end of her career, she may even be ahead of Liv, but not right now. Not even close...
2. This season, Liv is averaging 12.7 points per game. Aaliyah is at 10.4 ppg.
3. Olivia has 159 rebounds, Edwards has 106.
4. What about offensive boards? ONO has 52, Aaliyah 48.
5. Assists are not even close. Liv has 55, AE has 11. Eleven..!!
6. Made threes? Liv has 4, AE has not even tried a three.
7. Blocked shots? Liv again 34 to 19.
8. Total baskets? Liv by 112 to 88.
The fan who made that statement decided last night's game is how they should be measured. Sorry, all games count and I didn't even have top use career stats. Liv had 11 points and 9 rebounds against Butler. She was 5-9 shooting and had 2 assists. Edwards had 0 assists, but scored 24 points on 10 shots and 6 free throws. Her 14 rebounds led the team. Both had good games.
It's just not right to conclude one player's worth versus another in one game's results. By the way, a "light year" is how far light travels, in a vacuum, in a year. What the heck does that have to do with basketball?
And a little more from David - Stats Part II
1. Aaliyah Edwards is a great player, and getting better. By the end of her career, she may even be ahead of Liv, but not right now. Not even close...
2. This season, Liv is averaging 12.7 points per game. Aaliyah is at 10.4 ppg.
3. Olivia has 159 rebounds, Edwards has 106.
4. What about offensive boards? ONO has 52, Aaliyah 48.
5. Assists are not even close. Liv has 55, AE has 11. Eleven..!!
6. Made threes? Liv has 4, AE has not even tried a three.
7. Blocked shots? Liv again 34 to 19.
8. Total baskets? Liv by 112 to 88.
The fan who made that statement decided last night's game is how they should be measured. Sorry, all games count and I didn't even have top use career stats. Liv had 11 points and 9 rebounds against Butler. She was 5-9 shooting and had 2 assists. Edwards had 0 assists, but scored 24 points on 10 shots and 6 free throws. Her 14 rebounds led the team. Both had good games.
It's just not right to conclude one player's worth versus another in one game's results. By the way, a "light year" is how far light travels, in a vacuum, in a year. What the heck does that have to do with basketball?
And a little more from David - Stats Part II
1. Olivia has the same number of assists as Nika. Both have 55.
2. Aaliyah and Plath are the only Huskies who have not tried a three point shot.
3. Nika has only 5 free throw attempts, but has made all of them.
4. UConn has made 35.3% of their threes. But, just Paige, Evina, Christyn and Nika combined have made 43%.
5. Plath has taken 10 shots, made five for 10 points, has 10 rebounds and 10 fouls.
6. The Huskies have blocked 123 shots. That is just about 10% of opponents shots taken. (9.87%)
7. Paige has made 157 field goals, Christyn has made 127. Aubrey has tried 97 field goals, Nika 87, Mir 47 and Autumn 7.
Go Huskies..!
2. Aaliyah and Plath are the only Huskies who have not tried a three point shot.
3. Nika has only 5 free throw attempts, but has made all of them.
4. UConn has made 35.3% of their threes. But, just Paige, Evina, Christyn and Nika combined have made 43%.
5. Plath has taken 10 shots, made five for 10 points, has 10 rebounds and 10 fouls.
6. The Huskies have blocked 123 shots. That is just about 10% of opponents shots taken. (9.87%)
7. Paige has made 157 field goals, Christyn has made 127. Aubrey has tried 97 field goals, Nika 87, Mir 47 and Autumn 7.
Go Huskies..!
***************************************************
By Phil
Assists and Rabbit Holes
We all know that Paige set an assists record in a game against Butler. This wasn't just a career-high for her, and it wasn't just a record for UConn freshman, it was the most in a single game by any UConn player ever. She broke a three-way tie held by Renee Montgomery, Laura Lishness and Susie Sturman. Renee and Laura were seasoned seniors when they set the old record, while Susie was a sophomore. Setting any record is impressive but setting an all-time record while still a freshman deserves special kudos.
I was initially surprised that the prior all-time UConn record was 13 assists. UConn prides itself on recording assists, and I thought with all of the great point guards we have had, there would've been a game when someone just went off and put up crazy numbers. I thought I'd look into assists more generally, and that took me down quite a rabbit hole. While I usually like to give answers (even if those are answers that work in my own worldview) I came up with more questions than answers.
