TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
- More of the same..."Stewie" and UConn dismantle Cards
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| photo by charlie springer. uoflcardgame.com |
Breanna "Stewie" Stewart had 22 points and 13 rebounds, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Moriah Jefferson shut down Shoni as the Huskies sled into town for a 68-48 win.
It was an energetic crowd. Maybe the loudest I've ever heard it for a WBB game...especially when the Cards jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes. You had to believe. You wondered how long the Cards could ride the Senior-night, emotion train.
About 10 minutes.
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| another charlie photo...shoni's only three of the night |
When the Cards cut it to 12 in the second half, a faint glimmer of hope arose again. The Huskies proceeded to hold the Cards scoreless for ten minutes and led 62-42 before Shoni made a layup with 2:19 left.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM MONDAY NIGHT:
1) Geno thinks the Cards are a #1 seed. When asked what he would think of the NCAA Selection Committee sending UConn to Louisville as a #1 seed, he responded:
"I would feel like they spent most of the night here in the bourbon bar drinking."
He thinks the Cards will be a #1 seed. Three losses to UConn should affect that.
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| Dallas Dick in the red hat. Yeah, I know. I'm not a photographer |
"I wasn't going to do anything fancy for this shoot, but people were calling me and telling me I would be on national TV a lot...so I cleaned up a little and did my braids."
Dallas, we can dig it. A pleasure meeting you.
3) Breanna Stewart is the best player in the nation. Louisville held her to seven first half points. Geno commented:
"In the first half, Louisville had some kind of triangle defense going and she was content to stand on the outside of it and watch the game. I suggested to her she move a little bit and she did That got her open, she got shots and they went in."
4) 47-30. That was the rebounding margin. Blocking out, going for the ball and contesting every missed shot. It's what the Huskies do. A 15-2 second chance margin. Speaks volumes.
5) Bob is cool, too. He was one of the officials last night with Dee Kanter and Cameron Inouye. He is an approachable sort of guy. I asked him during a time out if he was going to the ACC with the Cards. He grinned broadly and said he was already there waiting for us. I asked why he and his brother and son (all NCAA refs) didn't call the game. He laughed and said that would have been fun...then he looked at Dee and said..."But..." Keep whistling, Bob EnterlinePlenty of hoops to go. Shoni says UofL will beat UConn this season. They have one, maybe two more chances. But, maybe she needs to take Geno, Breanna, Mosqueda-Lewis to the bourbon bar and "keep 'em coming" to help that happen...
paulie
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Cardinals needed a near-perfect game and didn't get it, obviously. The lack of rebounding, especially on the defensive end, disappointed me. But the effort was there, the crowd was great and it was a terrific atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteNice to see Tia have a strong showing in her last home game. Pretty hard to expect a win, particularly versus UConn, when we score 17 points in the second half and don't really box out.
ReplyDeleteConnecticut has a hellava organization. Program, coaches, players, effort, hustle & discipline. Might be their best team ever, particularly when you consider their short bench and injuries.
All of that said, the NCAAs are one and done, so anything can happen. I'd rather lose last night and save whatever magic we can muster for the tourney. Nobody really cares that Notre Dame beat UConn three times last year and won the Big East. They remember the 18 point beat down that the Huskies laid on ND in the national semi-final and their ultimate championship.
We'll have to see what happens in the Tourney. This weekend will be a warm up.
Easier said than done... How many ranked teams has UConn beat? by how many points? They are a tall mobile squad that can go inside-out, I mean they just stand their taking the ball out of our hands with out jumping, one sequence where Breanna was over the back sprawling out to tap the ball out of our hands when really we should have had the rebound. Besides the rebounds, UL had the good looks, got the shots, but didn't fall, and UConn--they don't miss much. Well, onto the next... And I know that guy!! Dallas!!! lol ---U23
ReplyDeleteYeah...he had no idea who U23 or Umatilla 23 was...but still a friendly sort and hoping he got some great pics. WE all know I can't...
