The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Huskies cruise to win over Tulane
Sophomore scores 32; win streak reaches 93
Katie Lou Samuelson was more than happy to prove that first appearances can be misleading.
The leading scorer for the topranked and undefeated UConn women’s basketball team was held scoreless in the opening quarter for just the second time this season. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t particularly close to draining any of her four first-quarter shots.
However, Samuelson had up for lost in the middle two quarters and made some individual history as the Huskies extended their NCAA alldivision basketball record for consecutive wins to 93 with a 100-56 victory over visiting Tulane before a crowd of 9,873 at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday.
Samuelson made 11 of her final 13 shots to finish with 32 points to go with four rebounds, three assists and a career-high seven steals. Samuelson became the first UConn player since Tiffany Hayes to record back to back 30-point games but also tied Maya Moore’s program record for points in a threegame span. Her 28 points at South Methodist, career-high 34 at Tulsa and 32 in the Tulane win gives her 94. Moore finished with 94 points in wins over Marquette, Ohio State and Florida State which came towards the end of UConn’s then record 90-game winning streak.
“I was not really playing hard enough,” said Samuelson of her first scoreless first quarter since a Dec. 4 win over Texas. “I wasn’t really concerned about the misses but I felt like overall I wasn’t contributing to the team so I wanted to (contribute) in that second quarter. I think last year it would have freaked me out a lot more but this year it doesn’t really faze me when I start off missing.”
Samuelson outscored Tulane 18-17 in the second quarter and had more points than the Green Wave, a team picked to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference’s preseason poll, in the second and third quarters combined. Samuelson, who in on pace to shatter UConn’s single-season mark for 3-pointers made, did hit four 3-pointers but also scored in the lane on several occasions and was also 6 for 6 from the foul line.
“I am scoring in different ways and not just relying on my 3-point shot, going to the basket and doing other things,” Samuelson said. “I know I do need to produce and be that person that people can count on and have their trust that I am going to stay consistent every game.”
It would be an understatement to say that Samuelson has been a consistent offensive producer for the Huskies. She has scored in double figures in all 18 games this season. The only UConn players during Geno Auriemma’s Hall of Fame run at the helm of the UConn programs with longer streaks to open the season are Kara Wolters, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.
“She has always done more (than) when I saw her play in high school, she was always capable of doing more,” Auriemma said. “We have a couple of things we run for her to get her moving, to get her into different spots, but a lot of that stuff she just has to read it herself. She has gotten much better at fighting through whether it is a certain kind of defender, a certain kind of situation they are trying to push her into.”
This was not a one-person show however.
Kia Nurse had 18 points, three assists and six of UConn’s season-high 20 steals, Napheesa Collier had 17 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes, Gabby Williams had 13 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals despite missing some time due to early foul trouble and having a tooth displaced after taking a shot to her mouth. Senior guard Saniya Chong had nine points, five assists and two steals while posting her second straight game without a turnover. Natalie Butler contributed eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.