UCONN MAKES AAC CHAMPIONSHIP LOOK EASY
Samuelson’s record night carries Huskies to easy win over USF
UConn bench players, from left, Molly Bent, Crystal Dangerfield, Tierney Lawlor and Kyla Irwin celebrate a Katie Lou Samuelson threepointer against South Florida in the second half of American Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament championship game Monday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Huskies rolled to a 100-44 win behind Samuelson’s career-high 40 points.
Mohegan — An old basketball sage wondered why the UConn sports information department bothers putting together pregame notes for its women's basketball team.
"All they have to write is, 'millions and millions' served,'" the individual joked, referencing McDonald's signs.
The Huskies served up another beating Monday night in what was called the Ameri- can Athletic Conference tournament final, but was more like a mauling.
UConn was ridiculous with Most Outstanding Player Katie Lou Samuelson being the most ridiculous of them all. The sophomore made all 10 of her 3-pointers and scored a championship game record 40 points as top-seeded UConn overpowered No. 3 South Florida, 100-44, before 6,488 at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The top-ranked Huskies (320) started the game on a 12-0 run and led by as much as 100-37 with five minutes, 2 seconds left.
Remember, this was a conference championship.
"There's not much you can say," coach Geno Auriemma said. "You see something like that, the way that transpired, there's really no way to adequately describe it because it's just a feeling. We just had something going on that's hard to capture.
"We're the same team that shot 38 percent for long stretches (Sunday night)."
It was the 107th straight win for UConn. The Huskies have won all 82 of their games in four seasons in the AAC.
Senior Saniya Chong is the only player who's been around for a loss. One loss. That's it.
"I think about it sometimes and it just amazes me a lot," Chong said. "Anything can happen, and just to have one loss is pretty terrific."
Samuelson put on an all-time show for a program that's had many of them. She made 12 of her 14 shots and also had five assists and two steals.
"Mind-blowing," UConn junior Kia Nurse said with a laugh. "Lou just had a fantastic game, and that's something that we see out of her in practice. She knocks down a bunch of shots ... 10-of10 (on 3-pointers)? Out of this world. I'm extremely proud of her."
Here's how absurdly well Samuelson played — she had as many field goals at halftime as the Bulls (nine) and outscored them 29-23.
"I've never seen anything like that," South Florida junior Maria Jespersen said of Samuelson's performance.
Sophomore Napheesa Collier and junior Gabby Williams were both named to the all-tournament team for UConn. Collier had 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
"Napheesa does what Napheesa does," Auriemma said. "She didn't get many shots because Lou shot it every time she got it."
Williams had 12 points, six assists and four steals. Chong (11 points, five rebounds, four assists) and junior reserve Natalie Butler (10 points, 10 rebounds) gave the Huskies five scorers in double figures.
Freshman Dorottya Nagy had 15 points for the Bulls (24-8) and Kitija Laksa scored 13.
UConn pounced on South Florida from the tip. Collier made a layup 15 seconds into the game.
Samuelson made two free throws, two 3-pointers and added a steal as the Huskies went ahead, 12-0, with 6:17 left in the first quarter.
South Florida head coach Jose Fernandez called two timeouts during that run.
"(I) called three timeouts in the first quarter," Fernandez said.
Auriemma said, "The first three or four possessions set a tone for how we wanted it to go. They hardly made any mistakes at all defensively, and that kind of got everything going on the other end. For the most part this season, when Lou gets going early and makes some shots early, it just changes everything for our team because she just has the ability to blow games wide-open. And the confidence that we get from that just spills over into everyone else."
Collier ended the quarter with a 3-pointer to give UConn a 30-11 lead.
"Today, we definitely wanted to throw the first punch," Nurse said. "We came out and did exactly that and kept our foot on the pedal."
n.griffen@theday.com