#14/15 Texas (2-3) will go up against #2/2 UConn for the eighth time, still seeking their first win. The first game between the two programs was a heartbreaker for the Horns as they lost in the 2003 semifinals to the Diana Tausari led Huskies 71-69. That was an end to a magical season for the Horns. UConn has taken down the Horns in the NCAAs twice in the last two years, in the Sweet Sixteen in 2015 and the Elite Eight in 2016. This game Sunday marks the second two game series between the two teams since 2005. In 2017, the Huskies will be coming to Austin for the first time since 2006. UConn lost three starters to the WNBA. Texas lost three starters, one to the WNBA. Both teams are not where their coaches want them to be but are heading there. UConn has had fewer hiccups on that road than has Texas. UConn has beaten Florida State, Baylor and DePaul. Horns have stumbled against Stanford, Miss. State and South Carolina. Texas is in the middle of a very tough three game stretch: #3 South Carolina, #2 UConn and, next Sunday, current #22/25 Tennessee. UConn is in a similar tough stretch, having played #15/14 DePaul, #14/15 Texas tomorrow and #1 Norte Dame, RV/NR Kansas State and #9/10 Ohio State up next. Four of the five UConn starters are averaging in double figures. Katie Lou Samuelson (# 33, 6-3 Soph. G/F) leads the way at 20.9 ppg. Napheesa Collier (#24, 6-1 Soph. F) is second at 18.2 ppg. Canadian Olympian Kia Nurse (# 11, 6-0 Jr. G) is next with 13.7 ppg. Gabby Williams (# 15, 5-11 Jr. F) is the fourth Huskie in double figures at 10.2 ppg. As expected, those four are the primary shooters with Samuelson taking the most shots (82) and Collier having made the most FGs (46). Collier has the best FG% at 66.7% with Williams at 55.3% on 26 of 47. Samuelson is just below at 48.8%. Molly Bend (# 10, 5-9 Fr. G) has hit 3 of 4 treys for 75%. Samuelson (21-41; 51.2%) and Nurse (14-34; 41.2%) are the primary shooters from BTA although Crystal Dangerfield (# 5, 5-5 Fr. G) is also a threat from BTA at 40.0% (6-15). Samuelson (21-25; 84.0%), Collier (14-18; 77.8%) and Nurse (18-20; 90.0%) have taken 63 of the Huskies 104 FTs. Collier (7.0 rpg), Natalie Butler (# 51, 6-5 RS Jr.; 5.7 rpg) and Samuelson (5.2 rpg) are the big three on the boards. We talk about making that extra pass to get a teammate an easier shot. UConn has six players who have made at least 11 assists so far. Nurse has 27; Williams 26; Samuelson, Dangerfield and Saniya Chong (# 12, 5-8 Sr. G) all have 19 assists with Collier totaling 11. Collier is the leading shot blocker at 11 with Butler adding six. Of the ten players on the roster, nine have at least one steal, with Williams at 10. Samuelson has nine and Collier has eight. UConn has twelve players on their roster although two are currently redshirting after transferring in after last season: Batouly Camera (# 32, 6-2 RS Soph.) transferred in from Kentucky while Azurá Stevens (# 23, 6-6 RS Jr. F/G) comes in from Duke. Of the ten who are active this season, Nurse, Williams, Collier, Chong and Samuelson are the starters. The main reserves are Dangerfield, Butler and Bend. Kyla Irwin (# 25, 6-2 Fr. F) and Tierney Lawlor (# 20, 5-7 Sr. G) have seen action in five and four games, respectively, averaging 9 mpg (Irvin) and 4.3 mpg (Lawlor). UConn relies heavily on juniors Samuelson (31.2 mpg) and Nurse (32.8 mpg) along with soph. Collier (30.2 mpg). Chong and Dangerfield split the PG position and minutes pretty evenly with Chong averaging g23.2 mpg and Dangerfield 24.0 mpg. Butler (17.2 mpg) comes in to provide relief for the starting posts, primarily Williams (24.8 mpg). Bent averages 10.3 mpg as a backcourt reserve. Horns bring three players averaging in double figure scoring to this game: Brooke leada at 14.4 ppg. Ariel is second at 13.6 ppg. Joyner is the third at 11.4 ppg. Those three have taken almost half of the FGs that Texas has taken. They have split those shots almost evenly with Brooke at 58 attempts, Ariel at 54 and Joyner taking 53 shots. Brooke is hitting 48.3% (28-58) while Ariel is at 48.1% (26-54). Joyner is making 43.4% (23-53) from