The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Home cookin’
UConn blows past Cincinnati behind Samuelson’s 23 points, 10 rebounds
STORRS — Well, that was easy.
Another American Athletic Conference opponent showed up on UConn’s doorstep, this one as hopeless as the rest of them. Cincinnati didn’t stand much of a chance against the No. 3 team in the country Wednesday, not with how the Huskies came out shooting.
The Huskies didn’t miss early, and they didn’t miss late, either. For long stretches against Cincinnati, they executed their offense close to perfection. It added up to an 82-38 rout of the Bearcats at Gampel Pavilion.
“I thought we came out with a tremendous amount of energy,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “We made a couple adjustments the last couple days defensively, and I think it paid off. We had a really, really good first quarter.”
How good? Well, the Huskies, playing their first game on campus in almost two months before a crowd of 7,591, opened on a 17-0 run and hit 12 of their first 19 shots.
Cincinnati, meanwhile, missed its first seven attempts and never recovered. By the time the Bearcats (9-6, 1-1 AAC) finally got on the board, with 3:55 left in the first quarter, the game was long over. The Huskies were well on their way to their 103rd straight win in AAC play since the start of the 2013-14 season.
“You really appreciate playing at home more and more, especially this year,” senior Katie Lou Samuelson said. “I feel like we haven’t played here at all.”
The Huskies sank 12 3-pointers, five of those by Samuelson, who finished
with a team-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Crystal Dangerfield was also plenty involved, contributing 11 points and 10 assists.
It was an emphatic return home for the Huskies (13-1, 2-0), who looked refreshed and re-energized following a two-game swing through Texas. They suffered their first regularseason loss since 2014 during that trip, falling 68-57 at Baylor last Thursday.
“We were more aggressive defensively tonight than we have been in a while,” said Auriemma, whose team forced 20 turnovers. “And because the ball went in the basket, it allowed us to set up some things we wanted to work on.”
Staying aggressive has been a point of emphasis lately for the Huskies, particularly on the offensive end. After the Huskies shot only 29 percent at Baylor — their worst percentage in two decades — Auriemma said they had become too passive with the ball.
That wasn’t the case against Cincinnati. Freshman Christyn Williams stood out, scoring 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
“More aggressive offensively and defensively, yeah, (it’s) definitely a point of emphasis,” Williams said.
Added Dangerfield: “I think Coach had gotten onto her a bit the past few days. It was good to see that [aggressiveness], and she’s going to be able to continue that during conference time.”
With 15 first-half points, Williams nearly matched the Bearcats’ output over the first 20 minutes (19).
“Christyn’s going to be a typical freshman,” Auriemma said. “She’s going to have great spurts and she’s going to have spurts where she’s a freshman who’s not sure and tentative. I think the important thing is there wasn’t any hesitation at all in that whole first half. When she got the ball, she was pretty decisive in what she wanted to do.”
The Huskies jumped in front 30-8 after the first quarter and watched their lead continue to grow. Cincinnati trailed by 30 points at halftime and by as many as 47 in the second half, as the Huskies finished shooting 47 percent.
Antoinette Miller scored 16 points for the Bearcats, who dropped to 0-20 alltime against UConn.
⏩ Quarterbacking the offense: Though Dangerfield shot only 4-of-11 from the field, she was effective in other areas (10 assists and four steals). Auriemma praised her ability to distribute the ball from the point.
“She has a tough job,” Auriemma said. “If she comes down and makes a lot of shots, that means she is not passing the ball. I would rather see her create 20 points with 10 assists, probably more than 20 with a couple of 3s off her passes. I would rather her account for 30 to 35 points any which way, whether she is getting them or she is getting them for somebody else. I don’t ever worry when someone gets 10 assists and doesn’t score a lot.”
⏩ Welcome back: UConn legend Sue Bird received a warm ovation when she was introduced at halftime. Bird participated in a presentation honoring military veterans.