The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Huskies go for 100th straight win tonight
Chasing 100th straight win, Huskies up against pair of strong post players
STORRS >> Plenty of attention will be focused on the UConn women’s basketball team’s quest for a 100th consecutive win when South Carolina comes to town.
However, the attention of UConn’s Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma and his players will not be on yet another chance to make women’s basketball history during the nationally-televised game at Gampel Pavilion (9 p.m., ESPN2).
A lack of size in the post and lack of depth were two significant areas of concern coming into the season for the Huskies. Despite having the smaller post players in nearly every game against a ranked opponent this season, UConn has passed every test. However, as talented and physical as players like Notre Dame’s Brianna Turner, Maryland’s Brionna Jones, Kansas State’s Breanna Lewis, Ohio State’s Stephanie Mavunga and Baylor’s Kalani Brown might be, UConn hasn’t faced a more imposing and experienced tandem of frontcourt players than South Carolina’s Alaina Coates, the NCAA Division I active leader in career rebounds, and A’ja Wilson, a top candidate for national player of the year.
The high-low post offense that the Huskies perfected en route to winning the last four national championships is being run rather well by Coates and Wilson.
“Their two big guys have had another year to play together and they are a problem for everybody they play,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “You can say you can do this against them or you can do that against them but the bottom line is those two guys are really hard to play against. There aren’t too many teams in the country who have two players like that. I wasn’t worried about it last year with Stewie (Breanna Stewart) and (Morgan) Tuck, but I am worried about it now.”
One of the best attributes about this South Carolina team is the ability to draw fouls. In six wins against ranked opponents an average of 25 fouls have been called against the Gamecocks’ opponents, while the number drops to 15 foul shots per game in losses to Duke and Tennessee. By contrast, UConn has lost its last seven games when being whistled for at least 24 fouls dating back to a loss to Notre Dame on Jan. 15, 2001 while winning 95 percent of their games during that span when committing fewer than 24 fouls. The last time it occurred was against Stanford on Nov. 17, 2014 when Morgan Tuck and Kia Nurse both fouled out and the Huskies finished with exactly 24 fouls called against them.
Gabby Williams and Napheesa Collier both have had issues with fouls, especially earlier in the season, and both realize that being forced to sit and watch against South Carolina could be a recipe for the Huskies to lose a game for the first time since 2014.
“I think it is definitely going to be a challenge because they are bigger than us and they are really strong,” Collier said. “I think it will be really fun to see how it goes down.”
Coates and Wilson combined for 16 points and nine rebounds when South Carolina came to Gampel Pavilion two years ago, but the only other South Carolina player who appeared in that game is guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore.
“Our bigs it is something they are used to,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said after a recent win over Auburn. “We are bringing in different personnel. I like the personnel we are taking into the game. I think we can score from all five positions. Our ability to pass the ball and make other people better puts us in a good position.”
Transfers Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis combine for 25.3 points, 5.0 assists, 2.7 steals and six free throw attempts per game. Freshman Tyasha Harris has been a reliable performance with 70 assists and just 37 turnovers. Along with Cuevas-Moore they could play a major role in whether South Carolina can end the longest winning streak in NCAA basketball history. Still, many eyes will be on Coates and Wilson.
“It is just about heart and competing,” Wilson said. “I think we are in a good place in the season, in a good place with this team that is really is going to help us out.”
Auriemma isn’t content with the quality of play he has been seeing from his top-ranked Huskies despite rolling to one lopsided win after another since 2017 began.
“I don’t like it as much as we did when we played Texas, Notre Dame, Maryland because as the season goes on and you get to now, the middle of February I think a lot of cracks start to show,” Auriemma said. “I don’t know if anybody else can see them, but I can see them. We are not where I want us to be at this point of the season so a game like Monday maybe comes at the perfect time for us. Maybe it is exactly the game we need at exactly the right time, a team that we know if we don’t play our ‘A’ game we could lose so that is good that we have that kind of game right around now.”