the field. Four others are hitting over 50% as the Horns are connecting on 45.3% from the field as a team. Brooke (24) and Ariel (14) have taken 38 of the Horns’ 68 treys. They have connected on 14 of the 24 made 3s the team has. Brooke has ten and Ariel four 3s. Brianna (2-7) and Audrey-Ann (2-6) present other threats from BTA. Joyner has had the most FT attempts with 18 but has only connected on 10 for 55.6%. Ariel with 12 made FTs has the most. She is making 80.0% of her FTs (15 attempts). Brianna is the only other Longhorn to reach double digit FT attempts, making 4-10. Kelsey leads the team with 6.0 rpg while scoring at a 8.2 ppg clip. Joyner is second with 5.6 ppg. Brianna (4.8 rpg) and Audrey-Ann (4.2 rpg) provide strong support on the boards. Three Horns have reached double digits in assists: Brooke (18) and LaShann 12 each. Biranna adds nine assists, Joyner eight and Kelsey seven. Kelsey has nine blocks to reach 120 for her career. Audrey-Ann is second with six blocks. Ariel has 13 steals while Brianna has eight. Brooke is the only player to average more than 25 mpg. She is at 31.6 mpg. Ariel (25.0 mpg), Joyner (22.8 mpg), Brianna (21.6 mpg) and Kelsey (21.0 mpg) have started the last two games along with Brooke. Audrey-Ann puts in 17.4 mpg. LaShann averages 16.4 mpg. Jada is at 12.3 mpg. Tasia gets an average of 12.0 mpg while Jordan is at an even ten mpg. Alecia and Khaléann are coming of injuries and not playing many minutes. Jada sat out the last game due to an injury. Not sure if she will be cleared to play. It really would be nice to see all three get some minutes against the Huskies. Projected starters based on the last game: Texas_______________UConn Joyner (6-3)________ Williams (5-11) Ariel (5-11)_________ Collier (6-1) Kelsey (6-5)_______ Samuelson (6-3) Brianna (5-9)______ Nurse (6-0) Brooke (5-4)_______Chong (5-8) Butler is the tallest Huskie on the court for UConn. She comes off the bench as UConn starts Williams (5-11) and Collier (6-1) inside. Samuelson will slide inside at times but plays primarily on the perimeter on offense. Horns will enjoy a significant height advantage inside while UConn will have a similar advantage on the perimeter. Kelsey’s aggressive play scoring, rebounding and defensively will play a big part if the Horns are to take advantage inside. Expect Ariel to guard Samuelson when she is playing outside. Her height will allow to shoot over Ariel but, if she matches up with Ariel defensively, she will have trouble with Ariel’s quickness. Brooke will match up with Chong and Dangerfield. Both will present different challenges. Dangerfield was able to slash through the Baylor defense to get to the basket or find open teammates with ease. Brooke will need to pressure her. For Texas, the X-factor will be how much improvement Joyner shows. She has continued to get better from game to game. Does two days allow her to take another step forward? Collier may be the best matchup UConn defensively to put on Joyner. Team Stats______________________Texas (2-3)_________UConn (6-0) Scoring__________________________378_________________495 PPG_____________________________75.6_________________82.5 Scoring Margin_________________+13.4_________________+25.2 FGs Made-Att___________________150-331______________183-361 FG Ave/Game Made-Att_________30.0-66.2___________30.5-60.5 FG%____________________________45.3_________________50.7% 2pt Made-Att___________________126-262_______________132-244 2pt FGs Ave/Game Made-Att___25.2-52.4___________22.0-40.7 2pt FG%________________________48.1_________________54.1% 3p FGs Made-Att______________24-69_________________51-117 3pt Ave/Game Made-Att_______4.8-13.8______________8.5-19.5 3pt FG%_______________________34.8__________________43.6% FTs Made-Att__________________54-85_________________78-104 FT Ave/Game Made-Att________10.8-17.0___________13.0-17.3 FT %___________________________63.5__________________75.0% Rebounds_____________________208____________________241 RPG___________________________41.5___________________40.2 Reb Margin___________________+13.4__________________+5.2 