A battle in the paint
UConn-Iowa could be decided by the forwards
Given the tone of conversation created by a UConn-Iowa Sweet 16 matchup, one might think Paige Bueckers is already the greatest player in Huskies history and Caitlin Clark is the only Hawkeye featured on the news in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids region.
The lights have never been brighter for these freshman guards, but roads that lead teams deep into the NCAA Tournament, and certain players into America’s consciousness, are paved with help from others doing less glamorous work.
Work near the basket. “Everybody is talking about these two freshmen, Caitlin and whatever the other girl’s name is,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding. That’s just been an incredible story line. But you’re talking about an incredible post player here in Monika Czinano, somebody who has led the country in field goal percentage all year.”
Among those who qualify, for sure.
Czinano, a 6-foot-3 junior, is the Division I leader with a 66.9 percent shooting percentage. UConn freshman Aaliyah Edwards is
shooting 69.6 percent, but she falls short of the NCAA’s requirement of five field goals a game to qualify for the national rankings. Edwards averages 4.5.
That’s only a footnote, though, a quirky statistical comparison to throw into this high-profile gathering. UConn-Iowa certainly is primarily about two firstyear guards and the transition games they lead — but also the lanes and backboards.
Iowa has its dependable presence in Czinano. UConn has more depth up front than it has in recent years due to Edwards making an immediate impact behind junior Olivia Nelson-Ododa.
Nelson-Ododa is averaging 13 points and a teamhigh 7.7 rebounds. Edwards is averaging 10.8 points and 5.7. They started together in the absence of injured guard Nika Muhl in a secondround victory over Syracuse and the bigger lineup fit the situation.
UConn post players, Aubrey Griffin included, overpowered a long Syracuse team that features 6-7 center Kamilla Cardoso, who was a problem early. Cardoso had eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in the first quarter, but finished with just 12 on 5-for-9.
Nelson-Ododa was 7for-11 with 17 points and
eight rebounds. Edwards was 5-for-5 from the field and 9-for-12 on free throws, finishing with 19 points and five rebounds.
UConn needed Bueckers to score in the first half. She did, with 16 of her 20 points. Bueckers attempted just two shots in the second half. That was a healthy development.
“We were pounding the ball in the paint,” Bueckers said. “I felt like the perimeter didn’t need to do much. We had Aaliyah and Liv and Aubrey and everybody who stepped into the paint. They did their thing. My job is to get the ball to them and get the ball inside and into the gaps in the zone. I didn’t really feel the need to shoot because we were getting easy layups in transition and in the half court set.”
Czinano is from Watertown, Minn., 25 miles west of Bueckers’ most recent home in St. Louis Park, and learned as a freshman in 2018-19 under senior Megan Gustafson, the Naismith and Associated Press national player of the year and Iowa’s all-time leading scorer.
She was second in the nation in field goal percentage last year (67.9), trailing only Ruthy Hebard of Oregon (68.5). This season, Czinano is averaging 19.4 points.
“She plays in Caitlin’s shadow but she leads the United States in field goal percentage,” Bluder said. “It’s not like she snuck up on anybody. … If she would have made two more field goals last year, over 30 games, she would have been No. 1. I think Monika does such a great job with her footwork and she has such a good release. I’m really happy for Monika. The thing is, both of them are happy for each other, genuinely so happy.”
Clark leads the nation in scoring at 26.8 points a game and Iowa (20-9) averages 86.6 points, second only to Maryland (91.8). Basically, the Hawkeyes give Clark the green light, like UConn does with Bueckers. The Hawkeyes like to run, like UConn. They dump it down low to Czinano, like UConn does with Nelson-Ododa and Edwards.
One team on Saturday will do these things better than the other.
“If I was Lisa I wouldn’t change a thing,” said UConn coach Geno Auriemma, whose team is second nationally in defensive, allowing 50.7 points a game. “They look like they can score 100 every night. … When you get to this stage, you’ve got to be who you are. You’re not going to come in and say we’ve played a certain way for 29 games and now we’re going to play a completely different way.”