The Moment Breanna Stewart Became A Star
written by DaveinNaples
Breanna Stewart came to UConn as the #1 high school player in the country, a multiple Gold medal winner with USA basketball and with the expectation she would become the next Superstar in a long line of Huskie All-Americans. She started her career just as expected, breaking the all-time UConn record for points scored in the first 10 games as a freshman. She led a good UConn team in scoring in 4 of her first 5 games, scoring over 20 points three times. Superstardom was a matter of when, not if…
By the middle of the long season, her fortunes had changed and Stewie hit a prolonged slump. Whether it was all the travel, staying in strange hotels, the incredible grind of tough UConn practices or the physical play of opponents who decided the only way to stop her was to rough her up, Stewie’s production dropped dramatically. The bottom came Feb. 18th against Baylor when she played only 7 minutes and finished with 0 points, 0 rebounds and 0 blocks. Superstars normally play their best in big games, but Stewie had just put up her worst effort with the world watching.
By March 12th, against Notre Dame in the Big East tournament final, Stewie’s play was improving. She scored 16 points, but went 0-4 from 3 pt. range and totaled just 2 rebounds and 1 blocked shot. UConn lost yet another heartbreaker in the last few seconds. The UConn brain trust huddled and a different team entered the NCAA tournament. And most noticeably, Stewie was different. After sitting out the first game with a slight muscle strain, Stewie scored 14, 17 and then 21 points in the Vandy, Maryland and Kentucky games. She also totaled 17 rebounds and 10 blocks, but shot just 2 for 7 on three pointers.
Then UConn played the most important game of the season, the semi-final against arch nemesis Notre Dame, architect of 3 of UConn’s 4 losses. (Three terrible losses, with blown leads, missed free throws and lousy execution at critical times.) Just 41 seconds into the game, Stewie took her first 3 pt shot, and missed. But she battled back and scored 12 points in the half on 5 for 8 shooting. With UConn down 18-20, Stewie hit her first 3 with 5:26 left in the half. Then with 41 seconds left, she put UConn ahead by 9 with another 3 pointer. N.D. was down, but not out.
The second half was Stewie’s “coming out party”. Just 1:07 into period, Stewie hit another 3 to put UConn up 12. Eight minutes later, she hit the 3 pictured above to take the lead back to 13. She had taken over. After a furious rally from N.D. cut the lead to 7, a jumper from Stewie raised it back to 9. Moments later a block, a rebound and two free throws, all by Stewie, made the lead 13 again. After a jumper by KML, two more free throws from Stewie extended the lead to 15. The game was over even with three minutes still to play. For the game, Stewie scored 29 points, had 5 rebounds, 4 blocked shots, as well as an assist and a steal in 35 magical minutes. She was 4 for 5 from 3 pt. range, while the rest of the team was just 2 for 8. The final against Louisville was academic. It was close early, but ended in a rout. Stewie was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and UConn’s newest Superstar.
Stewie is a reluctant Superstar. She doesn’t pound her chest, pull out her jersey to show the crowd or pump her fist and yell out loud. Instead, she grins shyly, claps her hands in pure joy and credits her teammates at every turn. She doesn’t do anything well, she does EVERYTHING well. In the two most important games of the season, she scored 52 points on 61.3% shooting, went 7 for 8 from 3 pt. range, grabbed 14 rebounds, had 7 blocked shots, 4 steals and only 2 turnovers in 65 minutes. Superstar numbers at the season’s most critical time….and her first N.C. Go Huskies…
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