Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 3/20/2023

GO UCONN!!!!!

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One more day in bed. Hopefully I stay awake for the late game!!

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Ok....how many of you thought this just wasn't UConn's night. I mean, a great defensive team like UConn gave up 24 points in the first quarter. A team like Baylor that was hot from three point land in their last game turned it on again and couldn't miss.

Yes, down 24-18 and thoughts of losing before the Sweet Sixteen danced in my head. And it was mostly like the Bristol Stomp. It didn't feel good. Baylor hit 6 first quarter three pointers. Crazy!

But this team has been through so much this season wasn't going to let a first quarter 6 point deficit get them down. They jumped out to a 9-0 second quarter to grab a lead they wouldn't lose. Yes, give Baylor credit. They stayed with the Huskies for the half. UConn was only up 40-35 after 20 minutes. It would have been only two points but for this play.

The Huskies held Baylor to 11 second quarter points that was portending to what was to come.

We all know that teams can't keep shooting at a ridiculous percentage and certainly after going 6-11 in the first quarter, they went 6-18 to finish the game. And the Huskies just put the clamps down on any inside scoring. Baylor was 12-29 on three and 9-32 on twos. Yes, they made more three pointers than two pointers.

UConn outscored Baylor 22-15 in the third quarter to take a 12 point lead going into the fourth quarter and then put the squeeze on them defensively even more in the fourth quarter outscoring Baylor 15-8 to finish out the game and win 77-58. A tidy 19 point win. Crap, I predicted a 20 point win. Oh well.

Just a few more comments and then I'm heading to bed. Getting up early to fly to Atlanta to meet up with my son's family. Still under the weather but I'm going anyway.

Leading the was was Azzi Fudd with 22 points. She took control of the offense taking 22 shots. She still is missing a lot of threes, going 3-12, but she was 6-10 on two point shots and it's just so good to see her aggressive.

Edwards finished strong and had 19 points on 9-11 shooting, Juhasz hit some clutch shots and had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Nika was Nika. Missed a couple of bunnies, but she got her 10 assists and ran the show as usual.

Maybe the story of the night but the bench was outstanding. And by bench I mean Griffin and Ducharme.

Aubrey was great on the boards, grabbing 12 rebounds. She only scored 4 points but she only took 5 shots. She just did what UConn needed.

And Caroline is looking great AND healthy. She brings that three point shooting off the bench going 2-4 from deep. She had 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

So, on to the Sweet Sixteen where they meet 3 Seed Ohio State. I'll be working on the Pregame Report while in the mountains of Georgia!!

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3 Seed Ohio State took on 6 Seed North Carolina in the 4:00 game. It looked like the Tarheels thought the game started at 4:30. The Buckeyes jumped out to an 11-2 lead after 5 minutes behind a couple of three pointers by Taylor Mikesell. But once awake, they closed on a 12-5 run the last 5 minutes to make a game of it. 16-14 after the first quarter. The second quarter was similar to the first. Ohio State jumped on the Tarheels again taking an 8 point lead after a 6-0 run to start the quarter. North Carolina settled the ship and closed the quarter on a 14-11 run to close the gap to 33-28 at the half. What stuck out to me was one number. Or maybe two. Ohio State had 12 turnovers and North Carolina had 11. Really sloppy basketball. The second half saw Ohio State increase there lead to 44-36 with an 11-8 start to the third quarter. Freshman 6' forward Cotie McMahon is a really good player with NO fear in going to the basket. Fortunately for her, North Carolina doesn't defend the paint well. Like the other two quarters, North Carolina came back and closed to 51-46 after three quarters. Turnover count is Ohio State 17 and North Carolina 16.

The last quarter was similar to the others. Ohio State increased their lead and then North Carolina came back to close the gap. Fast forward to the three minute mark and the Buckeyes are still up by three points. North Carolina was fouled and Kelly hit two free throws to close the game to 66-65. On the next posession, the Buckeyes turned the ball over one more time and the Tarheels scored to take their first lead of the game 67-66. Wow!! Ohio State hit the go ahead basket with 38 seconds left to take the lead on a three point play by Sheldon 69-67. North Carolina's Key turned the ball over. Of course, Ohio State then turned the ball over, their 21st of the game, with 16 second left to give North Carolina another chance to tie or take the lead. And tie it they did on a Kelly jumper with 11 seconds left. And that was too much time left on the clock. Jaci Sheldon hit a clutch jumper with 2 second left for the final lead of the game. Wow...great game to watch even though it was very sloppy.

As you can tell, I watched this game fom tip-off to final buzzer so I was able to produce details. Not so with the rest of the game other than the Huskies against the Lady Bears.

4 Seed Tennessee did the expected and beat up on 12 Seed Toledo, doubling up the Rockets 94-47. Iowa State would have been a better game. Yes, that is all I have to say about this game. Tennessee is going to the Sweet Sixteen to play Virginia Tech. On the path to play UConn again?

4 Seed Villanova used a big second half to bring down 12 Seed Florida Gulf Coast 76-57. The Eagles put up a great fight in the first half, closing to 39-33. But a big third quarter extended the Wildcats lead to 16 points. Siegrist had her 37th straight 20 point game finishing with 31. Amazing. And the player I love to hate Lucy Olsen came close to a triple double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. They get to take on Miami in the Sweet Sixteen. Great break that they need to take advantage of.

4 Seed Texas was hammered by 5 Seed Louisville 73-51. This game was never a game. Louisville played incredible defense from the jump, holding Texas to 23 points in the first half, and 7 points in the second quarter. The Longhorns could never get their offense going and you have to give credit to the Cardinals. Louisville was led by Hailey Van Lith with 21 points.

Texas-Louisville Highlights

Wow....talk about Upsets!!!! 1 Seed Indiana lost to 9 Seed Miami 70-68 on a jumper by Destiny Harden with 3 seconds left after Indiana hit a three pointer with 12 seconds left to tie the game. The Hurricane stormed to a big first half lead, going up 41-29. But Indiana was not going to get blown out and like another No. 1 seed Stanford, they came back to tie the game. It's just hard to believe that two No. 1 seeds lost.