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I bet you were all worried, huh. Well, you should have just looked at my blog yesterday and you actually didn't even have to watch the game!!!!
"This game is at home and I expect them to come out slow as usual but after that? A similar result to the first match up. UConn by 20+. "
Ok...it was much slower than I thought it would be, but hey, I pretty much called it.
It was a really good game for one junior but not so much for the other. Let's get the bad out of the way.
Christyn, oh Christyn....where for art thou Christyn......zero points, 1 rebound, 1 assist. Sigh...now I will have to read dozens of posts on the message boards and facebook pages how disappointing she is. I promise to do better in ignoring them.
Olivia, Olivia that encycloidia......Ok...that is for the Marx Brothers fans out there. A really nice game for Nelson-Ododa. She dominated the boards as she should against a team like Seton Hall. She hit a couple of early jumpers to keep UConn from being shut out. 15 points, 13 reboundes, 2 blocks and 3 more assists. Nice.
Bueckers didn't score 30 but again she is the fuel for this engine. 23 points is just fine...lol. So glad to see 19 shots. She hit 10 of them and 3-6 on threes. Not her best overall game, but I guess she has set the bar pretty high.
Westbrook had a good bounce back game with 12 point, but she still missed every three pointer she took. A great job finding her teammates with 7 assists but her 4 turnovers were painful in the first half.
Muhl is a freshman. Games like this are expected unless you are all-world like Paige.
I love the energy that Edwards and Griffin bring off the bench. Both grabbed 7 rebounds each with Edwards adding 11 points and Aubrey with 7.
Ok....it was a real letdown game that is something you see almost every time you have a quick turnaround game after a tough and emotional game just two days before. It was great to see them outscore Seton Hall 44-22 in the second half.
On to Georgetown on Friday!!!
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More UConn-South Carolina Stuff
Forgot to post this yesterday.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Nika Muhl Post Game Interviews
Zia "slippery ball" Cooke
And I found a couple of South Carolina players post game Interviews.
Hey, they blame the ball too. Weak.
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I don't usually post WNBA stuff but lots of UConn player info
Stewie reunites with Katie Lou!!!
And Ironically, Kiki Herbert-Harrigan, last years South Carolina star, is also going to Seattle in this trade.
Seattle Storm announce they’ve acquired Katie Lou Samuelson from the Wings pic.twitter.com/HrtuOfrwDs
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) February 10, 2021
The @PhoenixMercury have acquired Kia Nurse and Megan Walker from the Liberty 👀 pic.twitter.com/hIKOTKa9HC
— espnW (@espnW) February 10, 2021
Renee Montgomery Retires from WNBA After 11 Seasons, 'Hangin' Up My Kobes' https://t.co/vxXP1fPsKF
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) February 10, 2021
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No. 1 (not for long) South Carolina vs Missouri - This should be an interesting game. South Carolina is coming off that tough loss to UConn and will be out for "blood". But Missouri is a tough team and should give the Gamecocks a battle for a while. But Boston and company are too talented and will take over the game and win going away.
No. 3 Louisville vs Georgia Tech - Another interesting game. I haven't been a Louisville gane this year. Overrated in my book. And Georgia Tech is a decent team that has a shot here. This could be an upset. But their star Dana Evans probably won't let that happen.
No. 4 North Carolina State vs Clemson - Clemson just doesn't have enough firepower to beat NC State. I'd look for a double digit win for the Wolfpack. Big game for their star center Elissa Cunane.
No. 12 Michigan at Purdue - Michigan's only loss this season was in their last outing against No. 17 Ohio State, and they won't get their second loss against a pretty weak Purdue team.
No. 16 Tennessee at Kentucky - Oooo boy, looking forward to this one. Tennessee embarrassed Kentucky when they met in late January by 17 points. It was uglier than that. Can Kentucky bounce back? Tennessee is playing their best ball of the year but had a game in 10 days. This one is a toss up.
No. 17 Gonzaga vs San Francisco - Gonazaga of course. They won't lose against until the NCAA Tournament.
No. 18 Arkansas vs Mississippi State - I will be rooting for Arkansas the rest of the way unless they meet UConn in the NCAA tournament. I'm a big fan of their coach Mike Neighbors. Mississippi State is really missing Coach Vic. Arkansas should win this one going away.
