Sunday, December 31, 2023

Doggy's Doghouse 1/1/2024

 



 



                                                                                                                       
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Even my daughter (mother to Logan and Barrett) 
is looking for my Blog!!!

GO UCONN!!!!!


A Happy and Healthy New Year to you and the players!

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UConn 95             Marquette 64

Remember when Geno said this in his pregame presser? 

"I don't think that break came at the perfect time for us. It's a lot of days and it's going to take some time to get back into the swing of things." 

If by "some time" he meant 2 minutes he would have been right. Marquette jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first 2 minutes of the game. I can tell you was was concerned that the great play we had seen the last few games was just fool's gold. I even turned off the volume and hoped that would help. 

UConn put their finger in the damn to stop the leaking and the next few minutes were 7-7 so it was 17-7 halfway through the first quarter. A few more trading of baskets and it was 21-13 with a little under 3 minutes left in the quarter. Then it happened. UConn went on a 13-0 run to end the quarter and took a 26-21 lead. It was quick and like a hammer. Marquette had no answer for the Huskies pressure defense and precision offense. And no answer for Paige. It was after Geno took her out when the score was 10-0 that Paige just took over. I have a video below where Paige explains she is still trying to figure out when to take over a game. I think Geno wants that to happen when she wakes up on game day.

The second quarter was all UConn. They outscored Marquette 27-15 to take a 53-36 lead at the half. You could see on the faces of the Marquette players that they knew this game was over. UConn was hustling all over the court and on one play had three, yes three players diving for a ball that they recovered and scored on. 

Now, sometimes a team will come out in the second half and cut a big lead down to a reasonable amout. UConn was not about the let that happen. They slowly but surely (please don't call me shirley) increased the lead and at one point it was 35 points. A typical slow fourth quarter when Geno takes off the pressure and the end of the bench comes in had the lead end up a 29 point victory. A great win against a good Marquette team that is much better than what we saw in this game. That was all because of the Huskies.

The post game Geno presser was just awesome. At one point he used FOUR "really"s to describing how proud he was of the team. They are really really really really coming together.       

On to the players!!!!



Move over Caitlen Clark. Paige is back. Yeah, she doesn't have the gaudy stats that Clark has but no one can convince me she isn't the best player in women's college basketball. The Marquette coach called her a pro and she is right. 

Paige was taken out after a turnover on her first play. She passed the ball instead of shooting. After the 
10-0 Marquette run, Geno took her out and explained the facts of life to her. Boy did she respond. She played 31 terrific minutes. She was 10-16 from the field, 4-6 on threes, 5 assists, 3 steals and of course one block. 25 points and only 1 turnover. 25 points on 16 shots. Fantastic. 


Another double double for Aaliyah. She really dominatd the paint. In 30 minutes she scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. She also added 4 assists. Just a complete player. She was 8-13 from the field. So efficient. It looks to me she is settling in to being the main post on the team and the only big in the starting lineup. Boy, she had some slick post moved in this game.


Nika was just great in this game. She just gives UConn what they need. Intense defense, great passing, terrific rebounding from the guard position and one really nice three point shot. Geno had her playing the most minutes at 34 and she filled the box score again. 5 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and only 1 turnover. Great ball handling!! I'm not sure who had the most floor burns in this game but I'm thinking it was Nika. She is loving just moving the ball to the right player, whether it's her assists or a pass leading to an assist.  


Not her best game statistically, Aubrey contributed in many ways. She played so hard. In only 19 minutes she had 9 points and 9 rebounds. But it was her defense that was so amazing. She was so quick to double team the ball and then so quick to recover to her player. It would have been a double digit scoring game if the usually reliable free throw shooter didn't go 1-5 from the line.  


More and more, KK is getting her gameto where Geno wants it to be. You can see her pulling back when there isn't an opening and attacking shen she should. And her defense is all-american level. It was great to see her have trust in her three point shot as well. UConn needs her to take them. In here 25 minutes, she scored 13 points on 5-12 shooting, 2-5 on threes as well. She added 2 assists and 3 steals and a few dives for loose balls as well.     


