The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Nelson-Ododa plays better than she practices
HARTFORD — Olivia Nelson-Ododa has played only 26 games at UConn, yet the freshman forward already has something in common with former national player of the year Kara Wolters.
She plays better than she practices.
“Olivia’s just an odd duck, man,” coach Geno Auriemma said Wednesday following No. 3 UConn’s 102-45 takedown of Memphis at the XL Center. “She plays way better in games than she does in practice. I guess I’ve got to come to grips with that. I’ve got to live with that. Kara did that once.”
As Nelson-Ododa’s playing time has increased of late, so too has her production. Nelson-Ododa logged 21 minutes off the bench against Memphis — matching her total from Sunday’s win over UCF — and contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
For the 6-foot-5 NelsonOdoda, whose first collegiate season has been riddled by inconsistency, Wednesday’s performance certainly represented more progress.
“We just need her to keep doing what she’s been doing, keep progressing,” forward Napheesa Collier said. “She can be such a force inside. She’s so tall. She’s really good at blocking.”
While the raw talent and athleticism are unmistakable — she did, after all, dunk a few times in high school — Nelson-Ododa has struggled to acclimate herself to the daily grind of the college game. Apparently, that includes practice.
“The adjustment has definitely not been easy, especially from high school,” she said. “I’ve never in my life worked this hard before. And so, it’s something that I’m going to continue just to work on.”
⏩ It’s better to be lucky: It takes more than just dedication, drive and talent to start 100 games in a row. As Collier will readily admit, a little bit of luck is needed as well.
Collier became only the fifth Husky to accomplish the feat Wednesday, joining Renee Montgomery (140), Jennifer Rizzotti (135), Kelly Faris (115) and Jamelle Elliott (106).
“That’s awesome. That’s something that, it’s pretty impressive,” the team’s other senior, Katie Lou Samuelson, joked. “She’s had her fair share of stuff that she’s had to play through and things like that. But for her to just continuously push through things and always be ready to go, it’s been helpful because we needed her for those 100 games.”
Samuelson will go down as one of the most productive players in UConn history. The California product, who came in with the reputation of being just a shooter, is just nine rebounds away from 600 for her career, to go along with 2,220 points and 419 assists.
Yet for all she’s accomplished, Samuelson, who has started 132 games at UConn (45 straight), is envious of her classmate in one regard.
“I hang around with her plenty. I wish that (luck) would’ve rubbed off,” Samuelson joked.
Added Auriemma, shortly after tapping a table for fear of jinxing himself: “Knock on wood, she spends no time in the training room. She just shows up and plays.”
⏩ Under the weather: Christyn Williams was held to five points over 16 minutes — her second-shortest stint of the season.
“She needed to come out in the first half,” Auriemma said. “She said she needed to come out. … The second half, I saw something and I thought, ‘Ah, forget it.’ ”
It was later learned that Williams was battling a head cold.