The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Big first half powers UConn past Louisville
STORRS — Lost sometimes in UConn’s beautiful game is the bruised knee and scraped elbow. Lost in the waterproof makeup is the elbow grease.
Yes, lost in the precise tic-tac-toe passing that has led to the nation’s No. 1 offense is the less romantic sweat of the No. 5 defense in all the land.
The top-ranked UConn women took down No. 4 Louisville, 69-58, Monday night at Gampel Pavilion. That is no surprise. The Huskies have taken down all 25 opponents this season and 126 of the past 127. They have won 48 in a row at Gampel.
And just as in a big matchup at South Carolina 11 nights earlier, they did it with a swift knockout blow. In South Carolina it came in the second quarter. This time it came even earlier with a 19-0 run over six and a half minutes in the first.
Tic-tac-Lou. Tic-tac-Pheesa. Tic-tac-Gabby. It was 24-6 after one quarter. And even as Louisville regained its ballast in the second half, the Cardinals were not going to win this game.
Arica Carter hit a 3pointer 41 seconds in and then Louisville missed its next 12 shots over nine minutes. The Cardinals had nine turnovers in the first 10 quarter. Charges. Soft passes. Etc.
“Our defense, No. 1,” Geno Auriemma answered when asked what was the key to the 19-0 run. “We defended them about as well as we wanted to. That was the plan going in. We executed it. It led to a couple of easy things. And we were really sharp on the offensive end.”
Yes, they were. Transition, tough 3-pointers, back cuts, Katie Lou Samuelson did it all with 26 points. Gabby Williams had one of those Gabby Williams nights with 12 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. Napheesa Collier added 14 points.
“We tried to get them a little overconfident,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz joked about the first quarter. And then he said, “We took some shots that were too quick and that led to them in transition. You’ve got to make the extra pass and make them guard you, which I thought we did a pretty good job after the
first quarter.”
And then Walz said, “Losing sucks. I hate it.”
That’s the part you’ve got to love about Walz. He really hates losing.
There were some beautiful things going on Monday night and some of it involved defense. Kia Nurse, one of the best on-ball defenders Auriemma has had, dogging Asia Durr into early shooting problems. She also got into foul trouble. Durr, who has played like a first-team All-American this season, bounced back to finish with 20 points, but she needed 19 shots.
Yes, there is a beauty in doing it right. And that’s what happened here Monday night. Defense. Coaches willing to play anytime, anywhere. Assistant coaches getting the due they deserve. The good stuff.
Unlike Kim Mulkey and Baylor, unlike a number of schools, Walz was willing to bring his team into Storrs in mid-February, for a non-conference game in front of a sellout crowd of 10,167 and not act like it would mean the end of his program.
Nobody contracted pleurisy.
Nobody died. Louisville will take this game, learn from it and be one heck of a tough out in the NCAA Tournament.
The women’s game needs big-time non-conference battles later in the season. ESPN needs them to sell the sport. Too many teams in the women’s game baby their players’ psyches. They fear a loss in February will crush their team.
News alert! These are strong women. They can handle it.
“We’re here once and they come back to play us three times, because I’m not coming back up here,” Walz joked about the series. “(Auriemma) is a terrible host.”
Actually, it’s a two-year deal and UConn will play in Louisville next season.
“I think they’re great,” Walz said of the late-season non-conference games. “I have no problem with them. ESPN does a great job of giving us a chance of being on national TV. I think it’s good for our game. We’re trying to grow our game and get the viewership where it needs to be.
“With the final score it was, I wish it was the fourth quarter they go on a 24-6 run. Unfortunately, after the first quarter, you might have people saying, oh, it’s over. It really wasn’t.”
Walz talked about becoming more consistent and improving and then he packed his team up on the bus for Boston to play at BC on Thursday night. Sure, he said misses the Big East, as good a league as he’s ever been a part of. Walz also was progressive and competitive enough to realize what games like Monday night can mean for women’s basketball.
“I thought this was a game that was great for our program,” Walz said. Spread the word. “When you schedule teams like this, whether it’s early in the season or this time of year, it’s always about what’s coming in March. For us to know against a really, really good team we have the ability to do what we did — or not play as well. I think you need both of those things. A chance to see both sides, when we’re at our best and when we’re not. Obviously, we don’t get it enough.”
The Huskies have never lost an AAC game.
“We’ll have to do it next year, play somebody, some place in mid-February,” Auriemma said. “We try to create that as often as we can. You can’t get a lot of people to accommodate you. (Walz) knew he was going to have a really good team this year.
“What’s the downside to this game? Neither team comes out of it, thinking, oh, boy we’re in trouble.”
Auriemma said Walz will let him know after next year if he wants to continue the series.
“If he has a really good recruiting class and we don’t, he’ll do like he always does,” Auriemma said. “He’ll be on the phone nonstop.”
And then Auriemma turned serious. At halftime, Chris Dailey and Mickie DeMoss were announced as part of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2018. Assistant coaches are the lifeblood of the game. It feels entirely right the great one from UConn and Tennessee will go in together.
“I never expected one to get it and the other not,” Auriemma said. “I expected both or neither. For us it was keep our fingers crossed and value what Chris has done as a Hall of Fame career. Which it is.
“The fact that assistant coaches have never been in, that makes it even more special and significant. Those two were trailblazers. As much as Pat Summitt and I were there, everybody in the country knew, oh, it’s Chris and Mickie. No other program had that. They’re a big reason for the success of those teams. The players knew. I knew. Pat knew.”