Another aspect from Azzi was that with 4.36 left in 3rd quarter Geno took out Ducharme and CWill with her being the primary option and during that time UCONN was down by 4. When CWill came back about 30 seconds left UCONN was up by 1. During UCONN’s bad stretch this could never have happeend vs a quality team. CDucharme and CWill needed to play 40. And they aren’t going to play perfect so this also accounts for past eventual lulls in the offense. There wasn’t as much help from others to make it easier for them. They aren’t pros.
As we have known, it’s so vital we get Azzi back. A further drill down looking back at this game we can see it’s not just Azzi’s shooting. Geno pulled her in the 4th quarter with UCONN up by 4. When she came back with a little over 3 minutes left, UCONN was down by 2. At that point, with about 2:25 left she got rebound over Morrow. She then kept her dribble alive and it was her penetration that drew Ducharme’s defender to help in stopping Azzi further penetrate with the ball – that was around the 2:17 mark. Subsequently, Azzi passed to Nika, who then made a quick pass to Ducharme who then nailed the 3 to put UCONN back in the lead. In this play, Ducharme’s defender couldn’t get back quick enough to Ducharme after helping stop Azzi from further penetration. The 3 Ducharme made was setup by Azzi’s penetration.
Going forward will be interested to see how the 3 of Azzi, CWill, and Ducharme improve as they play more time together. I love the fact that each of the 3 are a bit different .Also, in terms of continuity, it would be interesting to see them play without being subjected to grammar-school-referees. In the 2nd half the charges on Azzi and CWill were a joke. The Azzi charge was laughable even for grammar school. The 3rd foul on Ducharme was a comedy-hour call. And I’m not certain but Azzi’s foul at end of 3rd quarter looked more like the DePaul player lost her balance. It seemed just as similar as a prior play in 3rd quarter that Muhl drove into the lane (not the play she hurt her wrist) and flung up a shot near the basket as she sprawled to to the floor yet no call was made.-- Anyway, pretty excited to see more from our team going forward.