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Message: [QUOTE="cferraro04, post: 4868453, member: 267"] [SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]COMMENTS[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE] [SIZE=6]Game 2 of an away-and-home series. Game one was a tough night for the Red Storm and it was a home game for St. John's. I don't see the Red Storm playing UConn at Gampel being any easier for them. Oddly, they started the last game they had Owen Skye and Phoenix Gedeon. I don't think we are going to see that starting line-up in this game... St. John's only managed to get 14 rebounds. They know that won't get the job done against UConn. I think they will go with their fastest line-up that can get out and run (unfortunately for them that will play right into UConn's hands). Additionally, they will want to get more rebounds...they have to! Without Amber Brown in the line-up that will be extremely hard to do against UConn. Nevertheless, I will look for them to try and do more boxing out and more hustle plays for the ball. However, at the end of the day, I think they are going to come up very short in the rebounding department. UConn's defense suffocated St. John's in game one and their best player Unique Drake had a terrible night on offense only scoring 4 points for the game...it was significantly below her average at the time which was 23 points per game. Currently, Drake is averaging 18.5 points a game despite her scoring 36 against DePaul and 24 against Xavier. While I think that Nika will handle her quite handily, I expect that Unique will have a better game on the offensive end. My guess is St. John's will go with this starting lineup. Unique Drake 5'7" RS Senior; Jilian Archer 6'2" Graduate; Ber'Nyah Mayo 5'6"Senior; Jaliah Donald 5'7" Sophomore; Tara Daye 5'10" Sophomore as I believe this is St. John's most productive line-up. Coming off the bench will be Phonix Gedeon 6'0" Junior and Owen Skye 5'7" Sophomore as I don't see the Johnnies playing more than 7 players on Sunday. St. John's has been doing quite well in Big East Play and they have some impressive wins. They beat Villanova 51-46 on December 16th; and Marquette 57-56 on January 3rd. On January 25th they went to two overtimes against DePaul and won after losing 3 days earlier in overtime to Seton Hall. I expect this game will be played at a fast pace but, I don't think UConn will have much trouble handling the Red Storm and should come away with a 30-40-point victory. Look for Geno to rest his star players in the 4th quarter while giving Ice, Q, Bettencourt, and Amari 10-15 minutes.[/SIZE] [SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]ANALYSIS[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]Aaliyah Edwards 6'3" vs Jillian Archer 6'2"[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE][SIZE=6] - In her first outing against UConn Jillian managed 6 points and 1 rebound...Jillian usually averages 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds. While I expect that Jillian will have a better game on Sunday she will not be able to contain Aaliyah and she will have a tough with Aaliyah's defense. [/SIZE][SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]Paige Bueckers 6'0" vs Tara Daye 5'10"[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE][SIZE=6] - Tara is a good all-around player however, 4.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists against one of the best players in WCBB will probably see her sharing time with Phoenix Gedeon...either way both players combined will not be enough to overcome Paige's impact on the game both offensively and defensively. [/SIZE][SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]Nika Muhl 5'11" vs Unique Drake 5'7"[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE][SIZE=6] - Unique will probably play a better game than she did in her first meeting against UCONN. With Nika out to prove that the game against Notre Dame was an anomaly, I don't expect that Unique will be able to take the game over and she won't be able to achieve her average of 18.5 points. I think we will see Nika shooting some threes in this game as she continues to try and add the three to her game. [/SIZE][SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]Ashlynn Shade 5'10" vs Jaliah Donald 5'7"[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE][SIZE=6] - Jaliyah averages 5.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1 three-pointer per game. Ashlynn continues to play consistently well averaging 11.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 threes per game. [/SIZE] [SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]KK Arnold 5'9" vs Ber'nyah Mayo[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE][SIZE=6] - Ber'nyah averages 10.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game making her somewhat of a stat-stuffer. However, KK will get up in her grill and stay there for the entire game. KK is finally averaging double figures in scoring with 10 points per game. She also contributes 2.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.3 steals. On paper, the stats of these two players seem like the same player. However, KK's defense will make it hard for Ber'nyah to do what she is used to doing. [/SIZE] [SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]BENCH[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE][SIZE=6] The Johnnies have a short bench with only two productive players being available to give the starters a rest. Owen Skye and Phoenix Gedeon. Collectively they will bring 8.3 points and 6.3 rebounds from the bench. UConn's bench will see significant minutes in this one so I would look for our bench players to be more productive than their averages show. However, on a purely statistical average UConn will bring 11.4 points and 7.2 rebounds from the bench. [/SIZE][SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]INTANGIBLES[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE] [SIZE=6]UConn playing at home, working out the bugs getting ready for the postseason run in the Big East and the NCAAs, still trying to put the Notre Dame game behind them. The Red Storm faces a hostile crowd at Gampel. [/SIZE][SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]COACHING [/COLOR][/B][/SIZE] [SIZE=6]At the risk of sounding redundant... [/SIZE][SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]ADVANTAGE - UCONN[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]SCORE[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]UCONN - 87 [/COLOR][/B][/SIZE] [COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)][SIZE=7][B]ST JOHN's - 55[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] [SIZE=7][B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]MOV - 32[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE] [/QUOTE]

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