My next step was to look at the NCAA records. The record for most assists in the game is 23 held by Michelle Burden of Kent State, so as impressive as Paige's accomplishment is, it isn't close to an NCAA record. As a bit of an aside this isn't terribly surprising. UConn fans are used to holding records — in fact if there were a record for the most records, I'll bet that UConn is by far in the lead, but those records are predominantly team records. While we've had many incredible individual players, who have put up some impressive stats, if you've spent any time looking at the NCAA statistical leaders, there is usually a UConn player or two in the upper reaches of some of the individual stats, but "UConn" is omnipresent in the team stats (except for free throws and three-point defense). There have been years where UConn was the national leader in several stats. The strength of UConn is not usually a dominant player, but a number of very good players working together as a team. Yes, we often have had players of the year, and those players typically put up very good numbers, but they are typically on a team where the other options are highly gifted.
Back to assists.
It isn't the case that Michelle Burden had a Bob Beamon game (how many people know what I'm talking about?). The top 15 results in the NCAA record book are above 20, ranging from 20 to 23. Next, I looked at the names. There's a lot of record holders whose names I do not recognize, but this is the only category I've ever looked at where I didn't recognize a single name. I'm interested in basketball history, but I started following UConn in the early 90s, and paid attention to a number of other teams starting in 2001 or so. I've read enough history to pick up on many of the major teams and players from earlier history but still didn't recognize a single name. I glanced over at the dates these records were set, and I was surprised to see how many were in the 80s or early 90s. The NCAA has only been keeping track of assists since 1986, so there are no entries for 1982 through 1985, but this still was far more weighted to older years than I would have guessed. There is only a single entry, La'Terrica Dobin from Northwestern State, after 1997.
I wish I could follow up with an answer, but as mentioned, I have more questions than answers. That's not going to stop me from making some suppositions, but unfortunately tracking down the answers isn't easy.
I spot checked a few of the teams, Kent State, East Carolina, and Alabama State which led me to the conclusion that these teams were not typically top 20 teams. That leads me to my first supposition. Teams like UConn and Stamford are fortunate to attract many excellent ball handlers. Other teams might catch an occasional lightning in the bottle with a player who exceeds expectations, but might not have several at the same time. This may lead to the situation that a team might have only one player who is very skilled at dishing the ball to teammates for assists, and that might result in a lopsided number of assists for one particular player on a team, who then might have one extraordinary game where everything clicks, and they end up with 20 or more assists.
I spot checked a few of the teams, Kent State, East Carolina, and Alabama State which led me to the conclusion that these teams were not typically top 20 teams. That leads me to my first supposition. Teams like UConn and Stamford are fortunate to attract many excellent ball handlers. Other teams might catch an occasional lightning in the bottle with a player who exceeds expectations, but might not have several at the same time. This may lead to the situation that a team might have only one player who is very skilled at dishing the ball to teammates for assists, and that might result in a lopsided number of assists for one particular player on a team, who then might have one extraordinary game where everything clicks, and they end up with 20 or more assists.
Conceptually, this is easily checked. Pull up the box score, compare the assists for the individual player to the assists for the team, and see if the supposition holds. What's conceptually easy is not always easy to carry out. Have you tried looking up box scores for games in the 80s and 90s? You can find some, especially if it's a notable game such as a national championship, but I haven't found it easy to track down box scores for many of these games. Michelle Burden's accomplishment was significant enough to get an article in the Los Angeles Times (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-07-sp-928-story.html) but no box score.
My next step was to look at the current year, where I knew I could track down box scores. The leading result this year is Mayra Caicedo, of Little Rock, with 17 assists, followed by Mary Kay Naro, of Boise State with 16, and two players with 15 each, Lauren Park-Lane, of Seton Hall, and Tra'dayja Smith, of Longwood.
My next step was to look at the current year, where I knew I could track down box scores. The leading result this year is Mayra Caicedo, of Little Rock, with 17 assists, followed by Mary Kay Naro, of Boise State with 16, and two players with 15 each, Lauren Park-Lane, of Seton Hall, and Tra'dayja Smith, of Longwood.
