UConn takeaways: Another double-double for Collier
The UConn women looked every bit like the No. 1 team in the country.
Playing their first game since moving back atop the Associated Press poll, the Huskies crushed St. Louis 98-42 Tuesday at Chaifetz Arena.
Five players scored in double-figures for the Huskies (8-0), who shot 52 percent and hit 12 3-pointers.
Here’s five takeaways on the victory:
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER WIN: There’s a reason — well, to be fair, there are many — why UConn has won a remarkable 123 straight regularseason games. The Huskies never take their foot off the gas. Letdown is not in their vocabulary. And they erased any doubts of one by putting St. Louis away in the first quarter.
The Huskies opened with a 15-2 run and led by 15 after one quarter. Unsurprisingly, that lead continued to grow — and grow and grow.
It would’ve been understandable for the Huskies, following an emotional win over Notre Dame, to sleepwalk into Chaifetz Arena. But the Huskies did anything but that, posting a comfortable wire-to-wire victory.
Collier’s night: Napheesa Collier said she didn’t play very well in her homecoming game, explaining that she was “fumbling the
ball a lot.” The tough selfassessment was typical of the senior forward, who is humble and reserved.
With more than 300 family and friends in attendance, the Jefferson City, Mo., native notched her fifth double-double of the season: 22 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes.
That doesn’t sound like a bad night.
Positive steps: Olivia Nelson-Ododa is nowhere near a finished product, and that’s fine. She doesn’t have to be.
What matters is that she is trending in the right direction. With sophomore Megan Walker out with a fever, Nelson-Ododa was given a larger role (24 minutes) and responded with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Geno Auriemma’s confidence in the freshman is continuing to grow.
Packed house: It made no difference that the home team had little to no chance of winning. Chaifetz Arena was buzzing anyways, with the third-largest crowd in the history of St. Louis’ program on hand to watch the behemoth that is UConn.
The Huskies are an attraction anywhere they go.
Consider this: The Billikens’ average attendance through their first four games was 506. On Tuesday, it was 7,105.
They weren’t perfect: OK, UConn didn’t do everything well. If anyone wants to nitpick, there’s this: UConn shot just 8-of-16 from the free-throw line. Carry on.