COMEBACK KIDS
With Help From Collier, U.S. Overcomes Struggles By Rallying In 4th
Saturday night was a struggle for Team USA, including all of the current and former UConn players on the team. Nothing was going right. Shots weren’t falling, ball movement wasn’t fluid, communication was less than perfect. If all those factors weren’t enough to thwart the U.S. national team, Team Canada also had UConn alumna Kia Nurse on its side.
Nurse, an Ontario native, led Team Canada with 22 points. Despite Nurse’s efforts, Team USA was able to pull out a 74-68 win thanks to a late fourth-quarter comeback that included a strong performance from UConn senior Napheesa Collier.
“What I saw in Napheesa is what I’ve known Napheesa to be,” Team USA head coach Dawn Staley said. “I had an opportunity to coach Napheesa in 2018, I think. … Obviously the group that was out there gave us what we needed. Did I think about [substituting]? I did, but they were playing so well together I figured I would just let them
finish the game out.”
Collier was quiet during the first half and didn’t do much on offense throughout the night, but she was a key contributor down the stretch in the fourth quarter. She finished the game with five points, three assists and seven rebounds. Key rebounds by Collier in the fourth quarter were on important plays that helped the team pull within a few points of Canada right before taking the lead.
“I think here in Connecticut we have the best fans, and the fact that we had some people here tonight can attest to that. It’s just such an honor to play with these girls,” Collier said, nudging A’ja Wilson, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds. “Rookie of the Year right here. We have so many good people on this team that I just feel blessed to be here.”
Team USA is without many of the players who will likely start in the FIBA World Cup, with UConn alums Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart yet to join the team. Bird and Stewart are playing in the WNBA Finals for the Seattle Storm.
With only a select number of their likely starters playing and in the first exhibition of training camp against another team, it’s understandable that the team wasn’t up to its usual standards.
The first half was rough, with nothing falling for Team USA. They ended the half 5 of 27 — 18.5 percent — from the field. Nurse, on the other hand, had a great night for Team Canada, leading to the first-half lead of 40-28 with 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting. Nurse was aggressive all game, clearly the leader of the Canadian team. Her efforts wouldn’t be enough, though.
“It was a battle out there, and I think that was something that was great for us as a team,” Nurse said. “We’ve only had our 12 in the last two games we’ve played, and I think to get that chemistry, to get that battle in this game itself and a test like that was great for us.”
In the stands cheering on Collier and the UConn alums was the current UConn team, with Katie Lou Samuelson and Olivia Nelson-Ododa standing up to dance in the stands during a timeout and getting put on the big screen. Once that happened, and fans realized the current team was in the first row of the stands, they immediately came down to ask for photos at halftime. Geno Auriemma, UConn coach and special adviser to Team USA, was also in attendance.
For the rest of the UConn alums, Saturday night didn’t deliver the best stat lines. Morgan Tuck ended the game with nine points and five rebounds, Stefanie Dolson finished with five rebounds and Tina Charles six points and five rebounds.