Stanford Postgame Thread

[pvdoggy]

Very interesting, according to Geno, they never practice FT shooting.

 

[Childhood]

The smile

 

[ScottCT]

With Betts coming on board next year Stanford figures to be scary good for the next
four years at least. Renewing the series might not give us a win, but it would beef up
our strength of schedule.

We're going to be just as good as anybody in the country.

 

[hoophuskee]

With Betts coming on board next year Stanford figures to be scary good for the next
four years at least. Renewing the series might not give us a win, but it would beef up
our strength of schedule.

You don't think UCONN is going to be scary good too? We just beat them without Dorka to boot.

 

[fomalhaut]

We're going to be just as good as anybody in the country.

Connecticut at 100% strength (or close to it) for a whole season could be unimaginably good.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Personally, I think Stanford didn’t get a lot of open looks from 3. I also think Haley is a great player but if you look at her numbers this year she shot something like 27% from 3 so it’s no surprise she was 0-5 from 3 tonight. She really should not have been selected as an all American this year. We outrebounded them with maybe our best rebounder hurt. They were beatable. Our defense reduced their scoring output. If you guard Lexi Hull closely she cannot convert 3 pointers like she does when she’s wide open. They seemed to score almost at will in the paint but Brink does miss jump shots sometimes. Stanford was successful shutting down Azzi and to a degree Paige but our depth, hustle and defensive strength were enough to win.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Spending the night in the Palo Alto area tonight. Can’t fault the players as they won it all last year and they also seem like great kids. UConn just beat 2 great teams in a row.

 

[Redux]

According to Tara in her interview UConn had nothing to do with Stanford not playing well tonight.

I'm sorry, but she never said that. It's your characterization.

If you listened to Geno you could apply exactly the same characterization. Equally incorrect.

What they both said was that Stanford didn't play their A game, independent of the effects of Uconn playing them tough as nails. Truth.

Stanford not playing its A game beats a Uconn team that doesn't suck it up and play admirable, clutch basketball and display character beyond what could reasonably be expected from people so young. A deserved, joyful UConn win.

 

[Cuango]

Kudos to the three seniors tonight! 30 points, 24 boards

 

[Cuango]

Has any team ever beaten 3 #1’s to win a Natty?

You can’t beat 4!

Arizona men did it in “97!

 

[Cuango]

Geno lost to Georgia Tech who was a non ranked team, Geno lost first Conference game in who knows how many years, Geno took an embarrassing loss to Oregon, Geno lost his best player which started a domino effect of injured players; yet somehow he finds his team in the Finals after beating #2 ranked NC St. and #3 ranked Stanford back to back.
I'm still puzzled how Geno isn't the Coach of the year.

I’m not!

 

[Cuango]

Surprised about the cold, no-look postgame handshake between Geno and Tara, after 35-plus years of being at the top of NCAA WBB coaching. Any thoughts?

Yeah, I don’t think Tara is interested in socializing with Geno at all. She is clearly too savvy to come out and say anything, but I’m guessing there’s certainly no love there, for sure. Who can blame her either, as he has personally snatched the prize right out of her hands on numerous occasions! I think she has a particularly hard time with losses to him and while she tries not to let it show, she does, in spite of herself, sometimes let it seep out. Remember her prediction that Tenn would destroy us in “95, her snubbing Lobo, and her, imo, very terse and grudging comments after those losses.

To be fair of course, losses like these are very tough to take and some (if not most) of the postgame questions by the media are often pretty painful so perhaps my expectations are too high. I think she is so focused on making sure that her players/program gets their due respect that she rarely is able to say (at least in Geno’s case) “ They were just better than us tonight”, unlike some coaches are able/willing to do.

