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GO UCONN!!!!!
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Happy fifth night of Chanukah!!
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AT 
UCONN SETON HALL
3-1 3-2
SETON HALL | UCONN LEADS 53-10
H: 25-4 | A: 24-4 | N: 4-2
Last Ten Games
02/09/08 #1 UConn 82, SHU 36 South Orange, N.J.
02/28/09 #1 UConn 81, SHU 50 Hartford, Conn.
01/02/10 #1 UConn 91, SHU 24 South Orange, N.J.
02/22/11 #1 UConn 80, SHU 59 Hartford, Conn.
12/09/11 #2 UConn 70, SHU 37 South Orange, N.J.
02/23/13 #3 UConn 90, SHU 30 Storrs, Conn.
12/08/18 #1 UConn 99, SHU 61 Hartford, Conn.
12/05/19 #2 UConn 92, SHU 78 South Orange, N.J.
12/15/20 #3 UConn 92, SHU 65 South Orange, N.J.
02/10/21 #2 UConn 70, SHU 49 Storrs, Conn.
Hightlights from the 2/10/21 game
UConn won the first matchup last year by 27 points and the second one by 21 points. Not bad, right?
WRONG!!!!!
A good margin of victory, however, both games were a dogfight!
Last year, UConn swept the home-and-home series against Seton Hall, but the Pirates played the Huskies closely both times. Seton Hall had a halftime lead on UConn in their first meeting before ultimately falling, 92-65.
In their most recent matchup, the Pirates took a lead into the second half against No. 2 Connecticut, but the Huskies pulled away with a lengthy run late in the third quarter and eventually beat the Pirates, 70-49, at Gampel Pavilion. The Pirates defense held the Huskies to just 26 points and forced 13 turnovers in the first half, but UConn methodically chipped away, and used a 12-0 run at the end of the third quarter to take over the game.
In their most recent matchup, the Pirates took a lead into the second half against No. 2 Connecticut, but the Huskies pulled away with a lengthy run late in the third quarter and eventually beat the Pirates, 70-49, at Gampel Pavilion. The Pirates defense held the Huskies to just 26 points and forced 13 turnovers in the first half, but UConn methodically chipped away, and used a 12-0 run at the end of the third quarter to take over the game.
In that first game UConn was introduced to 12 year old (ok, she only looks that old) Lauren Park-Lane, who scored 29 points. The Huskies had no answer for her and she went to the foul line 10 times making 9 of them. She was a handful!!
The second game, UConn did figure her out. Park-Lane was 1-12 from the field and only scored 5 points. But former UConn player Andra Espinoza-Hunter played in this game and had 15 points. I'm sure that this is a game that Christyn Williams wants to forget. She had 0 points. ZERO. Did she play? Yes, 25 minutes.
So, whats up with Seton Hall this year? In their last Junior Lauren Park-Lane had game-highs of 19 points and nine assists and Andra Espinoza-Hunter added 18 points as the Pirates defeated Toledo, 68-63, in overtime in their finale of the Cancun Challenge on last Friday. After Espinoza-Hunter hit a pair of free throws late in regulation to send the game into overtime, the Pirates never trailed in the extra session. Park-Lane scored five of the Pirates' 11 overtime points, and Espinoza-Hunter hit a huge three-pointer to cement The Hall's lead late. Park-Lane finished with 19 points to go with a season-high nine assist and four rebounds. Espinoza-Hunter added 18 points on the strength of four made three-pointers. She also had five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Mya Jackson was a third Pirate to reach double-figures in scoring. She had 12 points and three rebounds.
They lost to USC and Fordham. No, not South Carolina, althought their fans think they are the real USC. And losing by 19 to Fordham? A bad loss.
The Pirates had been hit by the injury bug this year. They pretty much only go 7 deep. Park-Lane and Espinoza-Hunter are both averaging 39.6 minutes per game, which includes both playing all 45 minutes in their OT game.
I keep mentioning those two players because, well, they are the stars of the Seton Hall team. But RS Senior 6'4" center Sidney Cooks can't be overlooked. She averages 15.4 PPG and shoots a solid 57% from the field. She even takes it out to the three point line, shooting 6-13. They have a fourth starter averaging double digit scoring, 5'7" Junior guard Mya Jackson is scoring at an 11.6 clip.