We remember Lauren Park-Lane well, as she torched UConn for 29 points in the first meeting with Seton Hall. She only had six assists in that game, but those were six of the seven assists for the team. She recorded 15 assists in a game against Xavier, but the team as a whole had 25. 15/25 mean she had 60% of the assists, which is slightly higher than Paige's 54% (14 of 26) but not materially different. Caicedo's 17 assists are a different story, as she recorded 17 of the 20 team assists. Naro's 16 assists were 57% of the teams 28 assists, while Smith's 15 assists were 65% of the teams 23 assists. Too small a sample size to be sure, but while Caicedo's result fits my supposition, the other values don't strongly support the supposition that an extremely high value for a single player means they are head and shoulders above the teammates.
I do think there's something to the observation that UConn doesn't dominate the single-game results, but the picture isn't as clear as I would like it to be. I hope others will wait in with theories and observations.
***************************************************
No. 2 North Carolina State 68 Syracuse 61 - Elissa Cunane had 17 points and nine rebounds, Jada Boyd added 16 points and No. 2 North Carolina State held off Syracuse 68-61 on Sunday for its fifth consecutive win. It was the final home game of Tiana Mangakahia's stellar career. The 25-year-old from Australia entered the game averaging 7.6 assists to lead the nation and finished with five to boost her career total to 726 assists in three seasons. Kiara Lewis led the Orange with 29 points and Mangakahia had 10. Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi's layup with 6:11 left pulled the Orange to within 53-49 and Lewis followed with a layup and a 3 from the left wing to put the Orange up by a point. Jada Boyd's short baseline jumper, Cunane's 3-point play and Boyd's layup in the final minute gave N.C. State a 62-58 lead, and Raina Perez hit six straight free throws in the final minute.
No. 3 Texas A&M 65 No. 5 South Carolina 57 - Aaliyah Wilson scored 17 points and N'dea Jones added 16 to lead No. 3 Texas A&M to a 65-57 win over fifth-ranked South Carolina on Sunday to give the Aggies their first regular-season Southeastern Conference title. The Gamecocks trailed by as many as 14 in the fourth quarter but cut the lead to 3 on a 3-pointer by Aliyah Boston with about three minutes to go. Wilson pushed Texas A&M's lead to 62-57 on a basket with less than 90 seconds remaining, and Kayla Wells added two free throws with 12 seconds left to secure the victory. The Aggies outscored South Carolina 19-8 in the third quarter to take a commanding lead before the Gamecocks got back in it late. Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke had 15 points each for the Gamecocks, who won both the SEC regular-season and conference tournament titles last season. Texas A&M led by 14 early in the fourth before South Carolina used a 9-0 run, with the first seven points from Cooke, to get within 56-51 with about 5½ minutes remaining. The Aggies added one free throw before Henderson's 3-pointer cut the lead to 57-54 with five minutes to go. South Carolina could get no closer as Texas A&M did a good job closing out the game. Jones had 14 rebounds to pass Anriel Howard (1,002) for most career rebounds in school history with 1,010.
No. 4 Stanford 72 California 33 - Kiana Williams scored 12 points in her final home game and defensive stopper fifth-year senior Anna Wilson added three steals playing for the final time on The Farm, and the fourth-ranked Cardinal used a big second half to beat California 72-33 on Sunday to close out the regular season. Hannah Jump added 14 points with four 3-pointers for Stanford which won its 11th straight game since a rare two-game skid in January. VanDerveer took advantage of a chance to use her entire bench to prepare for the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament. as Stanford closed the game with a 9-0 run over the final 3:35. Freshman leading scorer Dalayah Daniels had 11 points and seven rebounds for Cal coming off its lone victory of the season against Arizona State last Sunday. The Golden Bears stayed within 31-25 at halftime outshooting Stanford 44-39 %. Leilani McIntosh was held to nine points on 3-for-14 shooting and missed all six of her 3-point tries coming off a career-high 21 points with four 3-pointers in the 67-55 victory over the Sun Devils.
