Doggydaddy's Den

Monday, April 6, 2015

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP - UConn/Notre Dame Game Preview

UCONN vs Notre Dame

Day: Tuesday

Date: April 7th, 2015

Location: Tampa, Florida

Time: 8:30

TV: ESPN

Prior Meeting Results

UConn leads the series 32-11.

H: 15-4; A: 10-4; N: 7-3

1/18/96 W 87-64 A

2/24/96 W 86-79 H

3/5/96 W 71-54 H

2/9/97 W 72-49 H

3/4/97 W 86-77 H

12/6/97 W 78-59 A

2/21/98 W 73-61 H

3/2/98 W 73-53 N

12/8/98 W 106-81 A

3/2/99 W 96-75 N

2/26/00 W 77-59 H

1/15/01 L 76-92 A

3/6/01 W 78-76 H

3/30/01 L 75-90 N

1/21/02 W 80-53 H

1/20/03 W 72-53 A

2/23/03 W 77-59 H

1/13/04 L 51-66 A

1/12/05 W 67-50 A

1/30/05 L 59-65 H

3/7/05 W 67-54 N

2/19/06 W 79-64 A

3/5/06 W 71-60 N

1/27/07 W 64-47 H

1/27/08 W 81-64 A

2/22/09 W 76-66 H

1/16/10 W 70-46 H

3/1/10 W 76-51 A

3/8/10 W 59-44 N

1/8/11 W 79-76 A

2/19/11 W 78-57 H

3/8/11 W 73-64 H

4/3/11 L 72-63 N

1/7/12 L 74-67 (ot) A

2/27/12 L 72-59 H

3/6/12 W 63-54 H

4/1/12 L 83-75 (ot) N

1/5/13 L 73-72 H

3/4/13 L 96-87 (3ot) A

3/12/13 L 61-59 H

4/7/13 W 83-65 N

4/8/14 W 79-58 N

12/6/14 W 76-58 N

Overview

Well, here we go again! Did anyone think this would end any other way? This rivalry is currently the biggest in WCBB. And it's not even close.

After twelve consecutive wins over Notre Dame from 2005-2011, Notre Dame, in what I like to call the "Diggin's Era", won 7 out of 8 game against the Huskies, including three heartbreaking overtime games, a one point win and a two point win. It was clear they had UConn's number over that timeframe. It took the arrival of Breanna Stewart to change that.

After beating UConn three times in the 2012-13 season, UConn faced Notre Dame in the Semi-final game and it was Stewart's coming out party where UConn won 83-65 on their way to the championship. Last year they met again for the championship in what was called the "Game of the Century" or some such bull. Two undefeated teams and boy was the ESPN hype machine out in full force. The end result was another big UConn win, 79-58 behind another great performance by Stewart.

In the renewed yearly matchup UConn played Notre Dame in Joyce arena. As the early minutes moved along Notre Dame and UConn were in a tight battle as it was tied 10-10 before the Irish went on their first run, an 8-0 spurt creating an 18-10 lead in just over 3 minutes. UConn came back with a 6-0 run of their own before Notre Dame outscored UConn 10-2 over the next 2 1/2 minutes for a 28-18 lead after only 10 minutes. KML hit a big three point shot coming out of a time out where Geno appeared to have settled the team down, and had made some personnel changes. Stokes came in and it seemed like UConn was playing much better. UConn ended the half on a 22-4 run to take a 40-32 lead. The momentum had changed and UConn never gave it back. They built a double digit lead in the second half and never gave it back.

In this game, ND started out incredibly hot, hitting 7 of their first 10 shots on their way to take that 28-18 lead. But after that UConn brought in Stokes and she was a true game changer.

ND scored only 30 points in the last 30 minutes.
After hitting 5 of 9 on three pointers to start the game, they missed their last 9.
They finished the game shooting 12 of 51, 23.5%.
ND shot 11 Free Throws. They averaged 25 taken per game coming into this game.

Overall, it was a statement game for UConn. Notre Dame can point to Turner being out and know they will improve once she is back for the rematch against UConn in the NCAA's.

Notre Dame really hasn't played like the dominant team they were last year in the tournament. They won their 5 games coming into the championship game by an average of 24 points and this year they won their 5 games by 15 including barely beating South Carolina by one point.

UConn last year won their 5 games by 27 points per game and this year they won their 5 games by an average of 37 points.