Assists________________________75_____________________129 APG___________________________15.0__________________21.5 Turnovers_____________________78____________________85 TOPG_________________________15.6___________________14.2 TO Margin____________________+3.2___________________+1.8 A/TO Ratio____________________1.0____________________1.5 Steals_________________________40_____________________49 SPG___________________________8.0___________________8.2 Blocks_________________________29____________________24 BPG___________________________5.8___________________4.0 Winning Streak_______________-0-______________________6 Home Win Streak_____________-0-_____________________4 Home Attendance____________12464__________________28298 Attendance Ave/Game________3-4155________________7074 Score by quarters (ave)______1st______2nd_____3rd _____4th______Total Texas (2-3)____________________19.8____17.8_____21.6_____16.4_____75.6 UConn (6-0)___________________22.2____20.3_____21.0_____19.0_____82.5 UConn has been more efficient in scoring than Texas so far. Horns are taking more shots overall and from inside the 3pt arc but the Huskies are hitting a higher percentage from the field, two pts FGs, 3pters and FTs. The most noticeable is from BTA where the Huskies average 8.5 3pters on 43.6% shooting while Texas is averaging 4.8 treys on 34.8%. Ball movement is another area where UConn excels. 21.5 assists on 30.5 made FGs a game is truly outstanding. Texas will need to assert themselves inside offensively and on the boards while their defense will need to deny that extra pass. What the Horns do have to do is not put UConn on the FT line. The Huskies make their FTs. Most importantly, it puts important players for Texas on the bench. Eight to nine players will be the rotation for UConn. For the Horns, those top eight to nine players need to be able to play, not be sitting with foul trouble. Should be a great game. With the continued improvement Texas has shown after every game, they have a shot at pulling off the upset. The game will be Sunday at 3 PM and will be carried on ESPN and online on WatchESPN. Radio will be 104.9 FM. From the UConn website: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/120316aaa.html Texassports.com pregame story: http://www.texassports.com/news/2016/12/3/no-14-womens-basketball-preview-no-2-uconn-dec-4-2016.aspx Carl Adamec UConn blog: https://www.sny.tv/uconn/news/uconn-takes-on-texas-in-jimmy-v-classic/210171196 Hartford Courant post DePaul & pre Texas interview with UConn coach Auriemma: http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-womens-basketball/hc-uconn-women-basketball-1204-20161203-story.html AAS pregame story by Rick Cantu: http://www.hookem.com/story/latest-litmus-test-texas-women-mighty-uconn-thats/
another story on the game from the New Haven Register: http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20161203/uconn-women-set-to-welcome-no-14-texas-in-jimmy-v-classic
51-42 Duke over S. Carolina with less than two minutes left in the 3rd. Wilson getting no help from her teammates.
well, we figured this would be a good, close game. So far, it is. But I think the refs took a basket away from Alecia. Nurse had her hell on the line. Should have been and one, not a foul on Alecia.
don't think it will happen. It's UConn, you know. If they lose, it's because they beat themselves, if they play badly, it's cuz they are not executing the offense/defense the way they were taught. Nothing to do with their opponent.
I usually love Kara Lawson, but it's like she didn't do her homework on Texas as she has nothing to add when we should hear some "color" from her, but she's got plenty for uconn
It's a turning out to be a good game, we need to make adjustments at the half, btw don't like the timeout system
we need to at least hit our normal percentage from BTA to have a chance. And we got to get some pressure on them. Looks like they are taking shooting practice from BTA.
Texas could really be a good team, if we cut down on our mistake's.Some of those's player's coming off the bench.Need to stay on the bench. Foman look scared as hell.