The refs really impacted her game, calling 4 fouls on her in only 9 minutes. Some her fault but a couple were really bad calls. She did look more comfortable in the offense and even grabbed a slick pass from Paige, one that she has fumbled out of bounds in previous games. She scored 5 points in those 9 minutes. It's hard to believe she didn't have even one rebound. More improvement to go!!  


The law of averages bit Ashlynn as did her rushing her shots early. She show though that she doesn't have to hit three pointers to contribute to the team. She played 33 minutes and scored 12 points and had 2 assists. She was 0-4 on threes. She also had almost half of UConn's turnovers with 3. Yet Geno kept her in the game. She is perpetual motion on the court and plays so hard. Geno just loves that. 


Who was that strange player wearing No. 4 and where are her Minnie Mouse ears?? I like the new look! She looks quicker and sleaker! Yes, you can look quicker form a picture. Geno used her for 14 minutes and she scored 5 points, hit a three pointer (only 1-4) and added 3 rebounds. Plays like the one in the picture will keep her getting playing time.

It was just a great team effort. Eveyone contributed. Even DeBerry, who looked really aggressive on her one post move and blocked a shot as well. 

The team only turned the ball over 7 times. They shot the ball at 52% and even with a lull in the middle shot 35% on threes. Marquette hasn't been outrebounded in a game until this one. The Huskies had 47 behind Nika's career high 10 and Marquette only had 32. That led to a 27-6 advantage in second chance points and a 14-5 advantage in fast break points. A 52-28 advantage in point in the paint tells the story. 

Up next is Creighton. A very similar team to Marquette. I've been working on the pregame report for that game and size wise, the teams are very similar. Geno said in a post game thaty they play a very similar game. I used similar three times. I need some synonyms!

Go HUSKIES!!!!

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Full Game Replay

Geno Courtside Postgame Interview

Paige, Aaliyah and Nika Postgame Interviews Audio Only

Geno Post Game Presser

Game Highlights

Paige on when to take over offensively


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** Designates Upset

Friday December 29th, 2023

No. 3 NC State 72 Virginia 61
No. 9 Stanford 98 Morgan State 38
No. 13 Notre Dame 81 Syracuse 86 **
No. 14 Virginia Tech 91 Pittsburgh 41
No. 16 Indiana 77 Illinois 71
No. 19 Louisville 77 Miami 72
No. 22 Florida State 73 Wake Forest 61
No. 24 North Carolina 82 Clemson 76

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Leah is a terrific player. Daniel had her listed at 6'2" but she is really 6'3" so I changed it. She is big and strong. Really strong. Really big.  And can take it out to the three point line. I can't remember a player like her on the Huskies. 


She would be a great addition to the Kelis Fisher and Gandy Malou-Mamel class. Being at that game had to have an impact on her decision. What a great atmosphere!!

I could be wrong but I get a feeling that the Huskies get commitment soon from her. 

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Straight from the Dog



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When is an upset not really an upset?

No. 13 Notre Dame lost to unranked Syracuse 86-81 on the Orange home court. Some might call that an upset. I'm not so sure.

Notre Dame started the season, without their star player Olivia Miles, lost by29 points to No. 1 South Carolina. It wasn't that close. But then they reeled off 9 straight wins. But only one was against a decent team, if that is what you want to call Tennessee. I don't. 

Notre Dame is also without another star player in Sonia Citron. The Irish are playing only a 6 player rotation. We UConn fans know how that feels. It's not easy. 

So, on the road against a decent Syracuse team playing short handed once again. I'd be hard pressed to call this an upset. If this is the rotation that UConn has to play on 1/27 at home, I'm feeling pretty good about the outcome.    

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So, what did UConn work on during the break? My guess is defense. They really looked in sync in this game. Their switches were spot on. And their double teams were extremely effective. This will only get better and better with time. And success  brings more success. Pressure defense is FUN. The players love it. So do the fans. Well, this fan for sure!!