No. 21 Northwestern vs Rutgers - GO RUTGERS! My birth state team, I always root for them when not playing UConn. I miss seeing C. Vic on the sidelines. She is always a show in itself. Look for a Scarlet Knight upset!
No. 24 Georgia vs Auburn - Auburn is on an 11 game losing streak. I will continue against a good Georgia squad.
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No. 14 South Florida at East Carolina - Postponed
No. 9 Maryland vs Michigan State - Postponed
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By David in Naples
Season Hall is a small sized team. Geno opened with his own small line-up and it didn’t go well. After a miserable 1sr quarter that saw the Huskies miss 10 of 15 shots and give away 7 turnovers, Geno went big with Ono, Aaliyah and Aubrey. Often, the three were in together with Paige and a 2nd guard. At least this way the poor shooting would result in offensive rebounds and put backs. Consider the production of the Big 3:
1. Olivia had 15 points and 13 rebounds, including 11 and 11 in the 2nd half.
2. Aaliyah scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, including 6 off missed shots.
3. Aubrey was high energy as usual with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals.
4. Those 3 also blocked 5 shots and led the 46-32 rebounding advantage by the Huskies.
Paige started slow and looked almost human. In the 1st period she was 1-4 with 3 turnovers. By the end of the game she was raining baskets and scored 23 points on 10-19 shooting.
Team defense was the main reason for tonight’s win. Consider:
1. Seton Hall’s scoring by quarter was 16,11,16 and 6.
2. The diminutive Park-Lane, who burned UConn for 27 pts last time, was 1-12 with 5 points.
3. AEH had a decent game with 15 points, but needed 15 shots to get there.
4. Season Hall coughed up the ball 19 times and missed 42 shots.
Ugly win after the emotional victory over #1 South Carolina. But winning on tough nights is good preparation for the tournament.
Go Huskies..!!
1. Olivia had 15 points and 13 rebounds, including 11 and 11 in the 2nd half.
2. Aaliyah scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, including 6 off missed shots.
3. Aubrey was high energy as usual with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals.
4. Those 3 also blocked 5 shots and led the 46-32 rebounding advantage by the Huskies.
Paige started slow and looked almost human. In the 1st period she was 1-4 with 3 turnovers. By the end of the game she was raining baskets and scored 23 points on 10-19 shooting.
Team defense was the main reason for tonight’s win. Consider:
1. Seton Hall’s scoring by quarter was 16,11,16 and 6.
2. The diminutive Park-Lane, who burned UConn for 27 pts last time, was 1-12 with 5 points.
3. AEH had a decent game with 15 points, but needed 15 shots to get there.
4. Season Hall coughed up the ball 19 times and missed 42 shots.
Ugly win after the emotional victory over #1 South Carolina. But winning on tough nights is good preparation for the tournament.
Go Huskies..!!
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Regular-season
I don't want to take anything for granted. Massey thinks there is one chance in eight, that someone will surprise UConn and steal a win. To put it in perspective, one chance in 8 means picking a day next week at random and finding out it’s a Tuesday (if you subscribe to the Beatles eight days a week theory). A two loss UConn is still in the tournament but not a lock for a one seed. We all remember St. John's, but if the coaching staff does their job, and the virus doesn't strike, the next five games will be working on some of the shortcomings that Nika mentioned in her post-game interview. Those of you who like to worry can always worry about injuries.
If we take care of business, we are a lock for a one seed. In past years that still left plenty of room for worry — the fourth one seed typically gets the least attractive physical location, but that's a nonevent this year. If you still want something to worry about, being the fourth number one seed this year means it’s highly likely you will have the fifth overall seed as the two seed, and there’s a number of teams I would prefer not to face as a two-seed.
The world looks different to other teams. Let's walk through some of the storylines.
Notre Dame
Stanford
Stanford's a bit of an enigma. At times they are very very good, beating top 10 ranked teams not by a little but by a lot. Then they have other days where they lose to teams (Colorado) they shouldn't lose to. They've also managed to have good and bad halves in the same game, demolishing Colorado in the first half of a recent game and almost letting them back in during the second half.
