A painful end for 2 greats
TAMPA, Fla. — When it was over — after Muffet McGraw, dressed in a leopard-print skirt and ruby-red shoes, had done an Irish jig on UConn’s 2018-19 season — Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier were left to process another Final Four game that had slipped away.
And a pain that wouldn’t leave. Not yet, anyway. One morning, sooner than later, or later than sooner, they will wake up and the pain will not be there. But not this morning. And not tomorrow morning.
It’s remarkable to think about, really. The two completed the long journey of their UConn career Friday night in Tampa with only five losses. That’s right. Five losses over four years. Five lousy losses against 145 wins. Five losses and four remarkable trips to the Final Four.
And one national championship — their freshman year when Breanna Stewart completed the greatest run in women’s college basketball history with a sweep of four NCAA titles.
Yet this national semifinal game, this unsavory 81-76 loss to Notre Dame, would end the same way the previous two had for Samuelson and Collier and Geno Auriemma and his Huskies.
Morgan William’s buzzer-beater in Dallas had lifted Mississippi State over UConn in the 2017 Final Four.
Arike Ogunbowale’s buzzerbeater in Columbus had lifted Notre Dame over UConn in the 2018 Final Four.
Those two knockout shots were stunning, the stuff of Final Four legend.
This night was different. There was no overtime like the previous two. Yes, UConn had frittered away an eightpoint lead with 6:49 left in Columbus, but the Huskies somehow erased a five-point Notre Dame lead in the final 21 seconds to push the game into overtime.
This night was different and it looked worse. The Huskies outscored Notre Dame 10-3 to open the fourth quarter and charged to a nine-point lead with just over seven and a half minutes left. Samuelson couldn’t hit anything in the first half and now she couldn’t miss. McGraw called a timeout and UConn scored again. In the greatest rivalry in the women’s game, on a night that featured 26 lead changes, UConn was ready to push to a 12th national final.
“Up nine in the fourth quarter is a good position to be in,” Collier said. “We did feel confident in that moment.
“When Lou gets in the zone, it’s hard to stop her. It’s amazing to watch.”
“We felt confident, as we should be, in ourselves,” Samuelson said. “We also knew that they make big plays.”
Samuelson, 0-for-5 in the first half, had rattled off 15 of her 20 points in the third quarter. Yet here was Ogunbowale answering with 14 of her gamehigh 23 points in the fourth quarter. Of course, Arike did. Mamba. No mystery, Auriemma said, down the stretch he knew they’d go to her to go one-on-one. She’s a nightmare. Auriemma also knew they’d throw the ball into the post to whoever Megan Walker was guarding because of a huge mismatch.
Notre Dame is nearly impossible to trap, too. The Irish find the open player in transition for layups and 3s. UConn tried zone. UConn tried man-to-man. The Irish kept coming. Yes, Notre Dame makes big plays.
“When they were down nine, they could have missed the next five shots, we would have gone up 17, but they didn’t,” Auriemma said. “Why? Because they’re defending national champions, they have five All-Americans who are really, really good. I remember being in that situation a couple times.
“It’s not complicated … They were better than us when the season started and they were better than us tonight.”
Still, the ending was painful to watch. After doing everything right in the second half, driving McGraw nuts with 3 after 3, Samuelson blew an open layup with 4:39 left.
“I just missed it,” Samuelson said. Less than a minute later she turned the ball over.
“They made big plays when they needed and we didn’t,” Samuelson said. “It happens so quickly sometimes you don’t even realize it’s happening.”
The last gasp would come with 49 seconds left. Notre Dame was up, 7673, but Collier had the ball inside and nobody in college basketball was any better around the hoop this season than Pheesa. The Huskies were going to cut it to one and — bam —Brianna Turner swatted away the dream with her fifth block.
“I thought I could get the ball up before she got there, but she’s a shotblocker,” Collier said. “I should have pump-faked.”
And so the night and the careers of two great UConn players would end with a string of free throws and McGraw doing a celebratory jig on the Amalie Arena floor. UConn is 37-13 all-time against Notre Dame, but McGraw has won five of eight meetings against Auriemma in the Final Four.
“Losing a game is part of life,” Auriemma said. “You lose. You get beat. But there’s always tomorrow. There’s always another game. There’s always another season to get ready for. The thing that stings the most in your locker room, if you’ve played, is you look around and there’s some people that aren’t going to be back next year. That hurts way more than the loss. When you realize that two people that you’ve shared so much with are not going to be around anymore.
“It’s not apparent until after they’re gone, how much they did for you, how much they contributed to your success, how much you’re going to miss their presence every single day, on the court, off the court. It’s especially true with these two because for such a young team that we have, such inexperience in a lot of ways, those two really had a huge burden to carry all year long.”
Yes, Christyn Williams and Megan Walker are real talents, but this year’s team was not deep and it was young. Collier and Samuelson led the Huskies through losses at Baylor and Louisville, helped the teammates figure out roles, figure out lots of stuff.
“We definitely had to step out of our comfort zone, especially me,” Collier said. “I like to lead by example, but I know being more vocal was what my teammates needed. Someone that everyone looked up to. We really embraced the role. I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
“There was a point in this season where could have easily not made it to the Final Four,” Samuelson said. “There were times when we didn’t know what we’d get from people. We worked hard to put ourselves in that position. That part is amazing.”
Yes, their eyes were ringed red, but Collier and Samuelson would keep their poise during postgame interviews. Younger players like Crystal Dangerfield were really hurting. The seniors’ reflection, Collier said, would start when the microphones and tape recorders left.
“There’s not much left for us to do but to think about the game,” Collier said. “Lou’s one of my best friends. To go through this experience with her has been amazing.”
“You saw us at times today where we looked like the best team in the country,” Auriemma said. “Then you saw us at times where it was a real, real struggle for us. Those two, they bore the burden of that every single day, every single game. I can’t be more proud of those two.”
And with that, Muffet danced.