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So where will UConn end up in the latest Top 25 poll after blowing out a Top 25 team?Two teams lost who are ahead of UConn in No. 12 Utah and No. 13 Notre Dame. No. 14 Virginia Tech won their games. So I would think that Va Tech moves to No. 12, UConn lucky No. 13 and that Notre Dame and Utah both drop below the Huskies. 

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I usually only look at the Top 25 scores, but this game caught my attention.

The Big Bad SEC's Alabama team beat up on poor ole Mississippi Valley State by the score of 91-26. And the Devilettes had to hit a late three pointer (their only one) to get to 26.

Just the score of 26 is a good start to win an UGGY. But the rest of the stats made this an easy decision.

MVS was 10-59 from the field for 16.9% and 1-13 on threes. They had 21 turnovers and only 4 assists. And they were outrebounded 59-32. 

Oh yeah...this was UGGY. So congrats to the Devilettes on your winning this UGGY award! Well deserved!  

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It's not exactly numbers from David but my friend Charles put this together and I thought I would borrow it. I hope he doesn't mind!! I don't really agree with his matchups but the numbers tell the story.

Comparing match-ups in this game with players' seasonal averages...is somewhat useful in determining how individual players performed.

Aliyah Edwards vs Liz Karlen - Aliyah was able to score two points and got 3.5 more rebounds than her average while Liz was held to 4.2 points and .6 rebounds below her average.

Paige Bueckers vs Fannie Hottinger - Paige was 5.8 points above her average but she was 3.1 rebounds below their average. Fannie didn't have that good of a game she was pretty much ineffective today only scoring 4 points and not getting any rebounds...5.4 points and 9 rebounds below her average.

Ashlynn Shade vs Jordan King - Ashlynn was 2.5 points above her average and 1.2 rebounds above. Even though she didn't hit any of her threes she still found a way to score. Meanwhile, Jordan King was .7 points above her average and 1.1 rebounds above hers but she did hit her average of 2 threes per game.

KK Arnold vs Rose Nkumu - KK was 4.1 points above her average but was 1.1 rebounds below her average. KK also hit on 2 threes which was 1.3 threes above her average. Rose was .6 points below her average and was unable to corral any rebounds putting her 2.0 rebounds below her average. On the other hand, Rose was able to get 7 assists to KK's 2.

Nika Muhl vs Mackenzi Hare - Nika did not have a good scoring game only 5 points (1.5 below her average) on 2/4 shooting and hitting on one three but, she made up for that in other categories...she had a career-high 10 rebounds (6 above her average) and was 2 assists above her average with 7.

Skylar Forbes had a good game hitting 4.2 points above her average and 1.6 rebounds above her average.

Aubrey Griffin was .8 below her scoring average and 2.8 rebounds above her average.

UCONN was 12.2 points above their average; 7 three-pointers above their average; 9.1 rebounds above their average; 3 assists above their average; 1.3 steals below their average and 6.8 turnovers below their average.

MARQUETTE was 15.6 points below their average; 1.5 three-pointers below their average; 6.8 rebounds below their average; 7.4 assists below their average; 4.2 steals below their average and 5.2 turnovers below their average.

 
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By PHIL

Undefeated Watch – and then there were seven (12/31/23)

The undefeated are dropping like flies but some of that’s a consequence of undefeated teams playing one another.

TCU wasn’t really challenged by BYU and extended their Division I leading winning streak to 14 games.

Undefeated Texas and Baylor met Saturday and Baylor walked away with their undefeated streak intact at 12 games.

Undefeated UCLA and USC met Saturday. UCLA started out like this was going to be a blowout, then USC came on strong and looked good, although even when they were leading ESPN had the UCLA win probability at 60+ percent. UCLA pulled out to a double-digit lead USC cut it close, but UCLA ended up with the win and the retention of a 12-game winning streak.

The South Carolina game looked interesting for maybe three minutes, but one of East Carolina’s player went out with an injury, and their biggest player got her third foul early in the first quarter, and South Carolina coasted to their 12th consecutive win of the season.

Despite being picked to lose against Kansas, West Virginia rolled to a 25-point victory and kept their undefeated streak alive at 12 games.

Marquette scored the first 10 points in the game against UConn, but the Huskies ended up with a 31-point win and Marquette’s streak is pining for the fjords.

Oregon is having an odd season. They have suffered some abysmal losses, then take on Oregon State, hold them to two points over an 11-minute stretch, but barely take advantage, and only scored 12 minutes in the last 13 minutes of the game, to let undefeated Oregon State extend their undefeated string to 12 games.

Virginia led NC State at the half, but the third quarter looked like a different game with NC State outscoring Virginia 23 – 8. The fourth quarter is going to be close to a push but the damage has been done and NC State joined several other teams for second place in the undefeated streak with 12 consecutive wins.

Milestone watch

• Aaliyah Edwards had 1400 career points after the Toronto Metropolitan game. She scored 19 in the Marquette game to reach 1419. This moves her past Tamika Williams, Chris Gedney, and Peggy Walsh. She now needs 25 points to tie Kalana Greene.


• Nika Mühl had 492 assists after the Toronto Metropolitan game. She had 7 assists in the Marquette game to reach 499 assists. She is now in 14th place. She needs 32 to catch Laura Lishness in 13th place.

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SPIDER STATS
 
Plus one for every assist block point rebound and steal. I don’t add extra for offensive rebounds as it already seems to favor the bigs. Minus one for every missed shot (2, 3 or foul), turnover or foul committed.

UConn 112 Marquette 43.

Great crowd! Paige is incredible!!

Net positives/minutes: Aaliyah 29/30, Paige 27/31, Nika 17/34, Aubrey 11/19, KK 7/25, Ashlynn 7/33, Qadence 5/14, Amari 2/3, Ines 1/2, Ice -1/9.

Aubrey uncharacteristically poor foul shooting, Ice 0 rebounds 4 fouls, Nika 10 rebounds. 

Super aggressive defense after the opening 0-10 debacle. Play fast and win.

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UCONN LINKS

Several links are pay sites. Sorry!


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Here is an option for any contributions for my time in putting together this blog.

I'm not requiring the contribution in order to read the blog. It's totally voluntary. And I'm not recommending how much to donate or how often. 

Thanks to all my loyal readers!!!

If you don't have Venmo, you can sign up here 
or add the app to your iPhone or iPad.

And here is another option that is being pushed by Paige!!




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Message Boards

UConn Territory - The best UConn women's message board ever!!! 
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

UCONN Information

UConn 2023-2024 Statistics (updated after 1st game)


I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:

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Saturday, December 30, 2023

Doggy's Doghouse 12/31/2023

 








 



                                                                                                                       
                    ****************************************************




Even my daughter (mother to Logan and Barrett) 
is looking for my Blog!!!

GO UCONN!!!!!

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Here are some Pregame Interview comments. No videos, just audio.

Paige Pregame Audio Only

Nika Pregame Audio Only

Ashlynn Pregame Audio Only

Geno Pregame Audio Only

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** Designates Upset

Friday December 29th, 2023

No. 1 South Carolina 73 East Carolina 36
No. 2 UCLA 71 No. 6 USC 64
No. 4 Iowa 94 Minnesota 71
No. 5 Texas 79 No. 10 Baylor 85 **
No. 7 LSU 110 Jacksonville 68
No. 8 Colorado 76 No. 12 Utah 65 
No. 11 Kansas State 66 Cincinnati 41
No. 17 Ohio State 60 Michigan 69 **
No. 21 Creighton 67 St. John's 56
No. 23 TCU 81 BYU 57
No. 25 West Virginia 85 Kansas 60

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Madison Booker
Sarah Strong



Yes, I'm putting this comment in the Recruiting  area.