No. 6 Louisville 78 Notre Dame 61 - The No. 6 Louisville Cardinals secured another ACC regular season title today in their 78-61 victory over Notre Dame. The Cards got off to a hot start today in South Bend. Dana Evans was in double-digit scoring with 4:27 left in the first quarter. Louisville forced 9 Notre Dame turnovers in the first period alone, scoring 11 of their 28 first quarter points off those turnovers. Louisville got their lead early and held onto it through the remainder of the first half. The Irish would have 16 turnovers by the halftime buzzer and Louisville had a 16-point lead. Things did not slow down much for Louisville in the second half. They would force 5 more Notre Dame turnovers and tally 10 points in the paint during the fourth quarter. Regardless of her scoreless first half, Hailey Van Lith still finished her day in double-digit scoring, with 10 points. The team was led in scoring by Dana Evans, who had 26 points, followed by Liz Dixon with 12, and Kianna Smith and Mykasa Robinson with 10 points each.
No. 8 Maryland at Northwestern - Mimi Collins had 18 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 8 Maryland beat Northwestern, 62-50. Diamond Miller also finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and adding 10 rebounds for the Terps. Ashley Owusu added 10 points and eight rebounds to help the Terps win a game they never trailed after grabbing the lead 12 seconds in. Veronica Burton scored 15 points and Lindsey Pulliam added 13 for Northwestern. Maryland controlled the pace of the first half, leading by as much as nine with over two minutes left in the second quarter before Northwestern finished off the half on an 8-2 run, cutting its deficit to three at the half. Northwestern came within 32-31 when Burton made both of her free throws with over seven minutes left in the third quarter, but Maryland responded with a 6-0 run. Anna Morris made a 3-pointer to make it a 38-37 game with four minutes left in the third quarter before the Terrapins ended the quarter on a 9-0 run. The Wildcats fought back again with an 8-2 run to start the fourth quarter before the Terps’ Katie Benzan made a 3-pointer with 5:18 left in the game to give her team a 52-45 lead. Maryland never led by less than seven for the rest of the game as Northwestern failed to score in three minutes toward the end.
No. 9 Arizona 64 Arizona State 66 - The Arizona State Sun Devils wrapped up their regular season with a 66-64 win over the No. 9 Arizona Wildcats in a back and forth game that ended in overtime. ASU shot 46 percent from the field and had 10 threes, shooting 56 percent from behind the arc. Taya Hanson led ASU with 19 points on 7-13 shooting. Jaddan Simmons added 15 points on 4-13 shooting. Bre’yanna Sanders had 8 points on 3-5 shooting from the field. Maggie Besselink had 13 rebounds. After falling behind early in the second half, ASU went on a 9-0 run to get back in it. To end the third quarter Hanson hit a three to tie the game which was followed by two free throws from Simmons and a layup from Eboni Walker giving the Sun Devils a 39-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The lead went back and forth in the fourth quarter. McDonald, who had 10 points in the fourth quarter, hit two free throws with five seconds left to send the game into overtime. Hanson hit a three with one minute left in overtime to give the Sun Devils the lead. Simmons went 1-2 from the line to secure ASU’s win. The Sun Devils celebrated senior night for Bre’yanna Sanders who has played in 79 games over the last four years. ASU also recognized seniors Trinity Baptiste, Aari McDonald and Sam Thomas from Arizona.
No. 14 Oregon 77 Oregon State 88 - The No. 14 Oregon women’s basketball team dropped the regular-season home final 88-77 to Oregon State. The program honored Erin Boley and Lydia Giomi during a senior day ceremony following the regular-season finale that streamed live for fans unable to attend home games this season per Oregon Health Association guidelines. Sedona Prince scored a career-high 22 points and Taylor Mikesell finished with 16 points on a combined 16-for-31 shooting for the inside-outside duo. It wasn’t enough to overcome the balanced Beavers as seniors Goodman (20 points) and Mack (14) hit some back-breaking 3s down the stretch. After Goodman knocked down a jumper to give the Beavers a 15-9 advantage, Prince hit a turnaround jumper, a 3-pointer and a layup off a power move in the post during a 10-0 run. Prince continued to assert herself with two buckets to give the Ducks a 27-26 lead. Moments after counterpart Taylor Jones picked up her third foul climbing Prince’s back for a rebound, Prince scored another inside basket to tie the score 31-31. Despite Prince’s 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting in the first half, Oregon trailed 38-35 at the intermission as freshmen Sasha Goforth hit a late 3 and Talia von Oelhoffen sank a shot at the buzzer. The Ducks trailed 47-42 before back-to-back jumpers by Boley early in the third quarter. The Beavers went on a 11-0 run capped with baseline jumper by Goodman that gave the visitors a 58-46 lead.Giomi added two free throws but the Ducks didn’t make a field goal over the final 5:33 of the third quarter and trailed 61-50. Mikesell hit a 3 and Prince scored her first basket of the second half to cut the deficit to 10 points, but Mack completed a four-point play and von Oelhoffen added a 3 to make the score 74-57 with 6:33 remaining.