DeletePaulie
Effort was disheartening. When UConn went up 9 it felt like the team gave up and the energy exited the YUM! Out hustled all night for loose balls and out of position for rebounds.
ReplyDeleteI never felt that the team gave up. They hustled the whole way. If they gave up they would have gotten beat by 35 or 40.
DeleteYes, that UConn run in the first half did take a lot of the energy from the crowd, but the crowd didn't give up until maybe 6-7 minutes to go, when it was evident that the game was lost.
48 points? Wow.
ReplyDeleteYou misspelled Dee's last name, it's KantREFner. She needs to stop showboating and start paying attention to the game. It's about the players, not her.
DeleteShe must be calling the games evenly - with good or bad calls as UConn thinks she always calls against them.
DeleteOT:
ReplyDeleteRegarding the small scuffle at 7 min. I watched in frame by frame motion to spot what happened as I am tired of Geno screaming how rough and dirty UL is. The incident was after Tia made lay up and was fouled.
She turned to go forward slightly to her left to get to UL huddle which was forming and instead of letting her go forward Dolson moves herself all the way from 1/2way to the foul line to the base line and steps in and blocks Tia from moving forward by using her chest to push into Tia.
This is when Tia notices her movement is blocked and then tries to go to her right around Dolson when Dolson skoots to own her left in order to keep blocking Tia.
This is when Dolson puts left arm up as arm bar at around Tia's chin level while looking down at Tia. Tia is not intimidated as she puts her left arm up horizontally and then starts to walk towards her right just as she was doing before Dolson moved into her the 2nd time.
Dolson throws her arms up in the air and then flops to the ground as if the 7 inch taller and who knows how many pounds heavier Dolson has been shoved over by Tia.
So fake it was almost funny. This is when UConn # 4 decides to reach in as she went by and give Shoni's arm a shove.
This account seems to be supported by the non- action of the referees where after much review as there was no dead ball foul or technical called. Of course that was no shock that they could not call anything on Dolson or even a double technical as that would have been Dolson's 2nd foul.
Gibbs played her heart out. Dolson could be nominated for an Oscar based on the acting job. After each foul and turnover she gets this quizzical look on her face and approaches the ref with this..'what...you mean me?' demeanor. I'm pretty certain that in her time at UConn she's never committed a foul or created a turnover...each instance has been a bad whistle.
DeletePaulie
I will be extremely watchful during her 1st and I presume 2nd year in the WNBA. It is obvious that my thinking is running against the grain but I do not think she will do that well - unless a pro coach changes her role as currently I see her doing well due to height and practiced repetitive moves/passes or short lay up but question her pure natural athletic ability. I think she will be a bit slow for the WNBA and will need to find a new way of playing as i don't believe the WNBA referees are going to see her as a special person to protect as currently happens. Time will tell. I could be wrong as it does occasionally happen.
DeleteA review of any UConn game film shows multiple definite fouls and moving screens by Stephanie which are over looked. Her moving screen is a bit different as at times she backs around pushing the pick out of position before moving towards basket.
Does it quite often in games but rarely called. When I saw guys basketball addict friend after the game ( i had asked them. To check out her screens) one of their first comments was that I was right about how often Dolson commits moving screens.
We all love Shoni and she should be drafted somewhere in the first round by the WNBA but her game doesn't really fit the profile of historically successful W ballers. Won't go into it here but lots of her stats aren't strong relative to established benchmarks. I think the wild card for her is the potential strong WNBA fan draw in markets that already know her with teams like Seattle or Tulsa due to her Pacific Northwest and / or Native American fan base. I think she'll have a successful pro career but my bet is that it will more likely be overseas versus the WNBA.
DeleteI was a bit surprised after watching the CardTV senior videos that both Nita and Asia also want to continue playing after graduation too. Will be interesting to see how that works out for them. It looks like Tia is the only graduate of the four that is going to jump straight into the working world with her newly minted MBA.
Wishing the best for all of them whatever they decide to do.