The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Stress on Senior Day
Samuelson leaves with injury as UConn beats Houston
STORRS — It was a day of celebration packed with undue stress.
UConn overcame some early jitters and a double-digit deficit to post its customary runaway win in American Athletic Conference play. The second-ranked team in the country didn’t come out unscathed, though, as one of its most indispensable players exited early on the day she was honored.
The Huskies motored past Houston 83-61 Saturday at soldout Gampel Pavilion, and they did so despite Katie Lou Samuelson having played only 17 minutes because of a back injury.
“Her, knowing how tough she is,” guard Crystal Dangerfield said, “I thought she was going to be able to stay in the game. But, seeing what time of the year it is, it was probably best for her (to stay out).” Samuelson and forward Napheesa Collier — two of the top five scorers in UConn history — were honored pregame for Senior Day. At halftime, Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo became the first Husky to have her number retired. All of this took place while NBA legend Kobe Bryant sat a few rows behind UConn’s bench.
The Huskies (27-2, 15-0 in AAC) managed to shove aside all distractions and leave with their resume intact. Collier — who was inducted along with Samuelson into the Huskies of Honor pregame — scored 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds. She played 34 minutes before checking out for the final time with 38 seconds left to a standing ovation from the crowd of 10,167.
“Everything that this program stands for, this is what you work for all your years here,” Collier said. “I’m so proud of Katie Lou and I for what we’ve been able to accomplish. It was definitely a day of celebration.”
Head coach Geno Auriemma credited the even-keeled Collier for not playing to her emotions. Collier was efficient as always,
shooting 10-of-14 from the floor (9-of-11 on free throws) to score 20 points or more for the 11th time in 13 games.
“The danger when you have days like this is someone tries to make it a career day,” Auriemma said. “You worry that they’re going to try to be more than a lot instead of just staying within themselves. Pheesa did what Pheesa does.”
The day took an unexpected turn for UConn’s other senior when Samuelson was hurt diving for a loose ball late in the first half. Samuelson returned after halftime but played only one minute and 22 seconds before gingerly walking back to the locker room holding her lower right back.
“Knee, elbow, shoulder, I don’t know what hit me,” said Samuelson, who described the injury as back spasms. “But, I got hit in a spot and right after that it tightened up.”
Samuelson finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
“I just wanted to give myself the opportunity to see if it would loosen up,” Samuelson said. “Senior Day, I wanted to play. Clearly, I wanted to be out there; it was a tough game. I always want to be out there.”
Auriemma said the team will wait to see how Samuelson feels Sunday morning before deciding whether she’ll travel to Tampa for the regular-season finale — Monday at South Florida (7 p.m.).
“If she’s good to go and can sit on a plane for a couple hours, then she’ll come,” Auriemma said. “If they tell me that she can’t, she won’t. So, we’ll know tomorrow.”
Dangerfield contributed 19 points, eight assists and three steals for UConn. Angela Harris, Octavia Barnes and Dorian Branch each scored 14 points to lead Houston.
Houston (15-13, 9-6 AAC) got out to a 17-7 lead and remained in front after the first quarter, 23-22. The Huskies took control in the second and led 40-30 at halftime.
“It’s good that we have to earn wins,” Auriemma said. “That’s good for us. It’s way better than just rolling in and the game’s over at halftime.”