Massey has them as the second strongest overall team, a hair ahead of South Carolina, but a decent margin ahead of their fourth-place team Baylor. They are favored to win each of their last five games, but two of them (Oregon and Arizona) a good enough to give Stanford a game. They beat Arizona at Arizona and this game is at home so shouldn't be a problem, but Arizona's playing tougher recently. A loss would give Stanford three losses and might drop them other consideration for a one seed. I see Charlie Creme already has them as a two seed. I think they get the one seed if they run the table.
South Carolina
The Gamecocks have seven games left — and in five of those games their winning probability is 95% or better. I assume they'll take all five. That leaves a game at Tennessee and at Texas A&M. South Carolina is a 10 point favorite against Tennessee, but is much as we like to dislike Tennessee, they played decently recently including a close call against UConn and a strong performance against Kentucky. I don't think Tennessee can beat South Carolina, but it's far from a given. The game at Texas A&M might be a little tougher despite Massey only giving South Carolina a nine point edge. We haven't been talking much about Texas A&M but they've quietly got a single loss and some decent wins. I'll still pick South Carolina but I don't count out Texas A&M having a chance. Depending on what happens to other top teams, South Carolina might be able to afford a loss and still get a one seed — that might hurt them, they'd be better off needing the win to stay on the one line.
Baylor
Creme has them as a two seed while Massey ranks them as the fourth overall team. They were surprised by Arkansas but we've come to respect that loss. They also lost to Iowa State which is a little more inexplicable but Iowa State’s not a terrible team. Baylor does have two remining games against Texas, who are not in the top 25 but just out of that group, and a game against ranked West Virginia. West Virginia might not be getting the respect they deserve, but they've also struggled against Baylor so that would be quite an upset. If Baylor runs the table they will think they deserve the one seed (and their coach might openly say so), but their overall strength of schedule, despite being slightly stronger than UConn's (not now but by the end of the season) will count against them.
Oregon
This is one team where I scratch my head a little bit at Massey's ranking. He has them is the fifth best overall team. My sense is that nobody in this forum thinks that's remotely true. In their favor, while admittedly having four losses, every one of those losses is to a top 10 team. There aren’t many (any?) teams in the country outside of the Pac 12 who have four top 10 teams on their schedule, so these losses aren't as serious as they might appear at first. In fact, I can't find another team whose "worst" loss is to a top 10 team. Did I miss any?
The flipside is two of those losses weren't that close. It's one thing to lose four close contests, it's another thing to see a 16 and a 20 point margin in two of those losses. I know Oregon lost a lot, but they added a lot, and UConn fans ought to know better than most that teams with a lot of freshman freshmen can grow over a season. I'm not dismissing Organon as a top-tier team yet.
Louisville
We have to talk about this team for two reasons — Creme has them as a one seed, and even if you dismiss that, they have been at the top of the AP and Coaches poll recently, still getting votes for number one. Massey doesn't share the love, ranking them as the 8th best team overall, and closer to number nine Arizona than to number seven Maryland. We ought to be arguing whether they're going to get a two seed or three seed, but instead we are giving them serious consideration as a one seed.
On the one hand they only have a single loss, on the other hand they struggled to beat Notre Dame. They have one of the tougher remaining schedules of all of the top teams so they got a chance to prove themselves. My guess is that they are going to stumble and pick up another loss.
NC State
I know I should talk about this team, given Creme's selection as a number one seed. I thought that was warranted when they beat Louisville but after they lost to North Carolina, I decided the Louisville game was the odd man out not the North Carolina game. Massey has them as the number 12 team so they shouldn't really be in this serious discussion about top seeds. Maybe they will run the table and surprise us.
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No. 7 Baylor 82 Texas Tech 50 - NaLyssa Smith had 28 points and 13 rebounds as No. 7 Baylor won Wednesday night over Texas Tech. DiJonai Carrington added 12 points for the Lady Bears. Queen Egbo also had 13 rebounds. There was a scary moment midway through the third quarter when Baylor guard DiDi Richards, who during preseason practice was left temporarily paralyzed after a freak spinal injury, fell hard to the floor and stayed down on her back for several minutes. Richards eventually sat up and got to her feet, then with some help she walked to the locker room. Richards returned to the bench midway through the fourth quarter. Coach Kim Mulkey said after the game that Richards had concussion symptoms. Gray finished with 12 points on 3-of-19 shooting to lead the Lady Raiders, who shot 28% from the field. Richards initially got hurt Oct. 24 in a midair collision with teammate Moon Ursin. Richards needed a walker to move around while regaining control and strength in her legs. But she missed only the season opener, and was back on the court for the Lady Bears only 38 days later. Hope she is not out too long.