As a team, Seton Hall is going to shoot threes and shoot a lot of them. They take 22 per game and make 8. That's a very nice percentage. They are a weak rebounding team but as I will mention in a bit, UConn is a weak rebounding team.
UConn is coming off a horible effort against South Carolina. That fourth quarter was just tough to watch. On top of that, their best three point shooter and bench player Azzi Fudd is out for a few weeks with a foot issue. But they do get back Aubrey Griffin, who brings a few things to the table that the other players on the team don't. Her athleticism is better than anyone on the team and she is a defensive wiz, and great offensive rebounder, something UConn has been missing. Here is just a reminder!!!
Aubrey Griffin
Sophomore Season Highlights
And I just found out that Griffin will be out both games this weekend. She is just not ready yet.
Geno - “We thought she was going to be good to go this weekend and our athletic trainer, Janelle Francisco told me today after watching her go through some things in practice a little bit...she said, ‘Aubrey’s not going to be available this weekend, It’s just been one thing after another for the poor kid. Her ankle, her leg, her back, it’s just a lot. I don’t want to put anybody out there that’s not 100 percent. It’s a long season.”
Last year, Olivia Nelson-Ododa played really well in the second game with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Look for more of that in this game.
I can only imagine how Geno has been doing his motivation thing after that SC loss. This team needs to play tougher and I expect that in this game.
Too much Paige and Williams will want retribution for the goose egg she laid the last time UConn played Seton Hall.
Prediction? UCOnn by 35+. And this time I mean it!!!!
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Here's a few videos I found!
Paige Bueckers & Azzi Fudd Slam Interview!!
UConn Women’s Basketball Practice Availability: Geno Auriemma and Paige Bueckers (12/1)
Paige Bueckers On Pressure Of Playing At UConn, Landing NIL Deals |
Just Playin' with Taylor Rooks
ROAD TO 12 ep. 2: Huskies Prepare to Fight the Irish
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I thought the last one was bad. Check out this one.
"just watched 1st tenn vs south il karoline can out set a pick for tess she had time shoot it went in and out. not a set play karoline saw the defener guard tess close she came out block her off karoline defener did not help so tess had time to step in shoot."
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UPSETS IN RED
MOST SCORES HAVE CLICKABLE LINKS TO A GAME STORY
No. 9 Iowa at Duke
No. 14 Iowa State 60 LSU 69
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Straight from the Dog
Some great games Thursday. I did get to watch parts of some of the game.
No. 24 Notre Dame went to Michigan to play the Spartans in one of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge games and beat them 76-71. Interestingly enough, Michigan State also lost to Fordham, who beat UConn's next opponent Seton Hall. It was a pretty competative game. It's hard to hate this Notre Dame team. Muffet is gone and so are the players we loved to hate. And they haven't been very good recently. But now they are a Top 25 team and they do have a Mabrey on the team, so I was hoping they would lose. But it was not to be. Olivia Miles, their freshman point guard, is a terrific player. She came close to a triple double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. But the star of this game and a player that can bring Notre Dame back to glory is Sonia Citron. She played with Fudd for USA basketball and was terrific then. She is doing a great job as a freshman coming off the bench and this game was her coming out party. Citron had 29 points on 9-12 shooting, 3-4 on threes and 8-8 from the foul line. At 6'1 she is a big guard and a tough matchup.
It was quite the defensive battle between No. 2 North Carolina State and No. 6 Indiana when the Wolfpack visited the Hoosiers in another Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup. At the half it was 23-21 with the home team leading. I couldn't tell if it was just bad shooting or good defense. Probably a little of both. NC State had 11 first half turnovers and average only 12 per game. Indiana has a nice inside passing game. The Hoosiers would pull away a little and then NC State would hit a clutch three to stem the tide. They eventually pulled away for a 4 point lead after three quarters. Indiana stayed close for a while but NC State pulled away late for the 66-58 win. I did find a new player to dislike. Diamond Johnson from NC State. I just don't like her attitude. You'd have to watch her to understand. Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes was everything for the Hoosiers in this game. She was 9-14 from the field and the rest of the team was 13-51.
In a non-top 25 game, UCF took on Arkansas. The Knights did what UConn couldn't do, slow down the Razorbacks. Central Florida won this defensive struggle 52-51. They did what they couldn't do against Tennessee, finish a game. Ramirez for Arkansas, who was on fire against UConn, was 1-10 from the field and 1-8 on threes. We all remember how UCF plays. I'm sure they bumped and grinded their way to victory. They shot 33% from the field and 1-11 on threes.
In a big upset, unranked UT Arlington beat No. 13 USF 61-56. The game was close throughout but a team ranked 13th should not lose to team that lost to Baylor by 27 and to Kansas City? by 9. The Bulls just couldn't shoot straight. They shot 32% from the field and 5-22 on threes. That just doesn't cut it. Bethy Munuga was her usual beast in the paint for USF with 20 rebounds.
Is W.C. Fields coaching Iowa State?
Two late game upsets.
Duke beat No. 9 Iowa 79-64 behind freshman Shehianin Day-Wilson who had 19 points and hit 4-7 three pointers. It was the largest margin of victory for Duke over a top 10 opponent IN THEIR HISTORY. And they were 15 points underdogs and won by 15. Crazy. Caitlin Clark was 11-34 coming into this game on three pointers. She was 1-12 in this game lowering her percentage to 26%. Hard to believe how bad two of the best three point shooters in WCBB are doing. Yes, I mean Clark and Bueckers.
In the other upset, Kim Mulkey is showing she is worth every penny they are paying her. LSU beat Iowa State 69-60. The Tigers had the lead most of the game and really weren't threatend. Alexis Morris had 25 points and was 5-7 on threes. And Kayla Pointer had 20 points. They are going to be a tough out in the SEC.
It was a bad day for the states of Iowa and Michigan. All four of their major universities lost. ACC is tough, Big 10? Not so much.
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By Phil
Can both of them win?
Princeton’s easy-to-understand, they are coached by UConn legend Carla Berube. The player that Geno said never said boo in practice now must talk almost nonstop.
It’s been great watching her take Tufts to national prominence, and now she’s leading Princeton. I went to see one of her games last year against Yale. Most games I’m pulling for her team to win.
Then they played FGCU. The UConn connection here is a little weaker. UConn sharpshooter and author Mel Thomas briefly flirted with a coaching career before deciding to go to sports marketing and was on the FGCU staff for a time. I had the good fortune to be in St. Thomas for the Paradise Jam when FGCU was there. Mel Thomas introduced me to their head coach Karl Smesko, and I have followed them ever since. I get to see them play in Florida when I went down to see University Hartford play FGCU.
Karl’s story is interesting, and I had the opportunity to document for Wikipedia.
Both teams are doing well. Princeton had the nation’s longest active winning streak until a recent stumble, while FGCU is breaking into the top 25.
Massey has Princeton’s slightly higher-rated than FGCU, but with the game on FGCU’s home court, gave them a one point edge in his predicted score.
The box score is a map geeks delight.
Both teams scored 12 points in the first quarter, both teams scored 15 points in the third quarter, and both teams scored 19 points in the final quarter. Only Princeton’s three-point margin in the second quarter of scoring FGCU 12–9 broke the tie, and Princeton came away with the three point win. The game was tied with under a minute to go when Meyers scored basket with 20 seconds left and FGCU failed to score.
Kiersten Bell scored 19 points for FGCU, but she was the nation’s second-leading scorer averaging 26 points a game, so that was actually seven points under her average. Meyers, who hit the go-ahead basket, had 18 points for Princeton.
Let’s keep an eye on both of these teams.
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By David in Naples
The Naples Index of Scoring Efficiency is also known as NISE. It measures how many points a player scores vs how many shots they took. The point is that going 5 for 8 from the field is better than going 7 for 20. It is important how many tries a player had to score and not just how many points. Here are five of the Huskies NISE totals.
Paige = 82 points on 61 shots and 11 free throws. NISE = 1.13 (82 divided by 72 tries)
Evina = 49 points on 26 shots and 15 free throws. NISE = 1.19 (49 divided by 41 tries)
Christyn = 69 points on 44 shots and 21 free throws. NISE = 1.06 (69 divided by 65 tries)
Dorka = 13 points on 15 shots and 2 free throws. NISE = 0.76 (13 divided by 17 tries)
Azzi = 30 points on 24 shots and 0 free throws. NISE = 1.25 (30 divided by 24 tries)
Anything above 1 is good. A NISE better than 1.2 is really good. Anything below 0.8 is not so good.
Go Huskies..!!
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