It's not a scientific study, but based on these numbers, it's clear that UConn is more dominating this season and Notre Dame is less dominating.

Comparative Team Statistics

UConn Notre Dame

90.2 PPG 80.6
48.2 Defensive PPG 59.7

42.0 Scoring Margin 20.9

54.3 Field Goal % 49.6
30.6 Defensive FG% 37.5

40.9 Three Point % 38.5
26.8 Defensive 3PT% 28.3

72.0 Free Throw % 74.1

44.1 Rebounds/game 41.4

13.2 Rebounding Margin 8.2

21.6 Assists per game 18.0

12.2 Turnover per game 14.7

1.8 Assists/TO ratio 1.2

10.2 Steals per game 9.3

8.0 Blocks per game 5.0

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UConn Starters

11 Kia Nurse 6' Freshman Guard

Game 1 vs SFB - 26 min, 12 pts, 3 reb, 2 asts, 1 blk, 2 to

Game 2 vs Rutgers - 27 min, 8 pts, 3 reb, 1 asts, 3 stl, 1 to

Game 3 vs Texas - 28 min, 13 pts, 0 reb, 1 asts, 2 stl, 0 to

                                Game 4 vs Dayton     - 29 min, 6 pts, 5 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 0 to
                                Game 5 vs Maryland - 26 min, 5 pts, 2 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 2 to

                                First Game vs ND - 29 min, 12 pts, 3 reb, 2 asts, 1 stl, 6 to

MPG 24.9, FG% .493, 3PT% .413, PPG 10.3, RPG 3.1, APG 2.8, 54 steals, 2 block

4 Moriah Jefferson 5'7" Junior Guard

Game 1 vs SFB - 22 min, 5 pts, 3 reb, 5 asts, 2 to

Game 2 vs Rutgers - 34 min, 19 pts, 4 reb, 5 asts, 1 stl, 2 to

Game 3 vs Texas - 34 min, 25 pts, 4 reb, 6 asts, 3 stl, 2 to

                                Game 4 vs Dayton    - 38 min, 10 pts, 3 reb, 6 asts, 2 stl, 0 to
                               Game 5 vs Maryland - 38 min, 14 pts, 2 reb, 5 asts, 2 stl, 1 to

                                First Game vs ND - 21 min, 0 pts, 1 reb, 2 asts, 1 stl, 5 to

MPG 28.4, FG% .596, 3PT% .505, PPG 12.4, RPG 2.9, APG 4.9, 96 steals, 5 blocks

23 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 5'11" Senior Forward

Game 1 vs SFB - 16 min, 2 pts, 3 reb, 1 asts, 0 to

Game 2 vs Rutgers - 32 min, 23 pts, 2 reb, 4 asts, 1 stl, 1 blk, 3 to

                                Game 3 vs Texas      - 23 min, 10 pts, 3 reb, 2 asts, 1 stl, 2 blk, 0 to
                                Game 4 vs Dayton    - 38 min, 27 pts, 5 reb, 2 asts, 3 stl, 4 to
                                Game 5 vs Maryland - 32 min, 4 pts, 2 reb, 7 asts, 1 stl, 1 to

                                 First Game vs ND - 36 min, 12 pts, 6 reb, 2 asts, 2 stl, 2 to

MPG 28.4, FG% .518, 3PT% .494, PPG 14.9, RPG 4.1, APG 2.8, 41 steals, 12 blocks

3 Morgan Tuck 6'2" Sophomore Forward

Game 1 vs SFB - 29 min, 26 pts, 3 reb, 8 asts, 1 stl, 2 to

Game 2 vs Rutgers - 29 min, 16 pts, 7 reb, 7 asts, 1 stl, 3 to
Game 3 vs Texas - 24 min, 14 pts, 5 reb, 2 asts, 1 stl, 0 blk, 1 to

                             Game 4 vs Dayton   - 38 min, 23 pts, 8 reb, 3 asts, 1 stl, 2 to
                             Game 5 vs Maryland - 38 min, 24 pts, 9 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 2 to, 1 blk

