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GO UCONN!!!!!

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No. 2 UConn 1-0 Minnesota 3-1

UConn opens up their appearance in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Saturday at 12 noon. I thought I'd do a little analysis of the game and of course my point spread prediction. It's never easy to write this without seeing the team. It's a lot of guesswork made on assumptions and just a feel for the game. Looking closely at the box scores and team stats help.

Minnesota will bring back 12 of 13 members from last year's team and add four newcomers with graduate transfers Deja Winters and Bailey Helgren, as well as freshmen Maggie Czinano and Alanna Micheaux.

Here are who they started in the last game they played. That is usually an indicator on who will start against UConn.

No. 30 Kadiatou Sissoko, 6'2" forward Redshirt Junior from France. She is their leading rebounder.

No. 4 Jasmine Powell, 5'6" guard Junior. Second leading scorer at 13 PPG and top assister at 4.2 per game.

No. 14 Sara Scalia, 5'10" guard Junior. Leading scorer at 17 PPG and played 36 MPG.

No. 13 Gadiva Hubbard, 5'9" guard. Grad Student. Leads the team with 4 steals.

No. 35 Bailey Helgren, 6'5" center. Grad Student.

Off the bench.

No. 03 Deja Winters, 5'11" guard. Grad Student. Scores 11 PPG and is their best three point shooter at 38%.

No. 01 Alexia Smith, 5'8" guard. Sophomore.

Coach Whalen (One of my favorite players), could play more players. But these are the likely players in her rotation.

The Golden Gophers are not a very good team, their 3-1 rebounds more of a product of scheduling than skill.

They lost their opening game to Jacksonville 69-66 and if you play the comparison game Jacksonville played a ranked team in Florida State losing 64-39. Doesn't bode well for Minnesota against the Huskies.

They did play a team that has had some good seasons in Arizona State, beating them 65-59 in overtime. Their last two wins were against American (73-56) and George Washington (48-32), not exactly two powerhouses.

Doing some stat analysis, this game could be ugly. Minnesota is shooting only 34% from the field and 30% on threes. They only average 11 assistsi and along with 17 turnovers, it's not a pretty picture.

UConn has only played one game but geeze, just yesterday I posted how damn good they are and will be.

So what is this game gonna look like?

Well, my guess it will be similar to how UConn looks against the lower end of the Big East teams. The talent gap is huge. And in spite of how experienced the Golden Golphers are, they can't overcome the skill difference.

UConn will score. We all know that. But after that poor defensive performance against Arkansas, you can bet the players will be determined so show that was a one game thing.

UConn by 35+.

Geno on being in the Bahamas: "If we win, you can go out and have a great time and celebrate. If we lose, just go out and walk into the ocean and just keep walking."
— Daniel Connolly (@DanielVConnolly) November 19, 2021

Paige: "We're in the Bahamas, last year we were in Storrs, Connecticut the whole year..."

Geno: "I thought that was your dream to go there and now you're shitting on it?"

Paige: "No, no, I'm saying it's nice to get out an explore once in a while."
— Daniel Connolly (@DanielVConnolly) November 19, 2021

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Like I said, Lindsay was one of my favorite players. Here is her Bio.

Geno thinks the world of her!!

.@UConnWBB Geno on @GophersWBB coach @Lindsay_13 who played USAB for him: "There were never any times that she'd come into a game and you said, ‘She doesn’t have it today.’ She always brought a certain level of intensity and toughness. That’s what I appreciated the most."
— carl adamec (@CarlAdamec) November 19, 2021

.@UConnWBB Geno on @GophersWBB coach @Lindsay_13 who played USAB for him:“I loved coaching her because she had a really good grasp of who she is. She had a tremendous understanding of who she is, what she brings to the team, what her role is going to be. She’d embrace that role"
— carl adamec (@CarlAdamec) November 19, 2021

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No. 5 North Carolina State 90 Kansas State 69

NCST - Elisa Cunane 18 points

Kansas State - Ayoka Lee 19 points 11 rebounds 5 blocks

No. 11 Arizona vs Marist

No. 22 West Virginia vs Kennesaw State

West Virginia - Jasmine Carson 14 points, 4-5 on 3's

GAMES OF INTEREST

Big East, OOC Opponents and Rivals

Marquette at Colorado

Arkansas at Arkansas State

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No. 5 North Carolina State did a number on previously undefeated Kansas State. At 4-0, they were looking good. Well, until they met a top team.

But there was a good sub-plot. Two of the better centers in the country went head to head.

NCST's Elisa Cunane, 6'5" with the ability to hit jumpers out to the three point line, had a solid game. 18 points and 6 rebounds. She was 1-1 on threes.

Kansas State's Ayoka Leee, 6'6" with a great inside presence both offensively and defensivly, had 19 points and 11 rebounds. She also had 5 blocks.

If you can find some highlights of both these players, you will really enjoy them.

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Our Sunday matchup against @DrakeWBB and trip to the #CancunChallenge have been canceled due to COVID-19 within the program.

Release ➡️ https://t.co/2svHFg74zF | #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/ygqTvYHzFo
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) November 20, 2021

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Funny Quotes from Vol Nation

The Tennessee fans are paranoid. They believe that the refs are out to get them, that all the other coaches trash Tennessee to recruits and that the moon landing was faked. It doesn't end.

The Refs made several bad calls against us always happens on the road.

Refs trying to help them get back not going to work.

Stupid dumb Refs.

Omg these refs!

Cmon refs! Total scrum because you are late with a whistle

We’re no doing ourselves any favors but it’s so obvious everyone from the refs to the commentators want Tenn to lose.

I could cut and paste more, but you get the drift. Now, I'm not saying that UConn fans don't complain but Lady Vol fans take it to another level.

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By David in Naples

Paige Bueckers led the Huskies in points scored (with 34) against Arkansas last week. No surprise. Guess who had the most rebounds and assists? Not Paige. It was Evina (Grandma) Westbrook with 8 boards (tied w/ Liv) and 5 assists. She also was tied for the most steals with 2 and led the team with 3-5 shooting from outside the arc.

Interestingly, Paige, Christyn and Nika went 0-6 from three range. She did all this while playing over 38 minutes, totaling 15 points and making all 4 of her free throws.

One final strange stat was the made three from Aaliyah Edwards. She went 1-1 from three range. That makes her 100% for her career, because that was her first try from outside the arc ever.