Doggydaddy's Den: Doggy's Doghouse 4/2/2024

GO UCONN!!!!!

The Boys and their Dogs -

Under the UConn blanket!!

GO UCONN!!!!!

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Only a few days left!!

Naismith fan voting has started. You can vote once a day. Paige and Aaliyah are on the ballot.

VOTE HERE

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It's never easy with this team, is it. Thank goodness they had a big enough lead. Missing 7 straight free throws gave USC a chance. But Nika redeemed herself hitting two free throws with 17 seconds left to make it a three possesion game and it was over.

I'm so exhausted after watching how hard these young ladies played and how they were able to handle all the foul trouble they were in.

So many heros, so many moments. But it was the three upper classmen that led the way. All three, Nika, Paige and Aaliyah played all 40 minutes. Fatigue, Shmatigue....this team played through it all.

It all starts with Paige. What a great game. Yeah, she missed some shots she usually makes. But she was money in the second half. 11-23 from the field, 3-6 on threes, 28 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, 3 steals. Friggin' amazing. Yes, she is the best player in WCBB.

In this game, Batman had her Robin. Aaliyah was great! She had 24 points and 6 rebounds. But she was a force as she got to the free throw line 14 times.

The third Amigo, Nika Muhl got her 4th foul in the third quarter, but kept her cool and finished the game. She hit 2 big free throws at the end to make it a three possesion game and ended up 8 points, 8 assists, 1 blocks and 2 steals. And only 3 turnovers.

Geno split all the other minutes among the 4 freshmen. A great gameplan. In this game, big contributions were not necessary, but KEY comtributions were spread among all four.

KK was in foul trouble all game and it really impacted her play.

Ashlynn FINALLY his a three pointer. It was an important one.

Ice played a great game in her 19 minutes. She had 8 points, a terrific block and a three point basket!!

And finally, Geno played Q off the bench. She played 14 controlled minutes, hit a three pointer and grabbed 2 rebounds.

In a big change, UConn's bench outscored the USC bench 11-3.

UConn shot 48% from the field and 7-15 three pointers after starting 0-4. The UConn defense was terrific holding USC to 32% from the field and 31% on threes.

So much more to say, but I'll save that for later. We have four days to talk about this winn and the upcoming game against Iowa.

Paige vs Clark. Unreal!

UConn wins and Paige Postgame Interivew

Game Highlights

This is why we love Paige

Paige Buecker Highlights

UConn Celebrates

Southern Cal Postgame Interviews

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More Videos

WFSB Game Report

Paige and Geno Interview

Aaliyah, Paige and Nika Interview

Congrats @UConnWBB and our entire Coaching Staff, Earned!! So Proud, Keep Pushin #BleedBlue 💙....

Let's throw it back one time for the Alum! Who let them dawgs out.... 🤣 pic.twitter.com/PHy2cH4u5w
— Swin Cash (@SwinCash) April 2, 2024

GOTTA LOVE SWIN!!!!!

THESE MOMENTS >>> pic.twitter.com/B1sqkbi4BY
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) April 2, 2024

GOT HIM 💦 pic.twitter.com/B2uka6NxcI
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) April 2, 2024

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From AP - Caitlin Clark made nine 3-pointers and finished with 41 points and 12 assists in a sensational performance as Iowa knocked defending national champion LSU out of the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 94-87 victory on Monday night, advancing the Hawkeyes to their second straight Final Four.

Top-seeded Iowa (33-4) will play either UConn or Southern California in the national semifinals Friday night in Cleveland.

“This one probably feels a little bit better. It’s my senior year, with this group,” Clark said. “A lot of people counted us out at the beginning of the year with the people we lost. And all we did was work really hard. To get back here is really hard. This regional was loaded with so much talent. The job’s not finished.”

Monday’s highly anticipated matchup was a rematch of last year’s national championship game won by LSU, which drew a record 9.9 million viewers. Both teams wished that this meeting had come later in the tournament instead of with a Final Four berth at stake, but that was out of their control.

Clark, who also scored 41 points in the regional finals last year, and Angel Reese of LSU put on a memorable show for the sold-out crowd and the millions watching.

With the game tied at 45 after an entertaining first half, Clark took over in the third quarter. The NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader hit four 3-pointers, each deeper than the previous one. Her fourth of the quarter, from her signature logo range, made it 61-52. It also was the 538th of her career, which made her the all-time leader in that category among NCAA Division I players, passing Oklahoma’s Taylor Robertson.

Flau’jae Johnson scored 23 points for No. 3 seed LSU (31-6), which fell short of becoming the first repeat champion since UConn in 2016. Reese finished with 17 points and 20 rebounds before fouling out with 1:45 left.

Sorry, I was just to tired to write game report on this game. I will say that I am thrilled to see LSU lose. I can't stand Kim Mulkey. And Angel Reese is just so annoying. So "you can't see Iowa" and they just kicked LSU's butt. Let's see who comes back for them next season.

Good luck to Iowa.

Game Highlights

What you sow, you reap

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Say what???

It wasn't a surprise. The Tennessee Lady Vols have fired their head coach Kellie Harper after five unremarkable seasons.

2019–20	Tennessee	21–10	10–6	T–3rd	Postseason not held due to COVID-19
2020–21	Tennessee	17–8	9–4	3rd	NCAA Second Round
2021–22	Tennessee	25–9	11–5	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2022–23	Tennessee	25–12	13–3	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2023–24	Tennessee	20–13	10–6	T–4th	NCAA Second Round

Her record of 108-52 is not terrible, but the demands of a program with the history of Tennessee needs to see better results.

It was not just her record. Harper was just not able to bring is high school recruit. And not just the lack of great players, it was just the lack of players....period! In 2022 she had one recruit that ended up transferring, 2023 she had zero recruits. And in 2024 she has one that now has said she will not be coming. Kellie had to rely on the Portal and that is just a crap shoot. And a quick fix. It just doesn't work when you get no HS recruits to support that.

I like Kellie. She seems like a nice woman, but she always looked like she was out of her depth. It will be interesting to see who they get to replace her.

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By PHIL

Milestone Watch

• Aaliyah Edwards had 24 points in the USC game! which brings her to a career total of 1833 points. She is in 16th place all time, and needs 17 points to tie Christyn Williams.

• Aaliyah Edwards now has 1012 rebounds with 6 against USC. She passed Gabby Williams to take over 7th place.

• Nika Mühl has 679 assists after her 8 assists in the USC game. She extends her record as the all-time leader in career assists

• Mühl is now the holder of:

o Single game assists record 15 (against NC State 20 November 2022) surpassing Paige Bueckers

o Single season assists record 284 (2022–23) surpassing Sue Bird’s 231

o Career assists record surpassing Moriah Jefferson

Paige Bueckers now has 837 points this season. She is now in 2nd place, behind only Maya Moore who had 868 in 2010–11.

• Geno now has 1213 wins.

• UConn now has 136 NCAA wins, more than any other school.

• UConn now starting a new Final Four streak

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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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Tournament Section