Damn. Let the 2nd guessing begin

[Boxerpups4me]

It's 2 years in a row of playing like deer in headlights on the biggest stage after being unbeaten in the regular season.

"Choke" is harsh, but is absolutely appropriate.

It's bewildering that players like Nurse and Williams, who epitomize toughness, have their teams perform like this.

You wanna see a true choke job, go back and watch the tenn nd game earlier in the season.

Uconn made some amazing clutch shots and great defensive plays to get the game to overtime...ND played possibly their best game of the year, but still only win by 2 points..if you wanna have any chance of beating uconn you have to bring your triple plus a game and a lucky irish leprechaun

 

[augustaTC]

My last comments til next season. I think maybe the weakness of their conference hurts them in situations like tonight. I think it's hard to develop the mental toughness to succeed in games like this if you're essentially blowing people out the last month of the regular season. Geno can work their butts off physically, but how do you build the mental toughness to win the super close ones? Who knows.

High points for me this season: Crystal out of the shadows and showing everyone how great she can become. Z showing progress toward becoming a more complete player. And just watching this team over the last two years as they've come together.

Low points: Gabby and Kia going out like this, particularly Gabby who'll be seeing that last shot in her dreams. But they're good strong young women and this is just the end of one phase for them. Lots more goodness to come.

I think the era of UConn's so-called domination is probably about done. Look at the closeness and caliber of the Final Four teams & coaches - starting to look a lot like parity. Bound to happen sooner or later. But what a 20+ year run. So great to have been able to witness it all.

And I can finally say that I've been holding my breath for 4 years that Gabby's knee would make it thru 4 seasons of WCBB. She has been such a joy to watch. What an athlete & person.

Enjoy the spring & summer.

 

[Paesano]

Stop blaming the refs did u see gabby hit arike’s hand for the blOk no call uconn blew it bottom left be no one else to blame but themselves

The hand is generally considered part of the ball.

ND was called for 11 fouls in an OT game. Think about that for a second. The played "tough D" and managed to overdo it 11 times in 45 minutes. ND has an amazing ability to do that...against UConn...in semi-final games. They played "tough" enough to rattle a team as good as ours into not driving and they only committed 11 fouls in an OT game. Really? Are some of you that unwilling to see what happened here?

And I could be wrong but didn't they commit only 5 fouls over the entire second half plus OT? I can't find the totals by half to verify that. But amazing if true.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

The word "choke" is harsh, but I'm pretty sure it's deserved. Reminds me of the game UConn lost in the semis to Notre Dame in Denver years ago. We all stood around asking ourselves why UConn was losing, and they lost.

At least those were two evenly matched teams. This UConn team is much better than Notre Dame.

Maybe this will dispel the notion that close wins during the season somehow makes teams ready for close games late. Geno was so thrilled by eeking out wins against Texas and Notre Dame. Just doesn't mean anything.

 

[ScarlettB]

Here is my outsider's opinion - Notre Dame was tougher down the stretch - Jackie Young was better than UConn expected and Arike was everything ND needed her to be. I will not lie, I was rooting for the Irish and I really think you need to be worried about them next year. They were down significant players this year and they don't graduate anyone important. You lose Gabby and Kia. Should be interesting, Oh, IMO - this ND win is good for wcbb, but I do feel bad for all of you UConn fans. Losing is never fun.

 

[DaddyChoc]

forced passes... how many turnovers did UConn have?

Geno keeping Z on the bench for too long

 

[Sluconn Husky]

i think uconn will be even better next season with what they have coming in

You think freshmen replacing a two-time all-american and the defensive player of the year will make the team better?

 

[HoopsFan21]

Here is my outsider's opinion - Notre Dame was tougher down the stretch - Jackie Young was better than UConn expected and Arike was everything ND needed her to be. I will not lie, I was rooting for the Irish and I really think you need to be worried about them next year. They were down significant players this year and they don't graduate anyone important. You lose Gabby and Kia. Should be interesting, