The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Huskies measure up, take down S. Carolina
HARTFORD — It was another statement game, another golden opportunity for the UConn women to measure themselves against a fellow national championship-caliber program before the grind of March.
The Huskies had received a few other opportunities like this of late, losing to Baylor and Louisville, the top two-ranked teams in the country. But unlike those tests, this one just happened to be in the comforts of the Huskies’ home building.
And the Huskies made the most of it.
Fourth-ranked UConn rose to the occasion in its top-15 matchup Monday night, dialing up the intensity in the second half to beat No. 11 South Carolina 97-79 at the XL Center.
The Huskies took their game to another level in the second half, outscoring the Gamecocks 53-36 to put their stamp on another marquee win. They picked apart the Gamecocks in transition and sank of flurry of open shots, finishing 57 percent from the floor.
Napheesa Collier paced the Huskies with a season-high 31 points and 16 rebounds, notching her 13th double-double of the season. The senior forward was a calming presence for the Huskies amid a turbulent start, scoring 10 points in the first quarter.
South Carolina (17-6, 9-1 SEC) hit 10 of its first 11 shots and led by 10 points early. However, the
Huskies’ weathered the Gamecocks’ hot start, heading into halftime up 44-43.
Guard Katie Lou Samuelson scored 29 points, 19 of which came in the second half. Crystal Dangerfield added 10 points and four assists.
The win improved the Huskies to 22-2 (10-0 AAC) and gave the 11-time national champions another
statement win heading into the homestretch of the regular season. Despite beating defending national champion Notre Dame on the road in December, the Huskies landed in an unfamiliar spot in the first Top-16 “reveal” Monday: as a No. 2 seed in the Albany, N.Y., Regional.
Freshman Christyn Williams provided the Huskies a spark, scoring 13 of her 19 points after halftime. It tied her biggest outing since the victory over Notre Dame,
when she poured in a career-high 28.
Bianca Cuevas-Moore led South Carolina with 25 points. Te’a Cooper, the team’s leading scorer on the season, finished with 20 despite battling a leg injury during the second half.
UConn will return to American Athletic Conference play Sunday when it visits UCF for a 2 p.m. tip. ⏩ AWARD WATCH: Collier, Dangerfield and Samuelson were among the 30 players named to the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team, it was announced Monday. The Huskies were one of three schools with at least three nominees, joining Oregon and Notre Dame, which had five.
Dangerfield was also named one of 10 candidates for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which honors the nation’s best point guard.