No. 12 Ohio State 70 Wisconsin 75 - No. 12 Ohio State suffered an unexpected at Wisconsin on Wednesday night. They trailed throughout the second half before stumbling against a team that had been sitting in last place in the Big Ten standings. With 4:26 remaining in Wednesday’s loss, a jumper in the lane by forward Tanaya Becham tied the score at 66 apiece, but the Badgers regained the lead for good on a free throw on the following possession. The Buckeyes allowed Wisconsin to shoot 46.6% percent as it was led by forward Imani Lewis, who scored 27 points and collected 14 rebounds.Dorka Juhasz led Ohio State with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while guards Madison Green had 15 points and Braxtin Miller finished with 10 points. With little more than two minutes left, Miller fouled out. This was a really bad loss for Ohio State, as Wisconsin came into this game with a 4-13 record and 1-13 in the conference. Wow.
No. 15 Indiana 90 Penn State 65 - Mackenzie Holmes scored 25 points, Grace Berger had her third triple-double of the season and No. 15 Indiana beat Penn State on Wednesday. Berger had 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Berger started Indiana’s 12-0 run to begin the third quarter to help build the first double-digit lead of the game at 51-40. The Hoosiers shot turned a 40-39 halftime deficit into a 65-51 lead. Ali Patberg added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Aleksa Gulbe scored 15 for Indiana. Nicole Cardano-Hillary was Indiana’s only starter not in double figures, scoring nine points with five assists and four steals. Holmes was 10 of 12 from the field, 5 of 6 at the free-throw line and she also grabbed seven rebounds. Niya Beverley scored 16 points for Penn State. Maddie Burke added 13 points and Anna Camden 12.
No. 19 West Virginia 69 Kansas 61 - No. 19 West Virginia extended their winning streak to 11 games on Wednesday night after defeating the visiting Kansas Jayhawks, 69-61. Kansas jumped out to a hot start hitting their first four shots from the field to take an early 10-4 lead. However, the Mountaineers went on a 19-2 run to end the first quarter. The 2nd quarter had WVU being outscored 18-16. The Mountaineers turned the ball over nine times leading to eight points. Kansas attacked the paint over and over again registering 22 of their 30 points in the first half from the inside. Holly Kersgieter was the biggest challenge for the Mountaineers as she chipped in 16 points on 7/14 shooting. West Virginia led Kansas 39-30 at the break.The Mountaineers opened the 2nd half with an 8-1 run but turnovers continued to plague West Virginia's offense, which allowed the Jayhawks to stay in it until the final minutes of play. West Virginia was led be Esmery Martinez, KK Deans, and Kari Niblack who combined for 45 points on the night with 24 of those coming in the 2nd half. With just two minutes to go in the game, Kansas made a late push but got some help from West Virginia. Kersgieter hit a three from the corner and was fouled by Martinez to cut the lead to 63-57 following the made free-throw. Zakiyah Franklin converted two shots from the charity stripe to make it 63-59 with a little over a minute to go but West Virginia was able to knock down some key free-throws at the end to put the game away.
No. 22 DePaul 81 St. John's 73 - Sonya Morris led five Blue Demons in double figures with 21 points and Deja Church added 18. Lexi Held finished with 14 points, eight assists and six steals. St, John's opened the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run and DePaul's lead was 66-64 with 8:16 left when Blue Demon coach Doug Bruno called timeout. He already had Morris on the bench saddled with four fouls. Jorie Allen also had four. After Allen fouled out, Bruno went to a zone defense with his five-guard lineup. The two teams exchanged baskets at a furious pace with the Red Storm's Leilani Correa (33 points) hitting shot after shot. It was a one-point game in crunch time when Morris responded with five points in a row and Bekelja added a basket to put the game away.
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