I watched the Texas Baylor game and Madison Booker, who was tough against UConn was great in this game. She had 25 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. At 6'1" and a "big" body, she just did what she wanted on the court. If you see Sarah Strong play, you would see an amazing resemblance in their games. One thing that Strong has more of is a three point shot. It will make her even more effectice in the college level. Hopefully at UConn. 

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I'm really loving Wolicko's game. She really reminds me of Napheesa Collier. A tough post player with great inside moves and an outside game as well. Hoping her relationship with Morgan Cheli with convince her to play for UConn. Like Paige brought in Azzi.

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Allie Ziebell in her last game had 39 points (12-20 FG, 6-12 3-PT, 9-10 FT), 9 rebs, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.

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Straight from the Dog



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Caitlen Clark had another big game in a blowout win against Minnesota. 

She had 35 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. She was 13-22 from the field, 8-16 on threes. Yes, she took 16 threes. While all those good stats are great. she had a 9 turnover game. I just don't understand why she is playing 33 minutes in a blowout win. 

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GAMES OF INTEREST

Well, I did well in some predictions, not so good with others.

"In a Big Ten match up, No. 17 Ohio State visits Michigan. This is always a good game and could have been a good upset pick of the day. However, I expect Ohio State to pull away. Michigan is just not that good this year."

I have to remember. Go with your first instinct. Michigan won this game 69-60.  

"New into the Top 25 and still undefeated, No. 25 West Virginia takes on Kansas at the Jayhawks court. I like this for an upset. I'm not that impressed with the Mountineers." 

Way off here. West Virginia hammered Kansas by 25 points, 85-60. Kansas sucks...lol.

"No. 10 Baylor takes a ride a couple of hours south to Austin to take on the University of Texas. The Longhorns have to be reeling after finding out that their star Rori Harmon is out for the season. As UConn fans know, it's really hard to play well after an event like that. Especially when it's your leader on and off the court. Both teams are undefeated so one will finally lose. I'm guessing Texas."  

Finally got one right. Texas really missed Harmon. A terrible first quarter with 8 turnovers was the difference. Two really good teams. I was impressed with Baylor. Not many Big 12 teams will give them a battle.  They do play ranked TCU, Texas again, Kansas State and West Virginia. But Baylor looks tough. 

"No. 12 Utah is taking on No. 8 Colorado in a PAC-12 opener for both teams. I'm still not sold on Colorado. They are still living off that opening season win over LSU. Utah is a really tough team. I'm betting on them."

I lost my bet. Colorado used a but fourth quarter to beat the Utes. Utah was up three going into the fourth quarter but Colorado outscored them 25-11 to win by 11 points.  

"In a Big East game, No. 20 Creighton, UConn's opponent in the game after Marquette, is taking on St. John's in New York. Creighton should win." 

Creighton won 67-56. A decent warm up game for the Bluejays getting ready for the Huskies. Pregame report coming soon.

"Another undefeated team puts their streak on the line when No. 23 TCU takes on a decent BYU team. Not decent enough. Look for the streak to continue."

And it did. Congrats to TCU. The streak lasts for another game.

"In what could be the game of the day, No. 6 USC visits Pauley Pavilion to try to take down No. 4 UCLA. Superstar freshman Juju Watkins missed the Trojans last game with an illness. Hopefully she is back and 100% after the school break. Both California teams are undefeated and have played really well this season. UConn knows all about the Bruins. I think they are the better team. And USC hasn't been tested since the first game of the season in their win over Ohio State. UCLA with a double digit win."     

This was a pretty exciting game. UCLA proved their dominance by pulling away late for the 71-64 win. The great USC freshman Juju Watkins had her usual great game with 27 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. She did only go 7-24 from the field but went 11-12 on free throws. She is a dynamic player for sure. UCLA spread the wealth with 4 players in double digits. One more undefeated went down the tubes. 

So, how did I do? I picked 7 games and went 4-3. Meh....   

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OVERINFLATED LSU STATS

LSU played it's last OOC game before the start of the SEC regular season. They beat Jacksonville like a drum. Maybe after this they well be challenged. Finally.

Here are their OOC rankings and scores in their 12-0 destruction of the other team.

