The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Huskies hold off St. John’s
ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands — They had met 57 times before Friday, mainly as rivals in the Big East. And while the Huskies won the majority of those — 40, in fact — there was the occasional nail-biter
This happened to be one of those.
St. John’s gave UConn all it could handle at the Paradise Jam on Friday. Nothing came easy for the Huskies, who fell into an early rut and needed a bit longer than usual to recover.
There were head-scratching turnovers, errant shots and defensive breakdowns. And, most surprisingly, there was a six-point deficit, from which the Huskies needed to work their hardest to recover.
The Huskies eventually found their footing, but this was far from a dominant performance. This was a grind-it-out, work-for-every possession battle. And when it was all over, the Huskies were fortunate to come out in front, 65-55, at the University of Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center.
“Not every game is going to be we score 100, the other team scores 50 and we all live happily ever after, you know?” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. “Some games, it’s going to be a struggle. Some games it’s going to be a struggle to get shots. Some games it’s going to be a struggle to make shots. Sometimes you don’t make free throws. Sometimes the other team that’s used to not making any 3’s makes a bunch of them — at the end of the shot clock. To be a championship kind of team, you’ve got to be able to win all kinds of games.”
That’s what UConn (4-0) hopes to ultimately become, a championship team. And getting there, of course, won’t be easy. It will require surviving tests like the one St. John’s unexpectedly threw at them.
A quick spurt to begin the fourth quarter gave St. John’s a four-point lead. However, thanks in large part to their Big Three — Crystal Dangerfield, Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier — the Huskies answered. They closed the game on an 18-4
run as four different players hit 3-pointers in the fourth.
“We don’t get many opportunities sometimes to get in those grind-it-out situations,” Samuelson said. “That’s probably something this team needs more than anything.”
Samuelson led all scorers with 19 points while Collier finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists. St. John’s (3-1) got 13 points from Stamford native Tiana England.
Many of the Huskies’ supposed weaknesses were on display for 40 minutes: the lack of size in the paint, the shortage of depth and, to a lesser extent, the absence of another experienced scorer. They were all magnified by St. John’s which handed the Huskies their stiffest challenge since last year’s Final Four.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Megan Walker and Christyn Williams put UConn up eight with 3:58 left. Collier followed with a jumper that gave the Huskies their largest lead of the night at 63-53.
Until that point, the Huskies — who routed Mississippi 90-50 a night earlier — had struggled to gain any separation. Their lead was just 27-25 at halftime. And after three quarters, they were tied.
“When you score points easily like we [normally] do, you start to think, well, they’re all going to be easy,” Auriemma said. “So, it was perfect for us to have a game like this, perfect. We played three games before tonight and they were all 40-point wins. What do you learn in those games? You have to learn how to win close games.”
Ultimately, the Huskies improved to 8-0 all-time at the Paradise Jam. They will look to finish their trip a perfect 3-0 when they face Purdue on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
“We were just continuing to try to battle,” St. John’s head coach Joe Tartamella said. “There’s a reason why they’re No. 2 in the country and there’s a reason why they have great players and why they have a Hall of Fame and possibly the best coach of all-time. … These kids played their (butts) off tonight.”
Tired legs: Four starters played at least 39 minutes and three played the entire game. Auriemma knows those minutes will take a toll on the Huskies heading into Friday, but he’s not out to make excuses for them.
“It’s easy to play games when you’re 100 percent and you’re feeling great and everything’s going your way,” he said. “Tomorrow, we have to come back in 24 hours and play against another really good, physical team. … We’re going to be a little bit tired, but it’s why you practice.”
Camara contributes: Former Kentucky transfer Batouly Camara played her most valuable minutes of the season, recording a rebound and steal in five minutes in the second half.
“That was the feeling,” Auriemma said, [that] we need somebody in there that’s not going to be afraid to knock some bodies around.”