The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Guards Nurse, Dangerfield ready to lead the way
Guards Nurse, Dangerfield ready to lead the way for the top-ranked Huskies
— Making history is hardly a new phenomenon for Geno Auriemma’s UConn women’s basketball program.
The Huskies are accustomed to going places no program has gone before. Before even playing a game in the 2017-18 season, UConn will make history by being the only team to return three Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-Americans.
With Sunday’s season opener against Stanford fast approaching, Auriemranked ma made an interesting observation — or perhaps it could be considered more of a prediction.
“I don’t think the three of them are going to be the reason whether or not we’ll win a national championship,” Auriemma said of All-Americans Napheesa Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams. “They’re going to do what they do, and it’s probably going to be what we get from the other places that’s probably going to determine it.”
When discussing the “other places” the topSTORRS Huskies can go for production, the backcourt of senior Kia Nurse and sophomore Crystal Dangerfield is a pretty good place to start.
More than a few people assumed that Duke transfer Azurá Stevens would move into the starting lineup, leaving Nurse to run the team from the point guard position. However, Auriemma has raved about the improvement Dangerfield has made, dating back to the team’s trip to Italy this summer. By inserting her into the starting lineup in place of the graduated Saniya Chong, it enables the four returning starters to play the same positions they did a season ago.
Nobody figures to benefit more from Dangerfield handling the playmaking duties than Nurse, who led the team in scoring in both preseason games thanks in large part to her going 9 of 11 from 3-point range. Since Nurse has arrived at UConn, Auriemma has marveled at her ability to find open shots no matter where she goes on the court — something that continues to be evident thanks to Dangerfield’s presence.
“I know Kia likes it,” Williams said. “Kia is one of the most underrated shooters in college basketball, and now we’re going to be able to find her a lot more with Crystal bringing the ball up. The way Kia attacks, people forget she’s a big guard and she can attack like that. She’s in a better position to do things like that.”
Not long after UConn’s bid for an unprecedented fifth straight national title ended with a loss to Mississippi State in the Final Four, Auriemma told Dan-
gerfield that if he trusted her more, he believes UConn could have won that game. However, Dangerfield didn’t play for the final 5:26 of the fourth quarter and the entire overtime in the 66-64 loss.
The memories of that defeat — and also the realization that she needs to be somebody her teammates and coaches can rely on — have resonated with her since that day.
“That’s just a personal thing. I didn’t feel like I did that,” Dangerfield said. “I did well, but I didn’t meet my standards, so I want to come back this year and go past that.
“We took a break after (the season was over), we had our end-of-the year meetings and after that, it was kind of like, ‘OK, this is it. We can’t have the same thing happening.’ I don’t want to feel the same way, so I have to do something, and we’re all going to do something.”
Auriemma said Dangerfield is not just a different player but a different person than she was during her inconsistent freshman campaign. Perhaps some of it was the leadership position she was in with the United States team that played in the FIBA U19 World Cup.
“I got in a lot better shape and am just having fun with it,” Dangerfield said. “Coming back, the approach has been much better.”
Hearing Dangerfield say she needed to get into better shape is somewhat surprising, because her blazing speed was on display as a freshman when she scored in double figures six times and had at least five assists in 13 games. However, Dangerfield believes she can practice longer and harder than she did a season ago.
“Her approach has changed; she’s really approaching every practice with (an) ‘I’m going to take it by the horn’ kind of thing,” Williams said. “You’re a freshman and you’re going to be scared. She was scared, you could see that, but this year she’s approaching it much differently.”
Nobody would ever accuse Nurse of being scared of anything. “Relentless” is a word often used to describe her style of play. However, there is such a thing as going too fast. She plays fast, talks fast, walks fast and probably even eats fast.
The UConn coaching staff sometimes look at Nurse like a track sprinter turned running back who doesn’t give his offensive linemen time to make blocks because he gets to the line in such a hurry. While Dangerfield has the most pure speed on the UConn team, she has a way of playing in a methodical manner that enables her to make plays for herself and her teammates.
“The less she has the ball in her hands, that’s going to help Kia a little bit,” Auriemma said. “Her tendency is to be aggressive with the ball, and that’s good and bad. Crystal has more of a knack for it. Even though Crystal is a little bit quicker , she (plays) slower than Kia because she’s a little more patient. She lets things develop a little more, Kia is in a hurry to make a play, so when she catches it, trying to create for herself is a lot better than her having to be responsible for everything.”
There were stretches last season when the pressure Nurse put on herself negatively impacted her play, as she tried to replace graduated All-Americans Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck all by herself.
Her experience this summer with the Canadian national team served as a perfect dress rehearsal for what her senior season could be like. Canada lost many of its veteran players, leaving Nurse in more of a leadership role than at any other point since she started playing for the senior women’s national team. She learned that she had plenty of help and didn’t have to win games by herself. That was proved true when former UCLA star Nirra Fields was the team’s leading scorer and tournament MVP as Canada repeated as FIBA AmeriCup champion.
“It’s strange to be a veteran when you’re 21, especially when my veterans came in, they were 30-31,” Nurse said. “They said, ‘This is how I handled it through some of the difficulties.’ They gave me that advice. It was just a matter of being able to share the knowledge that I have now. It still gave me a an awesome experience. I’m still learning every single day and taking the best from all situations.”
She is trying to use the lessons learned from Canadian icons like Shona Thorburn and Kim Gaucher, as well as those from her first three seasons at UConn, for the benefit of a Huskies team featuring six new players.
“Being able to be around great leaders here for the last three years and seeing how they handled things has helped me greatly, and on the national team as well, just trying to take bits and pieces and just instill that into something that can help the team,” Nurse said.
While Dangerfield will be running the offense when she is on the court, there will be times when Nurse is asked to take over the point guard duties.
“I think for me my whole life has been spent moving back and forth all my life at the guard spots, so it’s something I’m comfortable with,” Nurse said.