A look back at the WBCA Classic:
UConn 91, Hofstra 46
UConn 86, Richmond 37
UConn 87, Clemson 48
TURNING POINT – How about the opening tap? The Huskies were not tested. Although, they did trail for a total of 2:39 Sunday against Clemson. That was a first for the season. UConn, who has often looked as good as last season’s unbeaten team, won the three games by an average of 44.3 points. The Huskies shot 56.3 percent from the field, including 40.0 percent from 3-point range. They also had a plus-17.4 rebounding advantage and forced 26.3 turnovers.
UNSUNG HERO – Kalana Greene had a career-high 28 points (9-of-12 FG), eight rebounds and four steals against Clemson to lock up a spot on the all-tournament team. She averaged 15.3 points on 70.8 percent shooting, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 22.3 minutes in the three games.
BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ – The Huskies showed tremendous versatility offensively over the final two games. With Richmond forcing them to shoot from the perimeter Saturday, they made 13 3-pointers, including a team record 10 in the first half. Against Clemson, UConn missed its first nine 3-point attempts and finished 2-for-15. Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes were each 0-for-5. However, the Huskies pounded the ball inside against the Tigers to tune of scoring 62 points in the paint.
“(Saturday) we made 10 (3-pointers) in the first half,’’ Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said. “(Sunday) we showed our versatility by missing the first (nine) and then we decided we might as well just keep throwing it inside. So, yeah, we’re pretty versatile. When we’re making them we keep shooting them, and when we’re not we throw it to Tina. But that’s what’s going to happen. Shooting’s kind of funny. Some days they all go in and some days they don’t. And that’s why you’ve got to have a consistent style of play that gets you some transition buckets, gets you some free throws, gets you some post-ups. So you’re not just a throw it around the perimeter and shoot 3s kind of team. Some nights it’s good to be like that, but I don’t know that you would go anywhere just living on that exclusively.’’
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS – The tournament drew 25,756, which was not too bad considering it was Thanksgiving weekend and the student did not return to campus until Sunday. Former UConn All-American Sue Bird and UConn-bound recruit Bria Hartley were on hand Friday when Auriemma became the fastest coach to reach 700 wins. UConn recruit Betnijah Laney was in the house Sunday. So was Naugatuck resident Mike Carson, a 19 year old UConn student. He won $1,000 by making a layup, a foul shot, a 3-pointer and a half-court shot in 30 seconds.
LOOKING AHEAD – The Huskies have the day off today. They will host Vermont Thursday at Gampel Pavilion at 7:30. It’s a rematch of last season’s first-round NCAA tournament game, which UConn won 104-65 at the same venue March 22.
The Catamounts (4-0) are led by seniors Courtnay Pilypaitis (21.0 ppg) and May Kotsopoulos (20.3). They have not played since defeating Dartmouth last Wednesday.
“It’s good Thursday because we’re playing a really good team I think, better than most think,’’ Auriemma said. “People around the country will say, `Who’s Vermont?’ They beat BC. They beat NC State. When we saw them play last year, I was really impressed with them. We played them here. Now they’re all seniors. I am really looking forward to that game Thursday night. That should be a lot of fun.’’
BY THE NUMBERS
12 – Steals by Maya Moore in three games
13 – Consecutive in-season tournament championships for UConn
21 – Total rebounds for Kelly Faris, one less than Tina Charles
144 – Points in the paint scored by UConn
Rich
