The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Collier takes her game to another level
Doug Bonjour’s Takeaways
UNCASVILLE — The UConn women are American Athletic Conference champions.
Again.
The Huskies took care of UCF 66-45 Monday before a pro-UConn crowd of 6,001 at Mohegan Sun Arena to win their sixth AAC title in six years.
Forward Napheesa Collier led UConn with 25 points and 14 rebounds, winning the tournament Most Outstanding Player award.
The Huskies will now gear up for the NCAA Tournament, where they’ll be in search of a record 12th national title.
Here’s five takeaways from the AAC Tournament:
Collier rises to another level: It didn’t matter that she faced more pressure — literally and figuratively — without Katie Lou Samuelson on the floor. Napheesa Collier still did what transcendent players do. She put her team on her back, calmly guiding the Huskies to their sixth American Athletic Conference title in six years on her way to the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honors.
“Pheesa doesn’t go into any big game going, ‘I hope I’m good enough for this moment,’ ” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “She knows she’s good enough because she prepares every day for that moment.”
Cool and collected, Col- lier was ready. She put forth the type of performance — 85 points and 39 rebounds over three games — that will only strengthen her case for national player of the year.
“She really took control and made everyone feel on our team like we had it in the bag if something were to go wrong,” Samuelson said.
⏩ A ‘big’ step forward: Auriemma didn’t need to look far to find the post presence the Huskies have
been lacking. Olivia Nelson-Ododa had a strong three-game cameo in the starting lineup, averaging 10.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks over 30.3 minutes.
Samuelson (back spasms) is expected to return for the NCAA Tournament, meaning NelsonOdoda will likely shift back to the bench. The 6-foot-5 freshman has demonstrated lately, though, that she can still play an important role.
Even when Nelson-Ododa’s not blocking shots, she’s altering them. East Carolina, South Florida and UCF learned that the hard way.
“Each person’s got to be ready for their moment,” Samuelson said. “We called on Liv to step up in that starting spot.”
⏩ Walking the walk: Megan Walker had missed 11 straight 3-pointers before going 4-for-7 in a 24-point performance against USF. Though she didn’t shoot particularly well in the final — nine points on 3-of-12 from the floor — Walker left the tournament feeling like she learned something valuable.
“I’ve still got it,” she said, smiling. “I can be aggressive. I can be that scoring threat.”
Walker’s confidence isn’t just a good sign for the Huskies, it’s a great sign as they move deeper into March. Remember, Walker was mostly a non-factor in her first NCAA Tournament — she didn’t log a single minute in the Final Four — because her confidence was on empty.
⏩ Simply dominant: The numbers are almost unfathomable. The Huskies are 120-0 against AAC opponents since the league began in 2013-14. Those wins have come by an average of more than 40 points.
Even though they were without Samuelson — their second-leading scorer (18.9) and best perimeter shooter — the Huskies won with relative ease. Consider this: They didn’t trail a single second.
⏩ Familiar road: They won’t know their fate until Selection Monday, but the Huskies — 31-2, ranked No. 2 in the AP poll and No. 5 in the RPI — should feel pretty confident that they’ll be the No. 1 seed in the Albany (N.Y.) Regional. Anything else would be a shock.