No. 16 Arkansas 94 Alabama 76 - On Sunday #16 Arkansas finished the regular season with a win over Alabama, 94-76. The Hogs head into the SEC tournament 19-7 and 9-6 in SEC play. With the win Arkansas will take on Ole Miss on Thursday in the second round of the SEC tournament. The Hogs earned a first round bye. Amber Ramirez had a great first quarter. Ramirez hit five three pointers for 15 first quarter points. Arkansas led 26-17 after one. Arkansas his 13 three pointers as a team in the first half. The Hogs led 51-39 at the break. Ramirez had 23 points followed by Dungee with 13. The Arkansas offense would cool off in the second half. Alabama would cut the Razorbacks lead to as little as four. The offense though would once again find its groove. The Razorbacks set the school record for three pointers as they once again opened up a double-digit lead. Ramirez finished with a game high 35 points. Dungee and Slocum had 20 and 17 respectively.
No. 17 Georgia 95 Florida 80 - Georgia women’s basketball defeated Florida 95-80 in Gainesville on Sunday afternoon to conclude the regular season. This marks the Bulldogs’ third sweep against SEC opponents this season behind victories against Auburn and Tennessee. In their last conference game, four of Georgia’s seniors scored in double-figures to end the season on a high note. Jenna Staiti ended her career in double-figures with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Maya Caldwell also posted a career-high performance with 27 points. A 15-4 run gave the Gators a seven-point lead, their largest of the half. Three Staiti rebounds and a block from Mikayla Coombs allowed Georgia to regain a one-point lead, but Danielle Rainey knocked down a last-second 3-pointer to give Florida the 41-39 advantage. Caldwell posted nine points to help give the Bulldogs a six-point lead. Florida’s Jordyn Merritt and Kiara Smith answered for the Gators, cutting Georgia’s lead to just five with under a minute remaining. The Bulldogs scored six points in the first minute and 39 seconds to start the fourth and it was all Georgia basketball from there. Caldwell highlighted the final period with 10 points as Georgia posted its largest lead of the game, 91-74, with over a minute of play left.
No. 19 Kentucky 69 Ole Miss 73 - Rhyne Howard scored 21 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds but Kentucky lost to Ole Miss 73-69 on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum. Kentucky scored five in a row to lead 12-9. After the Rebels got within one, the Cats scored 10 in a row, two free throws each by Patterson and KeKe McKinney, a layup by Edwards and consecutive baskets by Howard, to lead 22-11 with 2:04 left in the period. The Rebels would snap the UK run on a Shakira Austin basket with 1:13 left in the period. Those would be the final points of the period, which ended with Kentucky leading 22-13. Kentucky would grab a 29-20 lead on an Edwards layup with 6:25 left in the half. Ole Miss would score on a Tiya Douglass jumper, and a three-point play by Austin to cut the UK lead to 31-25 at the half. Early in the second half, Ole Miss continued to chip away at the UK lead. The Rebels scored the first four points of the third period to make it 31-29 and to force a UK timeout. But that did not stop the onslaught. The Cats would respond near the end of the third period with a 6-0 run, keyed by a basket and free throw from Howard with 1:55 left in the period which made it 43-42 Ole Miss. In the fourth period, the teams each made a pair of free throws, keeping the Ole Miss lead at one. Patterson would score on a driving layup as the Cats took the lead back, 54-53. But Ole Miss would get a pair of Scott free throws to re-take the lead, 55-54, with 4:18 to play. The Rebels would extend the lead to 57-54 on an Austin layup with 3:33 left in the game. Kentucky would continue to chip away at the lead, getting within a point twice. But Ole Miss got a layup from Austin and a three from Collins to lead 64-58 with 1:07 left and the Cats simply ran out of time.
