are clickable to see their Bios
I'll just add some details about the players via stats.
They have four starters back this year. But the big one they are missing is Laura Ziegler. A 6'2" forward that transferred in from Saint Joseph's, crashed the starting lineup. She was second on the team in scoring and led the team in rebounding. Against UConn last year she had 16 points a grabbed 18 rebounds, 7 of those offensive. UConn won that game 79-66 and it would have been even worse without Ziegler. Might be an issue in this game.
Starters
Tajianna Roberts a 5'10" junior guard is the leading returning scorer. A five star prospect, she was ranked 24th by ESPN Hoopgurlz. This year she is again the leading scorer at 16.4 PPG. She is shooting 49.2% from the field and 31% on threes. She gets to the free throw line more than anyone else on the team but only shoots them at 68%. Against UConn last year she scored 6 points on 2-12 from the field and 1-6 on threes. All in 35 minutes.
Highly regarded junior, 5'10" Amari Berry was a McDonald's AA and the 19th ranked players in her HS class. This year she is second on the team in scoring averaging 15.2 PPG. Berry is second on the team in assists with 18. She is strong from the outside shooting 45.1% on threes. She also averages 3.8 RPG. Last year against the Huskies she had 13 points on 6-12 shooting, 1-5 on threes in 25 minutes.
6'3" senior forward, Elif Istanbulluoglu was the only big off the bench this year. And she really doesn't play like a big. She is only averaging 14.8 MPG due to returning from injury, but might see more minutes in this game. She is averaging 6.3 PPG and 4.3 RPG. Don't look for much offense from her as she is only averaging 4 shots per game. She has taken 6 threes making 2. Last year against UConn she played 30 minutes and scored 7 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.
MacKenly Randolph is a 6' junior forward. Her claim to fame is she is the daughter of NBA great Zach Randoph. She missed the first 3 games due to injury but is back and started the previous two games. In 17.6 minutes she is averaging 8 points and 3 rebounds per game. Against UConn last year she player 23 minutes and scored 2 points. She only had 5 rebounds but four of them were offensive.
The only new starter, replacing Ziegler, is Zamareya Jones. The 5'7" junior transfer from North Carolina State where she averaged 14.9 PPG and 3.8 APG.
Bench
In their most competative game against Ball State, Walz only played two off the bench. I''ll only list them.
Carys Baker is a 6'2" senior forward transfer from Virginia Tech. Last year for VT she averaged 14.2 PPG and shot 174 three pointers hitting them at a 39.2% clip. She also grabbed 8.3 RPG. Originally from West Hartford (my home town for 30 years) she will add some size if not height to the team. This year she is off to a slow start averaging 6.4 PPG and 5.0 RPG. She is shooting only 30.8% from the field and 25.9% on threes.
The other bench players is another transfer, this time from LSU. Amiya Joyner is a 6'2" 5th year senior forward. She averaged 9.2 PPG and shot 59% from the field last season for the Tigers. This year for Louisville she is averaging 10.0 PPG and 8.4 RPG in only 16.6 MPG. UConn will have to work to keep her off the boards.
In the UConn/Louisville game last year UConn won at the Armed Forces Classic 79-66 in Maryland behind 21 points and 10 rebounds from Sarah Strong, 20 points on 9-20 shooting for Azzi Fudd.
Final Prediction
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