                                First Game vs ND - 35 min, 25 pts, 9 reb, 3 asts, 2 stl, 5 to, 2 blks

MPG 25.1, FG% .606, 3PT% .275, PPG 14.5, RPG 5.6, APG 2.8, 30 steals, 13 blocks

30 Breanna Stewart 6'4" Junior Forward

Game 1 vs SFB - 30 min, 17 pts, 10 reb, 5 asts, 1 stl, 2 blk, 3 to

Game 2 vs Rutgers - 20 min, 8 pts, 2 reb, 4 asts, 1 stl, 2 blk, 2 to

Game 3 vs Texas - 31 min, 31 pts, 12 reb, 7 asts, 2 stl, 3 blk, 1 to
Game 4 vs Dayton - 38 min, 23 pts, 16 reb, 1 asts, 1 stl, 4 blk, 2 to

Game 5 vs Maryland - 39 min, 25 pts, 8 reb, 3 asts, 2 stl, 2 to, 4 blk

First Game vs ND - 38 min, 15 pts, 9 reb, 2 asts, 0 stl, 2 to, 0 blks

MPG 28.0, FG% .539, 3PT% .316, PPG 17.8, RPG 7.6, APG 3.2, 597 steals, 100 blocks

UConn Bench

41 Kiah Stokes 6'3" Senior Center

Game 1 vs SFB - 20 min, 2 pts, 10 reb, 2 asts, 6 blk, 1 to

Game 2 vs Rutgers - 12 min, 4 pts, 8 reb, 1 asts, 2 blk, 2 to

                                Game 3 vs Texas       - 19 min, 4 pts, 7 reb, 0 asts, 1 stl, 4 blk, 0 to
                                Game 4 vs Dayton     - 7 min, 2 pts, 1 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 1 blk
                               Game 5 vs Maryland - 18 min, 6 pts, 6 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 1 to, 2 blks

                                First Game vs ND - 24 min, 6 pts, 18 reb, 1 asts, 2 stl, 2 to, 4 blks

MPG 18.6, FG% .563, 3PT% .500, PPG 4.6, RPG 6.9, APG .8, 18 steals, 147 blocks

12 Saniya Chong 5'8" Sophomore Guard

Game 1 vs SFB - 27 min, 8 pts, 3 reb, 2 asts, 3 stl, 2 to

Game 2 vs Rutgers - 18 min, 2 pts, 4 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 1 to

                                Game 3 vs Texas     - 10 min, 3 pts, 1 reb, 1 asts, 2 stl, 0 blk, 0 to
                                Game 4 vs Dayton    - 5 min, 0 pts, 0 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 0 to
                                Game 5 vs Maryland - 2 min, 0 pts, 0 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 0 to

                                First Game vs ND - 9 min, 2 pts, 1 reb, 2 asts, 0 stl, 0 to

MPG 19.0, FG% .470, 3PT% .366, PPG 5.6, RPG 1.9, APG 1.9, 26 steals, 8 blocks

15 Gabby Williams 5'11" Freshman Guard

Game 1 vs SFB - 14 min, 15 pts, 6 reb, 0 asts, 1 stl, 1 to

Game 2 vs Rutgers - 19 min, 11 pts, 10 reb, 1 asts, 2 stl, 1 to

                                Game 3 vs Texas       - 13 min, 2 pts, 6 reb, 2 asts, 0 stl, 1 blk, 2 to
                                Game 4 vs Dayton     - 5 min, 0 pts, 0 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 1 to
                                Game 5 vs Maryland - 6 min, 3 pts, 1 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 0 to

First Game vs ND - 5 min, 4 pts, 1 reb, 0 asts, 1 stl, 2 to

MPG 15.9, FG% .640, 3PT% .000, PPG 8.5, RPG 5.9, APG 1.4, 46 steals, 14 blocks

UConn Complete Stats

Notre Dame Starters

32 Jewel Loyd 5'10" Junior Guard

Game 1 vs Montana - 26 min, 18 pts, 3 reb, 4 asts, 0 stl, 3 to

Game 2 vs DePaul - 33 min, 10 pts, 5 reb, 3 asts, 3 stl, 4 to

Game 3 vs Stanford - 36 min, 21 pts, 6 reb, 1 asts, 3 stl, 1 to, 1 blk

Game 4 vs Baylor - 39 min, 13 pts, 7 reb, 4 asts, 1 stl, 4 to

Game 5 vs S. Carolina - 40 min, 22 pts, 5 reb, 3 asts, 1 stl, 3 to

First Game vs UConn - 38 min, 31 pts, 1 reb, 2 asts, 4 stl, 7 to, 1 blk

MPG 31.9 FG% .450, 3PT% .317 PPG 20.0, RPG 5.3, APG 3.1, 58 steals, 16 blocks

15 Lindsay Allen 5'7" Sophomore Guard

Game 1 vs Montana - 29 min, 9 pts, 5 reb, 7 asts, 2 stl, 2 to

Game 2 vs DePaul - 36 min, 11 pts, 5 reb, 7 asts, 1 stl, 1 to, 1 blk

Game 3 vs Stanford - 36 min, 28 pts, 5 reb, 4 asts, 1 stl, 4 to

Game 4 vs Baylor - 40 min, 23 pts, 5 reb, 7 asts, 4 stl, 0 to

Game 5 vs S. Carolina - 27 min, 0 pts, 5 reb, 3 asts, 0 stl, 2 to

First Game vs UConn - 31 min, 11 pts, 2 reb, 3 asts, 3 stl, 3 to, 1 blk

MPG 30.8, FG% .533, 3PT% .392 PPG 10.5, RPG 3.4, APG 5.2, 51 steals, 3 blocks

23 Michaela Mabry 5'10" Junior Guard

Game 1 vs Montana - 24 min, 9 pts, 4 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 2 to

Game 2 vs DePaul - 27 min, 19 pts, 3 reb, 1 asts, 2 stl, 1 to

Game 3 vs Stanford - 13 min, 2 pts, 2 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 to

Game 4 vs Baylor - 19 min, 14 pts, 0 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 1 to, 1 blk

Game 5 vs S. Carolina - 27 min, 5 pts, 1 reb, 5 asts, 3 stl, 1 to

First Game vs UConn - 29 min, 0 pts, 1 reb, 2 asts, 0 stl, 0 to, 1 blk

MPG 22.8, FG% .378, 3PT% .393 PPG 7.1, RPG 1.9, APG, 2.4, 34 steal, 3 blocks

12 Taya Reimer 6'3 Sophomore Forward

Game 1 vs Montana - 23 min, 9 pts, 2 reb, 3 asts, 0 stl, 3 to, 3 blks

Game 2 vs DePaul - 28 min, 14 pts, 10 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 5 to

Game 3 vs Stanford - 20 min, 10 pts, 3 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 0 blk, 2 to

Game 4 vs Baylor - 34 min, 9 pts, 8 reb, 2 asts, 0 stl, 2 to, 2 blks

Game 5 vs S. Carolina - 33 min, 16 pts, 6 reb, 4 asts, 1 stl, 2 to, 3 blks

First Game vs UConn - 26 min, 8 pts, 6 reb, 1 asts, 2 stl, 3 to, 1 blk

MPG 24.6, FG% .525 3PT% .000 PPG 10.3, RPG 6.0, APG 1.9, 19 steals, 41 blocks

11 Brianna Turner 6'4" Freshman Forward

Game 1 vs Montana - 19 min, 12 pts, 4 reb, 0 asts, 1 stl, 3 to, 1 blk

Game 2 vs DePaul - 25 min, 14 pts, 11 reb, 2 asts, 1 stl, 1 to, 3 blks

Game 3 vs Stanford - 30 min, 12 pts, 7 reb, 2 asts, 1 stl, 2 blk, 2 to

Game 4 vs Baylor - 36 min, 12 pts, 10 reb, 2 asts, 1 stl, 1 to, 2 blks

Game 5 vs S. Carolina - 27 min, 17 pts, 8 reb, 0 asts, 1 stl, 0 to, 3 blks

First Game vs UConn - DNP

MPG 25.3, FG% .648, 3PT% .000 PPG 13.8, RPG 7.8, APG .7, 38 steals, 88 blocks

Notre Dame Bench

33 Kathryn Westbeld 6'2" Freshman Forward

Game 1 vs Montana - 18 min, 8 pts, 10 reb, 1 asts, 4 stl, 0 to

Game 2 vs DePaul - 6 min, 0 pts, 1 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 1 to

Game 3 vs Stanford - 14 min, 2 pts, 5 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 to

Game 4 vs Baylor - 3 min, 0 pts, 0 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 1 to

Game 5 vs S. Carolina - 20 min, 4 pts, 6 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 2 to

First Game vs UConn - 20 min, 5 pts, 4 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 1 to

MPG 17.7, FG% .532, 3PT% .412 PPG 6.9, RPG 4.5, APG 1.7, 40 steals, 10 blocks

22 Madison Cable 5'11" Senior Guard

Game 1 vs Montana - 20 min, 4 pts, 1 reb, 0 asts, 1 stl, 1 to

Game 2 vs DePaul - 20 min, 3 pts, 4 reb, 2 asts, 1 stl, 2 to

Game 3 vs Stanford - 25 min, 0 pts, 3 reb, 0 asts, 3 stl, 0 blk, 0 to

Game 4 vs Baylor - 21 min, 6 pts, 6 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 0 to, 2 blks

Game 5 vs S. Carolina - 21 min, 2 pts, 2 reb, 0 asts, 1 stl, 0 to

First Game vs UConn - 19 min, 0 pts, 3 reb, 1 asts, 1 stl, 0 to

MPG 21.2, FG% .459, 3PT% .488 PPG 6.2, RPG 4.1, APG 1.7, 58 steals, 9 blocks

24 Hannah Huffman 5'9" Junior Guard

Game 1 vs Montana - 13 min, 0 pts, 1 reb, 3 asts, 0 stl, 0 to

Game 2 vs DePaul - 6 min, 0 pts, 1 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 1 to, 1 blk

Game 3 vs Stanford - 20 min, 4 pts, 5 reb, 3 asts, 1 stl, 1 to

Game 4 vs Baylor - 8 min, 0 pts, 1 reb, 1 asts, 0 stl, 0 to

Game 5 vs S. Carolina - 5 min, 0 pts, 2 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 0 to

First Game vs UConn - 11 min, 2 pts, 4 reb, 0 asts, 0 stl, 0 to

MPG 11.0 FG% .541, 3PT% .000 PPG 2.2, RPG 1.8, APG 1.0, 28 steals, 8 blocks

Notre Dame Team Stats

Final Analysis

It's the matchup we all were waiting for. UConn and Notre Dame for the championship. Again. Both teams are 100% for this matchup. UConn finally gets to play against Notre Dame's terrific freshman, Brianna Turner. If you look at the numbers for the last two games for these teams, neither one went much past 6-7 players. The rotations are set and we all know what we are going to see. Barring foul trouble, pretty close to over 40 minutes for Loyd and Allen. Same for Stewart, Tuck, KML and Jefferson. Over 30 for Reimer and Turner. For UConn, I wouldn't be surprised to see Stokes the only bench player with serious minutes for UConn. Cable and Westbeld will see the majority of the bench minutes for the Irish. So, based on these lineups, how will this game shake out?

Match ups

Many times games are won and lost based on match ups. Notre Dame will be playing a lot of zone and the matchups don't always stay the same during the course of the game, but it's a good start to look at who has the advantage position by position.

Point Guard - Moriah Jefferson vs Lindsay Allen.

A terrific matchup of two of the best point guards in the country.

Allen has elevated her game this year in almost every possible way. She is shooting better, running the court better, facilitating better, scoring more, rebounding more. Mentally, she is no longer acquiescing to McBride and Achonwa, who were so forceful in their leadership abilities. It might be Loyd's team when talking about leading by example and just being THE player, but it's clear that Allen is becoming the leader of this team. Allen was amazing in the tournament going into the South Carolina game where she had possibly her worst game of the season going scoreless before fouling out.

Jefferson has been the best point guard in the country this season in my opinion. She is has continued with her excellent 3 point shooting from last year and has been even better hitting over 50%. Combine that with her incredibly quick first step and it makes her almost impossible to guard. I called this as Jefferson's advantage before the last game and she was scoreless and fouled out in her worst game of the year. There is no way that comes close to happening again.

Advantage UConn

Shooting Guard - Kia Nurse vs Jewell Loyd.

In Loyd you have a 1st team AA player in Loyd. She has the entire package. She is just an incredible scorer. With her step back jumper, she can get her shot off against any defense. Her three pointer has deserted her lately (1-9) to the point where she doesn't look for it very often. Her overall shooting is down in the tournament as well, only 33-92 for 35%. She is still excellent in disrupting the passing lanes and her rebounding is underrated.

Nurse is definitely not playing as well offensively as she was the first time these two teams met. But her defense is still strong and that is where she can make a difference. Her best bet is to keep the ball out of Loyds hands. Tough to do.

There is no way you can't give this matchup to Loyd. She is one of the best players in the country. Nurse is not....yet.

Advantage Notre Dame

Forward - Kaleena Mosquada-Lewis vs Michaela Mabrey

A matchup of two terrific shooters.

