Dangerfield back for Huskies, looking to find steady footing

STORRS » The process of getting herself back onto the court was a rather arduous task for freshman guard Crystal Dangerfield.

However, the work is far from over even as she is back playing for No. 1 and undefeated UConn.

Now the highly-touted Dangerfield realizes that she needs to get into the good graces of her coaches. If there was any question about that, a lengthy conversation with assistant coach Shea Ralph after Friday’s practice helped to refresh her memory.

“I’ve heard it from other people that there is no way you can be totally prepared for what you are going to get in college, but you never figure it out until you get up here,” said Dangerfield, who had six points in 18 minutes in her return to the court in Wednesday’s win at Temple.

“Shea is telling me, when you get tired, you get frustrated and just keep pushing through it.

“The next couple of weeks are important just trying to get into shape and make these practices count, have them transferring into these last few contests, these last (eight) games going into tournament play.”

Dangerfield said that if the decision wasn’t made to shut her down for a couple of weeks, that the pain in her foot was severe enough that her season might have been at risk. She pushed hard to play in the Jan. 10 win over South Florida, a game when she played against former Blackman (Tenn.) High School teammate Jazz Bond before being held out of basketball activities for two weeks.

“I knew it would help in the long run because going into tournament play, if it had gotten worse I would have probably been out for eight weeks and miss the entire tournament,” Dangerfield said. “It was a hard choice and I fought to even play in that (USF) game.”

UConn coach Geno Auriemma didn’t pull any punches on what he would like to see from Dangerfield now that she is back practicing.

“When she came back to practice, there wasn’t any setback mentally that I saw, she was right on top of things,” Auriemma said. “She never has a problem picking things up, she has a problem picking up her feet, moving them and breaking a sweat.”

Dangerfield admits that she has a tendency of feeling sorry for herself when she has a bad possession or two. She is hardly the first freshman at UConn or anywhere else who has had to learn to fight through things when times get tough.

“I think in high school, if you are talented enough you can just dominate and do whatever, it doesn’t really matter,” Dangerfield said. “Here, everybody is just as good as you are, playing on that high level, so I have to be able to outsmart people and not just beat people with my talent.

“I have possessions when I work hard, it is just consistency, putting three, four, five plays together and then have those turns into days, into weeks and into months. I just have to find it. It is going to take time and it is still taking time but eventually it is going to come or I am not going to play.”

Actually, she is going to play. With a game against nationally-ranked South Carolina a week and a half away, Dangerfield is the top perimeter reserve for the Huskies. How much she plays in the pivotal games could be determined by these next couple of weeks including Sunday’s home game against Tulsa.

UConn’s coaches would love to see her play with the confidence she displayed in a Nov. 17 win over Baylor. Having a game of that magnitude so early in her career only raised the expectation level that the coaches have for Dangerfield.

“I think what happens when you don’t play a lot, it takes a really long time to get back,” Auriemma said. “There is a difference between you can’t play and can’t practice. When you aren’t to get out on the court and actually practice, be in game mode or basketball mode, it doesn’t matter how much you ride the bike or get on the treadmill, it is really difficult.

“Her foot feels better but it is going to take a little bit of time to get back into the game mode.”