 

[shiverz45]

Liv drove me crazy the first half. She had a nightmare of a game the could have been her last. She stuck with it and fought and played a big role by rebounding and making some shots and free throws down the stretch to turn it around. I’m really proud of her and Williams who also wasn’t doing much the first half and really made her presence known the second half. We be SC for three quarters earlier this year and should have won that game if we just played a normal fourth quarter. I felt that before this game, if we beat Stanford, then we beat SC. We just need our bigs to hold it down. Just don’t let Boston or the other bigs destroy us and if we shoot decently from our guards, we will be good. I think we need to watch their other bigs closely because they hustle for rebounds and put backs when Boston doesn’t come through. We have played well against Boston in the past also, but she has stepped up her game. I really think we win number 12.

You might want to go recheck that. SC out scored UConn in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarter.

 

[freshler40]

Let‘s not miss the fact that Evina and Nika had 14 rebounds between them. In a game where every possession counted, having two guards pull down 14 boards was monumental in getting the ball in UConn’s hands and limiting second chance points for Stanford.

Great observation. Both played a key role in this win, steadied the ship and moved the ball crisply.

 

[freshler40]

Nika Muhl out rebounded Brink 8 - 7. Let that sink in

Nika could easily be POG. This was an outstanding performance given the number of minutes played. She was everywhere and came out running. All our many guards were each a key at different times. Does this cast a new format for women's basketball? Four guards and a big, this is what Geno has been playing for some time. It also shows how our coaches lead in innovation.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I called this one and it was really just a feeling. Stanford is very good but this wasn’t their night on offense. UConn wasn’t flawless but did what they had to do.

I was critical of Brink making the WBCA AA team Friday but she was great, that’s the best I’ve seen her play. Jones can’t shoot outside but is a gamer and the glue for the team, plus is an all around great kid.

UConn’s depth; though not what people hoped for, was on display as EW and Muhl both came off the bench for huge plays. It was both physical yet clean if that makes sense.

 

[Bama fan]

Our guys gave their all!!! Even though we had it at 0:00 when it meant the most, how long did we hold on to the lead?

36:44.

 

[mbr33ct]

Good time as any to bring this back out again.

 

[Ozimoto]

I am very happy to be wrong this morning.

My mom's memorial service and all the stuff that goes with it I didn't see the game and probably won't see the Championship game either. That may be for the best as I didn't watch the NC State Game either and they won. I guess my mojo is to check the score on my phone when I can and read about the game the next day. Haven't read through the comments yet and only saw highlights this morning. One thing I noticed from the box score that was surprising to me was Nika's eight rebounds! She tied with Edwards and only ONO had more. The seniors came to play making big plays when needed. One more to go!

 

[Gamecockfan77]

The players had no problems congratulating each other. Maybe it's easier at 20 than at 68.

Former long time teammates.

 

[hoopsfan22]

 

[Bama fan]

Rebounds; UConn 46, Stanford 37.

Significant stat there. Nika and Evina were a huge part of that.

 

[hoopsfan22]

 

[CONN78SEJ]

WOW. Congratulations to you all. If someone would’ve told me we’d hold UConn to 36% shooting, I would’ve been extremely pleased. That is, unless Stanford would shoot worse at 34%.

I said before the game I felt UConn matched up just fine and it surely was an ugly game but your team truly fought and clawed to win it. I hope you guys take care of business on Sunday.

You never said UConn matched up just fine with Stanford, you said they matched up just fine with Oregon. That aside, thanks for the nice congrats. I knew going in that at least one of the UConn guards would kill you guys, and this time it was Evina Westbrook with her timely three’s and quick hands on defense, and her jumping ability on a couple of rebounds. CW also had a couple three’s. A lesson for Tara, when fouling in the closing minutes and hoping UConn misses at the charity stripe, don’t foul Azzi Fudd. I thought both Hull sisters could have been a little more aggressive on defense. Prechtal really impressed me, Tara should have played her more, could have been a difference maker. I also thought that both Edwards and Ono, though not dominant, were steady all game and together they helped a lot in getting the win.

 

[Bama fan]

ESPN just mentioned only 11% of brackets got the final two teams correct

I happened to get the two final teams correct. I was terrible at most everything else though. My other two regionals were not even close!