Mabrey can be deadly when left open. And if you come up to defend, she will try to drive by you. But she is not quick enough to take advantage of that against KML. She is a decent passer but fairly one dimensional. 77% of her shots are three pointers.

KML is the best open shooter in the country. Kaleena is a terrific rebounder and sees the court really well. I like her chances to post up Mabrey. Big advantage here.

KML is an All-American. Mabrey is not.

Advantage UConn

Forward - Morgan Tuck vs Taya Reimer

I love this matchup. Two very strong and talented front court players.

Reimer came back from her "issue" and has been solid in the tournament. She has played excellent defense, blocking 5 shots in her last two games. Her midrange jumper has been deadly and if left alone she will make UConn pay.

Tuck has just gotten better and better, peaking in the tournament. She is a tough player to guard with her inside outside game and she has maybe the best post moves in the country. In the tournament she is hitting the three pointer at over 40% and if you come out to guard her, she will use her renewed quickness to drive past her defender. Amazing to say, but she is as tough a matchup as Stewart.

At the beginning of the year, I called this even. No longer.

Advantage: UConn

Forward - Breanna Stewart vs Brianna Turner

Turner has been terrific this year once she came back from her shoulder injury. But she has played like a freshman at time and had foul trouble against the size of South Carolina. How will she handle Stewart and Stokes? Turner is great coming off the weakside to block shots and for her size, really runs the court well. She can hurt UConn with both of those skills.

Stewart is in championship mode. She is aggressive in the paint and I can't wait to see the 1-1 matchup with Turner. She found her three point shot in the tourney. POY will be MOP again.

Turner is terrific. Stewart is Stewart.

Advantage UConn

Bench - Stokes, Chong and Williams vs Westbeld, Cable and Huffman

Both benches will see little time, but some will make some major contributions. Stokes was a monster in the earlier game with 18 rebounds and 4 blocks. Geno will remember that and give her time to repeat.

Advantage UConn

Final Prediction

I have every matchup except for Loyd/Nurse going to UConn, but the game will be closer than you might think based on that.

UConn has shown time and time again that they are going to score points. Only ND (76) and SJU (70) have held UConn under 80 points. Maybe the addition of Turner from the first game will make a difference. She can block shots and disrupt the post game. But does anyone think that Jefferson will be held to zero points and only 24 minutes in this game? Doubtful. I just don't see ND slowing down the Huskie by a significant amount. UConn just has too many scorers and they will be on top of their game. It then will come down to whether or not Notre Dame can score enough points. They certainly have a lot of firepower in Loyd, Allen, Turner and the invigorated Reimer. They will get their points.

Muffet will have them ready and this should be competitive for much of the game. But UConn is just too explosive to hold down and UConn will have its' share of big runs.

UConn will win it's 10 championship and third consecutive title with a 15 point win.

UConn/Maryland Final Four Semi-Final Post game report

Final Four Semi-Final Game

UCONN 81 MARYLAND 58

Post game report

It's not easy to write about this game with the Notre Dame game on the horizon. It seemed like it was just a formality that had to be done before you can move on to the main course.

It was a typical start for this UConn team after a week off. A slowish on both ends of the court. There was a lot of back and forth early in this game, but the fact is Maryland had one lead, 7-6 at the three minute mark and eventually it was just like every other game (sans Stanford) that UConn has played.

UConn stretched out the lead to six but Maryland kept it close and it was a three point lead for UConn 22-19 with 9 minutes left in the half. UConn went on another mini-run, moving the lead to 10 points. Maryland got as close as six points. They played hard and it paid off in preventing UConn from blowing them out early. Tuck scored the last five points of the half to put UConn's lead to 11 points.

The big three of Jefferson, Tuck and Stewart carried the day as KML was way off on her long distance shooting in the first half. As Doris Burke said multiple times, Tuck should have been an all-American. There is no doubt she is one of the best ten players in WCBB.

UConn scored the first nine points of the second half, pushing the lead to 20. Again Maryland battled hard and cut the lead to 14 with 11 minutes left in the game. But it never got any closer, as UConn ground out the rest of the game, slowly building the lead up to 25 before wining by the final margin of 23 points. My 30 point prediction wasn't that far off considering the cold shooting by KML.

This game was not UConn's best. They seemed a little off. They didn't have a ton of turnovers, but the kind of turnovers they did have were just ugly giveaways. Mental mistakes that I'm sure Geno will point out to them between now and the championship game. UConn can't afford those against a team as good as Notre Dame.

Looks like Tuck and Stewart are building their resume for MOP if UConn can get by Notre Dame on Tuesday. They both had terrific games.

I'll have my UConn/Notre Dame Pregame Report out as soon as I can.

Box Score Link

Game Quotes

Coach Geno Auriemma

"Every time we play Notre Dame, it's something. I just have a lot of respect for what they've been able to do. They've got a heck of a team and their team has gotten a lot better as the season has gone on. Jewell's a great player, obviously, but all their other players have gotten significantly better since the beginning of the season."

"I think the biggest thing against Maryland is they can break you down with their guard play, and then they're so big inside. If you make a mistake on their guards, you've got the big guys to deal with. We needed to try and make sure that we only gave up one thing, that we didn't give up both. So we tried to concentrate on taking away their 3s, which they're really good at. And then try to create some mismatches on this end with Tuck and Stewie because I thought that's where we had the advantage."

"These guys are great to coach. You give them a game plan and they followed it."

Coach Brenda Freese

"Tuck was a big time X-factor for them tonight. The stat line of Kaleena, she hits one three but gives seven assists. goes into facilitator, get everyone else going."

"I'm proud of our fight , Like I told the team in the locker room, look at a season and go 34-3 and look two of the three losses coming from teams playing for the national championship. That's a heck of a season."

"The next progression is where Notre Dame's gotten themselves to. That's the next step for us. Consistency factor was the key to getting back to back. I'm really excited when you talk about our future. We're graduating one senior and to have the sophomore class come back, I'm really excited."

"I'm speechless when I talk about Laurin. Everything she's contributed over the years. ... It's the last game for her and hurts my heart."

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Player evaluations

Co-Player of the Game

Morgan Tuck

It's hard to believe but Morgan is getting better and better as the tournament progresses. A few of her drives to the basket were quicker than she has been all season. I loved the hard drive between two Maryland players (see the above picture). One had their hand on the ball, but Morgan is so strong she just plowed through the defense. She now has the complete game. Amazing in the post, ability to drive the lane and finish and now, she is almost 50% on threes over the last 11 games. That is not a fluke, my friends. Here is my first prediction for 2015-16. Tuck will shoot over 40% on threes next season.

Co-Player of the Game

Breanna Stewart

Ho hum, another 25 point game for Stewart. I love how she is getting to the line so often. It's clear that fouling her is the only way to stop her once she gets the ball near the basket. The problem for the opponents is she is hitting 85% going 22-26 in the last 3 games. That is almost 9 FT's per game. For the tournament, she is shooting over 40% on threes. And she has 15 blocks. It's her time of year and I'm sure she is priming herself for a big game in the championship game.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis

Well, you can't be great every game. As least when if comes to shooting the ball. KML had a tough outing, going 1-5 on three's and 1-8 overall. But you can look at the numbers and know that she knew she was off so she focused on other things. Her passing was out of this world. It wasn't just that she had 7 assists. They were all really nice assists. She has a great feel for the game and even if she struggles at times keeping the player with the ball in front of her when she is playing defense, she is not nearly as bad as some like to point out. She did a great job covering Walker-Kimbrough for most of the game, holding her to six points on 3-8 shooting. I have a feeling she will shoot a little better against Notre Dame.

Moriah Jefferson

What a terrific first half. In the first two minutes she had three assists and a steal. She had nine points in 8 minutes to start the game. In doing so, she set up the inside game by keeping the guards away from double teaming Stewart and Tuck in the paint. She had five assists and only one turnover while scoring 14 points. Her defense on Mincy was critical in UConn's win. Another great game for the best point guard in the country.

Kia Nurse

Nurse hit her first three again. I just find it amazing how she has done that so many times this season. But it wasn't her offense that was her main contribution to this game. She did a really nice job defending Brown, holding her to 12 points. She played her usual intense game and those were important 26 minutes. She is going to need to carry that to the championship game when she starts out guarding Loyd.

Kiah Stokes

Stokes had a terrific 18 minutes. She finished when she got the ball in the paint, going 3-3 from the field. She was able to grab six rebounds and she had two blocks and intimidated a few other shots. She is finishing her senior season in fine fashion.

Gabby Williams

It was a quick 6 minutes and at least it got her feet wet in the final four. You never know when you need her to play more minutes. She looked more confident out there in a tough environment.

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(pictures from the Hartford Courant, UConnhuskies.com)