UConn breezes past Creighton
Nelson-Ododa scores 24 points in only three quarters of work
STORRS — Olivia Nelson-Ododa is now 73 games into her UConn career, and Geno Auriemma still hasn’t entirely figured her out.
But he definitely understands her better than when she arrived.
“When Liv is calm, when she’s patient, and when she’s not getting caught up what happened the last play,” Auriemma said, “she can do a lot.”
That hasn’t always happened during her time in Storrs, but it did Thursday in third-ranked UConn’s 80-47 victory over Creighton at Gampel Pavilion.
Nelson-Ododa scored 24 points, three off her careerhigh, as the Huskies improved to 3-0. She finished a perfect 9-of-9 from the floor, all in three quarters.
“This year I’ve been put in a different position,” said
Nelson-Ododa, one of three juniors on a team without any seniors. “With that comes just a different mentality. I’m definitely trying to just slow down and be patient, especially on the offensive end.”
Nelson-Ododa was at her best in the third quarter. The 6-foot-5 center had 14 points during that stretch, hitting all six shots she attempted, including her first career 3-pointer.
“If she keeps this up, I’m going to have to call her one of the splash sisters,” Auriemma joked. “Liv is like a lot of our other shooters. In a four-minute shooting drill, Liv might make 10 straight 3s. You’d probably say, ‘nah,’ but she would. And then the next time we do that drill she’d go 0for-10. …
“She makes a lot of 15and 16-footers, no question, but if (she can become a more consistent 3-point shooter), that’d be great.”
Christyn Williams (15), Anna Makurat (12) and
Paige Bueckers (11) joined Nelson-Ododa in double figures.
UConn jumped out to an 8-0 lead, then held Creighton scoreless over an 8:47 span bridging midway through the first quarter to early in the second. The Huskies ripped off 23 straight points during that stretch before Dearica Prior put an end to it with a layup.
The Huskies led by as many as 27 in the first half
(36-9), overwhelming Creighton in nearly every facet. And yet Auriemma, meticulous in his ways, was not satisfied, calling the Huskies — up 36-12 at and shooting 44 percent, but 1-of-8 from 3 — the “Worst Shooting Team in America,” during a halftime interview on SNY.
He was a bit more mellow during his postgame Zoom conference, but still a bit miffed by the Huskies’ inconsistency from the perimeter.
“People don’t guard us on the 3-point line anymore,” said Auriemma, dripping with sarcasm. “They just beg us to shoot. I think last year we led the country in 3-point field goal percentage, and now they’re begging us to shoot.”
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis’ and Katie Lou Samuelson’s school shooting records, Auriemma also joked, are probably safe.
On the other end of the floor, UConn held Creighton to 30 percent shooting. The Bluejays (2-4) came in averaging 10 3s per game,
but were 0-for-11 in the first half and 7-of-29 overall behind the arc.
“We did a great job of taking those away,” Auriemma said. “And they missed a couple that were open, too, don’t get me wrong. When somebody misses a lot of 3s, it’s not because of what the defense does.”
The Huskies led 64-32 after three. Their largest lead on the night was 40.
Thursday marked the continuation of a busy season-opening stretch for the Huskies, their third game in six days. The Huskies play Saturday too, hosting Xavier, but Auriemma doesn’t mind. It’s a welcome break from the redundancy of practice, something the Huskies did for four months while waiting for the games to begin.
NOTES: One of three officials was removed at halftime out of caution due to possible exposure of COVID-19 from a game earlier this week, according to UConn. ... Freshman Nika Muhl did not play and wore a boot on her left foot, the same one that kept her out of practice during the preseason … Four Creighton starters played with masks … Former UConn star Stefanie Dolson introduced the Huskies’ starting lineup.