The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)

KEEP AN EYE ON

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• Efficiency experts: UConn enters the game leading the nation in field-goal percentage at 53.6 percent while Louisville checks in at No. 5 at 48.7 percent. It doesn’t hurt that UConn’s Katie Lou Samuelson and Kia Nurse are No. 1 and 2 and Asia Durr of Louisville seventh among NCAA Division I women’s basketball players in 3-point percentage, but the teams have reliable low-post options. UConn’s trio of Napheesa Collier, Azura’ Stevens and Gabby Williams combine to make more than 63 percent of their shots inside the 3-point line. Louisville’s Myisha Hines-Allen, Sam Fuehring, Jazmine Jones and Bionca Dunham all shoot better than 52 percent from two-point range.

• Getting after it: Although the teams haven’t played in the regular season in four years, the coaches have squared off 13 times as head coaches with Geno Auriemma’s Huskies winning all 13, including two matchups in national championsh­ip games. Only one of the last six meetings has been decided by more than 20 points as Louisville’s Jeff Walz has been able to get his team to slow down UConn’s high-powered offense. If you remove the 2013 national championsh­ip game, UConn has averaged less than 74 points in the last nine meetings.

• History on UConn’s side: UConn enters the game with 18 wins in a row against teams in the top five in the Associated Press poll with three of the games coming against Louisville. UConn has also won 35 games in a row against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents dating back to an 82-76 loss to North Carolina on Jan. 15, 2007.

• Tri-state Cardinals: While Louisville doesn’t have any players from Connecticu­t, the game at Gampel Pavilion figures to be special for New Jersey natives Myisha Hines-Allen and Sam Fuehring as well as Sydney Zambrotta from North Babylon, N.Y. Hines-Allen joins Louisville legend Angel McCoughtry as the only Cardinals with at least 1,000 career rebounds. She is also second in double-doubles and fourth in points scored. Fuehring is approachin­g her combined totals for points scored and rebounds from her first two seasons and already has more assists, steals and blocked shots as a junior as she did in her first two seasons combined.

• Another Hall of Famer?: The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame will announced its next induction class during the broadcast of this game. UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey is among the finalists. If she is selected, she would join head coach Geno Auriemma as well as Rebecca Lobo, Jen Rizzotti and Kara Wolters to make it five honorees with ties to the UConn women’s basketball program to join the Hall of Fame.

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