No. 20 Tennessee 88 Auburn 54 - In their curtain call at The Summitt seniors Rennia Davis and Kasiyahna Kushkituah gave Lady Vols fans a finale to remember as they lead Tennessee to a 88-54 win over Auburn. The Lady Vols end the regular season 15-6 and 9-4 in conference play securing the No. 3 seed in SEC standings. Davis’ scored a layup off a fast break less than five seconds into the game ensuring that Tennessee never trailed. She ended the afternoon with game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds, posting her 37th career double-double, to extend her streak of scoring at least twenty points per game to five. Kasiyahna Kushkituah shined in the regular season finale, posting a new career high 19-points against the Tigers while hauling in eight rebounds. Junior Rae Burrell along with sophomore and Jordan Horston both scored in double-digits pouring in 14 and 12 points respectively, while sophomore Tamari Key had a double-double 10 points, 10 rebounds.
No. 23 Missouri State 59 Loyola Chicago 45 - Missouri State finished its home schedule with a 59-45 win over Loyola-Chicago on Sunday evening at JQH Arena. The Lady Bears took a 24-19 into the break after limiting the Ramblers to just one made field goal in the final 6:05 of the half. Missouri State didn't take control in the third as it went back-and-forth with Loyola. The Lady Bears led by as many as six after Brice Calip scored her first five points of the game on a 5-0 run in the middle of the quarter. The Ramblers slowly chipped away at the Lady Bears' lead and got a shot from Allison Day right before the buzzer to make it a one-point game. Missouri State went on a 9-0 run in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter to get its lead up to 10. Mya Bhinhar started the scoring eight seconds into the quarter before Elle Ruffridge knocked down a 3. It was followed by a Calip steal leading to a Franklin layup. Bhinhar's second floater forced a Loyola timeout to regroup. The Lady Bears kept their double-digit lead for the remainder of the game as they came away with the victory.
No. 25 Rutgers 60 Penn State 55 - Rutgers women's basketball ran the winning streak to seven with a 60-55 victory at Penn State at the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday afternoon. Defense was again the name of the game as Rutgers held a conference opponent under 60 points in six consecutive games. RU outscored PSU, 13-3, on points off turnovers with 10 steals and held Penn State to 37 percent from the floor. Mael Gilles led the Rutgers scoring effort with 16 points, one shy of a career high. Arella Guirantes (14 points, five assists) and Tekia Mack (12 points, six assists) each added double-figure scoring and standout ball distribution in the victory. Tyia Singleton grabbed 10 boards and led all players on the court with a plus-13 rating in her 26 minutes, playing with four fouls for much of the second half. Sakima Walker had a major impact on the boards in just 10 minutes, grabbing seven rebounds. Singleton and Mack went back-and-forth during a crucial 10-0 scoring run midway through the fourth quarter. Singleton converted layups, while Mack did her damage from long distance, and RU turned a three-point deficit into a 52-45 lead with under four to play. Gilles, Guirantes and Singleton all made buckets down the stretch as Penn State stayed within four points, but with RU consistently having an answer. Guirantes and Diamond Johnson each made a free throw in the final five seconds of play to ice the road victory.
**************************************************
It's late in the season and I usually don't have a candidate for the UGGY award. Now this might seem like piling on, but this team worked hard all season to win the trophy.
California lost their first 14 games this season and I don't believe they earned the award. If they had lost them all I would have given them a special award but after 14 losses they finally won a game last Sunday against Arizona State. Yes the same Arizona State that upset No. 9 Arizona today. What a weird season.
So a week later they took on No. 4 Stanford. It wasn't pretty. They only scored 33 points the entire game. And the quarters were just as ugly. Other than the 18 point second quarter they scored 7 in the first, 2 in the third and 6 in the final quarter. Yuch!
The Golden Bears shot 25.9% from the field, 1-15 on threes, 4-6 from the free throw line. And they added 18 turnovers and only 3 assists.
So, congrats California on your UGGY. It's the only thing you are winning this season.
UCONN LINKS
Sorry if some links need a subscriptio
********************************************
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
ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board
Rebkell - WCBB for everyone that thinks they are smarter than everyone else
I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:
