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GO UCONN!!!!!
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From the Mercer Team Site -
Six Honored by SoCon
Super senior Shannon Titus, seniors Amoria Neal-Tysor and Jaron Dougherty, freshmen Erin Houpt and Nigeria Harkless & Head Coach Susie Gardner were all honored by the SoCon. Titus became the first ever to be named the Defensive Player of the Year on three occasions, in addition to being placed on the First Team and the Defensive Team. Neal-Tysor was Mercer's other inclusion on the First Team, and Dougherty was named to the Second Team. Houpt, the conference leader in 3s, was named Freshman of the Year and to the All-Freshman Team, along with Nigeria Harkless. Coach Susie Gardner was named the league's Coach of the Year for the fourth time.
Last Time Out
Mercer punched its fourth ticket to the big dance in five seasons when they took down third-seeded Furman, 73-54, for the SoCon's automatic bid on March 6 in Asheville, N.C.'s Harrah's Cherokee Center. The Bears held the Paladins to just four points and 10% (1-for-10) from the field in the third quarter to seal the league's automatic bid to the tournament.
Amoria Neal-Tysor – the two-time Most Outstanding Player of the event - led the Bears with 26 points and six assists in 38 minutes of action. Three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Shannon Titus, scored 15, pulled four boards and dished four assists. Jaron Dougherty – an All-SoCon Second Team selection – scored 13 and collected three rebounds, while Erin Houpt – the league's Freshman of the Year – scored 12, snagged five rebounds and tallied two assists.
Series History
The Bears and Huskies will meet for the first time on Saturday afternoon. Mercer is meeting a current Big East team for the first time since 2007, when they met Xavier (then a member of the Atlantic 10) in a road game.
This should be a typical 2 vs 15 game with the Huskies winning by a really large margin. I'm just interested in seeing if the starting lineup changes for the Huskies as they try to get Bueckers going early and often.
A game to work on things before they take on Miami in the second round.
UConn by 45+
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Follow along and view the Group standings
Doggy's Doghouse and the password is doggydaddy.
Just click on the link.
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UConn Pregame Videos
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Time and TV
Bridgeport Region
Reynolds Coliseum
Raleigh, NC
No. 8 Washington State vs No. 9 Kansas State Saturday 11:30 AM ESPN2
No. 1 North Carolina State vs Longwood Saturday 2:00 PM ESPN
Gampel Pavilion
Storrs, CT
No. 2 UConn vs No. 15 Mercer Saturday 1:00 PM ABC
No. 7 UCF vs No. 10 Florida Saturday 3:30 PM ESPNN
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall
Bloomington, IN
No. 3 Indiana vs No. 14 Charlotte Saturday 1:30 PM ESPN2
No. 6 Kentucky vs No. 11 Princeton Saturday 4:00 PM ESPN
Lloyd Noble Center
Norman, OK
No. 5 Notre Dame vs No. 12 UMASS Saturday 7:30 PM ESPN2
No. 4 Oklahoma vs 13 IUPIU Saturday 10:00 PM ESPNU
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Spokane Region
Maples Pavilion
Stanford, CA
Pete Maravich Assembly Center
Baton Rouge, LA
No. 6 Ohio State vs No. 11 Missouri State Saturday 2:30 PM ESPNU
No. 3 LSU vs No. 14 Jackson State Saturday 5:00 PM ESPNU
Xfinity Center
College Park, MD
Frank Erwin Center
Austin, TX
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Greensboro Region
James H. Hilton Coliseum
Ames, IA
McKale Center
Tucson, AZ
No. 5 North Carolina vs No. 12 Stephen F. Austin Saturday 7:30 PM ESPNN
No. 4 Arizona vs No. 13 UNLV Saturday10:00 PM ESPN2
Colonial Life Arena
Columbia, SC
Carver Hawkeye Arena
Iowa City, IA
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Wichita Region
Crisler Center
Ann Arbor, MI
No. 6 BYU vs No. 11 Villanova Saturday 1:00 PM ESPNN
No. 3 Michigan vs No. 14 American University Saturday 3:30 PM ESPN2
Thompson-Boling Arena
Knoxville, TN
No. 4 Tennessee vs 13 Bufalo Saturday 3:00 PM ABC
No. 5 Oregon vs 12 Belmont Saturday 5:30 PM ESPN2
Ferrell Center
Waco, TX
KFC Yum Centerzx
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Straight from the Dog
BELIBI DUNKS!!!
Coming soon to UConn Ayanna Patterson!!!!!
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I said I would be looking at these three games on Friday. I guess I picked the right ones primed for an upset. I was right in all three game.
"The 7 vs 10 games are primed for upsets and 10 seed South Dakota has the game to beat 7 seed Ole Miss. The Coyotes will struggle with Shakira Austin, the Rebels 6'5" center, but South Dakota is a much better shooting team. Ole Miss is a typical SEC team, shooting 42% from the field and 27% on threes. The question is always are they a lousy shooting team or is the SEC a great defensive conference? I'll go with the former. South Dakota has a good chance here."
"In another 7 vs 10 game, Creighton gets a chance to show that the Big East is not as bad as DePaul played Wednesday night in their play-in game. 7 seed Colorado hasn't seen a team like Creighton before. As UConn fans know, the Bluejays love to shoot that three pointer. Creighton is ranked third nationally in 3-pointers made per game (10.3) and they are 11th in the country in 3-point percentage (36.8) and total field goal percentage (45.8). And while Colorado is ranked 19th in steals per game, Creighton is FIRST in the country in assist/turnover ratio. I like the Bluejay's chances in this game. "
"This could be a big upset. 5th seed Virginia Tech takes on 12th seed Florida Gulf Coast. This game will be so similar to the one I just described. FGCU is a big three point shooting team, and all it takes is a hot night to take out a higher seed. They bring a distinctive style into this tournament, with nobody taller than 6-foot-1. Every player on the roster is listed as a guard — and only Maddie Antenucci is listed as a “guard/forward” on the team’s website. The Eagles lead the nation in 3-point attempts with 1,120, more than anyone else by 200 shots! This will be a fun game to watch."
However, my bracket? Meh........
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So, besides the UConn/Mercer game, what interesting matchups are there for Saturday?
No. 4 Tennessee is taking on No. 13 Buffalo. Tennessee has to use their stellar defense to win with their leading scorer, Jordan Horsten, out again with her arm injury. The Bulls are on a hot streak, winning 14 of their last 15 games. Diashia Fair is the leading scorer for Buffalo at 23.4 PPG and is just the type of guard that gives Tennessee fits. Buffalo is a really good rebounding team but that is against Mid-American conference opponents. This game is a big step up. Tennessee's 6'6" Key can and should dominate the middle for the Lady Vols. but if the Bulls can hit some big threes, I can smell an upset in the making. Certainly wishful thinking on my part.
The Kentucky men's team was a big 2-15 upset victim. Will the No. 6 Wildcats fall to No. 11 Princeton? It is certainly possible. The Tigers are 28-4 on the season and have won 17 in a row on their way to the NCAA tournament. I'll be rooting for Carla Berube and her Princeton team to send another SEC team packing.
In another 6-11 matchup, the Big East's Villanova Wildcats will be looking to upset BYU. I really think this one is a good possibility. Maddy Siegrist is a handful for any team. Look with Nova to use their BE Tournament experience to help them overcome the Cougars.
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By David in Naples
UConn ended the regular season with a 10 game winning streak. During that streak at the end of the regular season, UConn held opponents to only 26.4% shooting from three point range. In the prior 20 games, with various players hurt or hobbled, opponents made nearly 30% of their threes (29.7%). Big improvement..! Scoring from inside the arc was similarly restricted.
The total opponent scoring in the last 10 games was held to 43.8 points per game. In the previous 20 games, the opposition had scored at an average of 59.4 ppg. Virtually, every team stat shows the same dramatic improvement when comparing the first 20 games to the last 10. This is a different UConn team with 9 starters healthy and capable of playing significant minutes. The journey starts Saturday against Mercer.
Go Huskies..!!
The total opponent scoring in the last 10 games was held to 43.8 points per game. In the previous 20 games, the opposition had scored at an average of 59.4 ppg. Virtually, every team stat shows the same dramatic improvement when comparing the first 20 games to the last 10. This is a different UConn team with 9 starters healthy and capable of playing significant minutes. The journey starts Saturday against Mercer.
Go Huskies..!!
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