Williams ‘got it back’ just in time vs. Baylor
San Antonio — Christyn Williams had what UConn coach Geno Auriemma called "a couple different games during that game" in Monday night's dramatic 69-67 NCAA tournament victory over Baylor which earned the Huskies a trip to their 13th straight Final Four.
Williams had just seven points in the first half, none in the second quarter, on 3-for-8 shooting with four turnovers.
She responded with seven points during the Huskies' decisive 19-0 run during the third and fourth quarters. Then despite missing two free throws with UConn up a point with 18 seconds remaining, she had the foresight to grab the final rebound of the game as Baylor's DiJonai Carrington missed while running smack into the defense of Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aaliyah Edwards.
Auriemma took Williams aside and spoke to her afterward.
"She really struggled at times. She played exceptionally well at times," Auriemma said. "There were times where she looked like she was maybe drifting away from us at both ends of the floor and she fought through it and got it back, which to me is an unbelievable sign of growing up right there in front of your eyes.
"To me, the biggest story of Christyn Williams during that game was how she played great, lost it, and instead of going and staying lost, she got it back."
Williams, a junior guard, finished with 21 points and seven rebounds to be named to the River Walk Region's all-tournament team. She led UConn with 27 points in Saturday's 92-72 Sweet 16 win over Iowa.
"I was devastated that I missed those two free throws," Williams said. "Those were big. They could have very well went down there and scored and we could have easily have lost the game. As a junior on the team, I'm supposed to step up and knock those in but I didn't. But my teammates had my back.
"Coach, he was just basically telling me that I can't start off how I started but he was very proud of me that I switched things around and that a year ago I would have just let the whole game just go bad for me. Basically he said that I control my destiny."
Geno, Barnes go way back
Auriemma remembers having to prepare to face Adia Barnes as an Arizona player.
The Huskies met Arizona in the 1998 Sweet 16 in Dayton, Ohio, a 74-57 UConn win when Barnes was a senior and the Pac-10 Player of the Year.
"She was an impossible matchup for anybody at any level," Auriemma said. "You couldn't guard her with a guard. You couldn't guard her with a forward. She just was an absolutely great basketball player. Smart. Really tough. Skilled . ... It was all about guarding her, trying to contain and isolate her as much as possible. She took up the focus of our scouting report."
Now, Auriemma again has Barnes on his scouting report.
Barnes, who left Arizona with 2,237 career points, is in her fifth season as the head coach at her alma mater. UConn faces Barnes' Arizona team in the national semifinals at 9:30 p.m. Friday.
Arizona (20-5) topped Indiana in the Elite Eight Monday to earn its first-ever trip to the Final Four, getting 33 points from Aari McDonald.
"When Adia took the job at Arizona, (women's basketball's) not even the No. 1 sport at Arizona, softball is," Auriemma said. "So here you're coming into a program where basketball's never been 'it.' And she's made it — their softball program's legendary, don't get me wrong — she has made women's basketball at Arizona supremely important."
Barnes played in the WNBA from 1998-2004, finishing her career with the Seattle Storm, where she won a league title in 2004 alongside former UConn great Sue Bird. Bird, participating in a video conference earlier this week, spoke fondly of Barnes.
"I couldn't be more happy for Adia," Bird said. "The minute she got that job, you just knew she was going to have success. That's her personality. If you're around Adia for 5 seconds, she's got charisma, she makes you feel like you've known her forever."