The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
No. 5 UConn no match for top-ranked South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. — UConn coach Geno Auriemma was afraid UConn would walk into Colonial Life Arena and be so overwhelmed by a bigger, tougher and overall better South Carolina team that his Huskies would get their (butts) kicked.
And that they did.
Top-ranked South Carolina out-muscled and outfinessed the No. 5 Huskies, beating them 70-52 behind a sellout crowd of 18,000.
“They wanted it more than us,” junior Megan Walker said
Just like a week earlier against Oregon, the Huskies (20-3) didn’t stand much of a chance. They scored only two points in the first quarter, trailed by 12 at halftime and finished with their lowest point total in eight years (49-34 win against Rutgers on March 4, 2012).
Afterward, Geno Auriemma’s frustration was difficult to mask.
“We’re allowed to lose a Goddamn game once in a while where the other team plays better than us. So how about you write that somewhere?,” the coach said to nobody in particular. “South Carolina played way better than Connecticut. That’s allowed to happen once in a while.”
Tyasha Harris had 19 points and handed out 11 assists. Zia Cooke scored 15, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan collected 10 and Aliyah Boston, a former UConn target, added 13 points and
12 rebounds for the Gamecocks, who improved to 23-1 on the season.
Meanwhile, Crystal Dangerfield did most of the heavy lifting for the Huskies, scoring 28 points. Megan Walker and Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored 10 points apiece while Christyn Williams and Anna Makurat combined to shoot 1-of-16.
“They were really adamant about not giving us the (3-pointers) that we normally get,” said Auriemma, whose team was just 4-of-17 from beyond the arc. “When we didn’t make any in the first quarter, it put us in a hole we couldn’t get out of.”
UConn whittled a 21point deficit to 54-43 with 9:55 left, but South Carolina thwarted the Huskies’ hopes by outscoring them 16-11 in the fourth. It was the Gamecocks’ first win in nine tries against UConn.
“Time couldn’t tick off quick enough,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said, laughing.
The Huskies’ awful start was too much to overcome. The teams were a combined 1-of-13 from the field before Boston gave South Carolina a 5-2 lead with her first 3-pointer of the season. The Huskies’ only basket during that stretch — and for the rest of the quarter — came on a fast-break layup by Walker.
“That first quarter, it just got a little too fast for us, it got sped up,” Auriemma said. “Some shots were maybe a little bit rushed, some things were a little bit forced, some were easy that didn’t go in, but defensively I thought they were really, really good. They put a tremendous amount of pressure on our perimeter game. I think they were obviously not that concerned with how much we would get inside.”
The Huskies shot only 1-of-16 and were outscored 11-2 in the first, marking their lowest point total ever for a quarter (six vs. Baylor on Jan. 9).
“They were being aggressive,” Dangerfield said. “They weren’t letting us complete the next pass. That’s normally what their game plan is, and we kind of fed into that.”
UConn heated up in the second, but so did South Carolina. The Gamecocks’ lead stretched to 16 on a jumper by Harris. At halftime, the Huskies trailed 35-23.
South Carolina went up by as many as 21 in the third before UConn showed signs of life. The Huskies used a 12-2 run to close the quarter down 54-41 thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Williams, the sophomore’s only field goal of the game.
The Huskies will look to rebound when they return to American Athletic Conference play Sunday (2 p.m.) at South Florida.
Cash is Hall bound: Another Husky is joining the Hall.
UConn alum Swin Cash will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility, it was announced Monday.
“It’s well deserved,” Auriemma said. “She deserves to be in that class. When you look at what she’s done over her career, there can’t be a lot of players that have accomplished as much as she has. If they have, they’re all in the Hall of Fame.”
In four years at UConn (1998-02), Cash won two national championships and was named an All-American in 2002. During her career, she scored 1,583 points and pulled down 910 rebounds. Cash is the sixth inductee with UConn ties, joining Auriemma, Chris Dailey, Rebecca Lobo, Jen Rizzotti and Kara Wolters.
Cash was selected second overall by the Detroit Shock in the 2002 WNBA Draft and went on to play 15 seasons, making four All-Star teams and winning two Olympic gold medals.
Cash is currently vice president of basketball operations and team development for the New Orleans Pelicans of the NBA. Notable: Crystal Dangerfield was named one of 10 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the nation’s top point guard. … This marks the first time since the 2004-05 season that UConn has lost multiple games by double digits.