Just a few ponderings about Stewie

[alexrgct]

A funny thing happened on the way to Breanna committing to UConn. Just watch this interview a month beforehand:



And if Stewie expected to join a dynasty, two funny things happened: losses in the 2011 and 2012 national semis meant she could be forging yet another one.

However, a funny thing happened on her way to greatness. It was so funny some crass fans were snickering at how lost she looked against Baylor in 2013. Something was amiss for much of her freshman year.

Of course, she emerged with an almost goose bump-inspiring smile in reaction to her stellar play against Notre Dame in the second half of the BET championship. Unfortunately, UConn still lost. I don't know if a funny thing happened, or if it was just tragically ironic. The Huskies collectively gave up the shockingly easy layup to Achonwa after making things so hard for ND.

But we all know what happened in Stewie's career from that point on. There are two more banners hanging from the rafters at Gampel because of her.

One more funny thing happened along the way to a UConn three-peat: the shocking loss to Stanford last November. Of course, Stewie has been absolutely instrumental in exorcising the demons of that loss so far.

And then there's what Breanna did to Texas and Dayton in Albany. My word, that was the stuff of legend.

A number of funny things have happened along the way to Breanna actualizing everything expected of her, not to mention expected of herself. That being said, despite the litany of funny things, one thing is crystal clear:

Stewie ain't no freaking joke.

 

[MilfordHusky]

In Stewie's first year at UConn, she had more points in her first 10 games than any prior UConn player, breaking the great Maya Moore's record. Then Maryland, Penn State, and other teams began getting physical with her. She regressed and struggled. The low point was the game in which she had very limited minutes and little output against Baylor. But late in the season, she really turned it on.

This year, she had some good games early, but was not dominant at all in the tournament in Florida. Relative to her lofty standards, she had a bit of an up and down season until Geno benched her and Morgan. Since then, she's been playing like the all-time great that Geno wants her to be. The Dayton game reminded me of the ND game last year--Stewie was guarding the entire other team!

In terms of Stewie's recruitment, keep in mind that she teamed with Kaleena, Morgan, et al. on USA Basketball. Kaleena named her Baby Husky well before Stewie committed. K wanted to be sure that she had great teammates. One more big score for Kaleena.