The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Hot-shooting U Conn overwhelms Temple
Collier matches her season high with 30 points
STORRS — Crystal Dangerfield shook her head and glanced toward the floor in astonishment as she jogged her memory.
“Yeah, sophomore year she was unguardable,” Dangerfield said. “You’re kind of seeing that again.”
Napheesa Collier produced yet another dominant effort Saturday afternoon against Temple. The senior matched her season-high with 30 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and paced No. 5 UConn to a convincing 109-74 victory over Temple before a sellout crowd of 10,167 at Gampel Pavilion.
“I don’t know that there’s another player anywhere that when they come off the court, somebody would say, ‘Pheesa didn’t play well.’ They may say she didn’t shoot well, but they’ll never say, impossible, she didn’t play well,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “That just doesn’t happen, ever.”
Collier has been a model of consistency for the Huskies. The senior hit 12 of 16 shots along the way to her seventh straight 20-point game. She also notched her 12th double-double of the season.
“I feel really aggressive,” Collier said. “My mindset has changed where I’m being really aggressive and being more assertive. I’m just trying to go out there and do everything for my teammates.”
Dangerfield contributed 22 points and Katie Lou Samuelson scored 19, helping the Huskies collect their 111th straight American Athletic Conference win.
The Huskies — donning white uniforms with pink trimming as part of their Play4Kay Pink Game honoring breast cancer survivors — shot 62 percent,
including an eye-opening 15-of-24 from beyond the arc.
“It was awesome. It was a lot of fun,” Samuelson said. “It was a great game, a great cause. We’re always excited to play in front of our home crowd. Gampel gets so loud when everyone’s in here.”
The Owls (8-15, 4-6) were efficient from the floor early, shooting 44 percent and sinking eight 3s in the first half. Yet, they trailed 58-40 at the break. They simply couldn’t keep pace with the Huskies, who sank 21 of their first 31 attempts and surpassed 30 assists for the second straight game.
“A lot of shots that we were taking a couple weeks ago … that weren’t going in, I don’t know that they were that much different,” Auriemma said. “They’re going in now. All of a sudden, the points pile up. I think things are moving a little bit smoother.”
Collier’s effort got Auriemma thinking about her sophomore year, when Collier averaged 20.4 points and 9.1 rebounds and shot 67 percent, along the way to being named a First Team All-American. Auriemma labeled that “one of the all-time seasons” during his 34-year stint at UConn.
“She’s just about duplicating that,” he said. “I don’t know that there’s a better player anywhere that does as much every night,” Auriemma said. “I’m sure people have already made up their mind who the best player in the country is or who the National Player of the Year is, whatever, any of that.
“I just don’t know that there’s anyone that on every single night, (doing) all the things that Pheesa does.”
The well-rounded performance was an ideal way for Collier and the Huskies to gear up for their next big test, Monday against No. 12 South Carolina at the XL Center.
This much is certain: The Huskies are eager to add another Top-25 win to their ledger.
“We’re definitely going to have to come out with our best defensive game and take away the things … that they like to do,” Collier said. “We’re going to take it really seriously because if we don’t, we don’t want the same outcome that we had in a couple other games this year.”
From deep: Temple set a record for made 3-pointers against UConn, connecting on 14-of-34 attempts. Meanwhile, the Huskies hit a season-high 15 treys.
“We made more 3s today than we probably made in the month of January, I think,” Auriemma cracked. “It felt like it anyway.”
For the Owls: Sophomore Mia Davis, the AAC’s leading scorer (19.4), led the Owls with 20 points. Lena Niang scored 15.