Queens 357 112-55
Miss Valley 351 109-47
Kent 131 109-79  
SE Louisiana 219 75-50
Tx Southern 342 106-47
Niagra 263 99-65
Virginia 69 76-73
Virginia Tech 20 82-64
Louisiana 225 83-53
McNeese St 354 133-44
Northwestern LA 318 81-36 
Coppin State 297 80-48
Jacksonville 296 110-68

I mean really. Seven games between Massey ranked 296-357. That is just pathetic. Yes, they won it all last year with a similar schedule. But that is not the point. It was pathetic last year too. It's not fair to the fans and players improve against better competition.  

Did I mention it's pathetic.
 
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By PHIL

We’ve got the Runs

A lot of basketball games were played on Saturday. I didn’t get to see them all, but I got to see a lot of them. This is being written while the USC – UCLA game is in progress, so it won’t cover that game.

The theme of the day is runs.

Battle of the Carolinas

I didn’t watch much of the South Carolina game. I watched the first few minutes and ECU did okay and they would’ve done even better if they could hit a foul shot. I see that South Carolina had an eight nothing run in the fourth quarter, but on this day that’s barely notable.

Ohio State – Michigan

In the Ohio State Michigan game, Michigan started out strong with a 9 – 2 run.

Then Ohio State went on a 13 – 0 run.

Early in the second half Michigan went on a 10 – 0 run.

Ohio State responded with a 10 – 0 run.

In the fourth quarter the game was tied at 51 apiece and Michigan scored 9 consecutive points.

That’s five long runs in a single game.

Baylor – Texas

In the Baylor – Texas game Baylor was up 28- 19 when Texas scored 8 consecutive points.

Utah – Colorado

This game started out with the exact opposite game flow, back and forth trading baskets with the largest lead being five points, once by Colorado and once by Utah, until late in the third quarter when Colorado had a slim two point lead 51 – 49. Utah scored 10 consecutive points, and looked like they were taking control of the game, but hold on. Colorado scored 13 consecutive points to take a 66-61 lead.

Utah cut the lead to 4 points, but Colorado ended the game on a 7 – 0 run.

Iowa – Minnesota

I didn’t get a chance to watch this game, but it looks like Iowa had 9 consecutive points in the second quarter and 8 consecutive in the third quarter.

Georgia – Florida State

I know I know this is a women’s basketball discussion forum but I am a Georgia football fan and have to point out that Georgia had 14 consecutive points early, then gave up a field goal then scored 49 consecutive points after the field goal. Now that’s a run.

Milestone watch

• Aaliyah Edwards had 1374 career points after the Butler game. She scored 26 in the Toronto Metropolitan game to reach an even 1400, She passed Sue Bird, Carla Berube, Jamelle Elliot, and Leigh Curl, moving into 34th place. She needs just two points to tie Tamika Williams, nine points to tie Chris Gedney, and 13 to tie Peggy Walsh.

• Nika Mühl had 484 assists after the Butler game. She had 8 assists in the Toronto Metropolitan game to reach 492 assists. She is now in 14th place. She needs 39 to catch Laura Lishness in 13th place, who has 531 career assists.
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SPIDER STATS
 
Plus one for every assist block point rebound and steal. I don’t add extra for offensive rebounds as it already seems to favor the bigs. Minus one for every missed shot (2, 3 or foul), turnover or foul committed.

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UCONN LINKS

Several links are pay sites. Sorry!


******************************************************** 

Here is an option for any contributions for my time in putting together this blog.

I'm not requiring the contribution in order to read the blog. It's totally voluntary. And I'm not recommending how much to donate or how often. 

Thanks to all my loyal readers!!!

If you don't have Venmo, you can sign up here 
or add the app to your iPhone or iPad.

And here is another option that is being pushed by Paige!!




******************************************************** 

Message Boards

UConn Territory - The best UConn women's message board ever!!! 
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

UCONN Information

UConn 2023-2024 Statistics (updated after 1st game)


I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:

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