Walker, Williams adjusting to spotlight
HARTFORD — Megan Walker has taken over as UConn’s No. 1 scorer. Now, she’s being guarded like one.
Faceguarding, double and sometimes triple teams — you name it and she’s seen it at some point this season.
“I’m having more pressure on me, more faceguarding, but I’m finding new ways to score. I’m backcutting a lot,” said Walker, whose 21.5 points per game leads the unbeaten and topranked Huskies.
Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson were both elite scorers, and defenders swarmed in their direction. But with neither on the floor this year, players like Walker and Christyn Williams have had to work that much harder to get open. Naturally, it’s been an adjustment.
“What it’s taken a long time for them to understand is you know who’s guarding you now?” UConn coach Geno Auriemma asked rhetorically. “All the guys who used to guard our really good players. There’s a reason why you were wideopen a lot last year. Two guys were guarding Pheesa and one and a half guys were guarding Lou.”
Walker is the Husky who has best handled the increased defensive attention, raising her game to a level beyond what most opponents can counter. Her scoring is in line with the best players in the country, and she’s more efficient than ever. In addition to shooting a careerhigh 47.9 percent from the floor, including 49 percent from beyond the arc, she’s nearly doubled her assist average from her sophomore season
(1.9 to 3.5).
Meanwhile, the transition has been bumpier at times for Williams. Even though she’s second on her team in scoring, averaging 15.8 points, her shots aren’t falling as frequently as they did last year. That’s been a source of frustration for the sophomore guard, who like Walker, has been guarded more aggressively.
“It’s going to be harder at times, and I know that,” said Williams, who’s shooting only 28.9 percent from 3point range, but 49 percent overall. “It’s just a matter of figuring out how to get through it. … Last year, I hit a wall and I got through it.”
Williams is hoping that her clutch effort in UConn’s most recent win will carry over into Sunday’s game at SMU (4 p.m.) and beyond. On Thursday against Wichita State, she contributed 19 points — including seven straight in the fourth quarter after Walker fouled out — eight rebounds and six assists to propel the Huskies (110) to an 8355 victory in Hartford.
“Coming in off a good freshman year like she did, teams are going to start to figure her out, start to know what she does,” Walker said. “You’ve just got to keep moving in the right direction like she is, figuring out different ways to score, improving on her rebounding, making different passes — just evolving as a player.”
Walker should know. Like Williams and even Crystal Dangerfield, the point guard who has logged more games (113) at UConn than any of her teammates, Walker continues to look for new ways to make an impact.
“You can’t just keep doing the same stuff we did last year,” Auriemma said in regard to players handling more pressure defensively. “It’s taken a while for them to go, ‘Jesus, this isn’t as easy this year to get open as it was last year.’ That’s a good learning experience.”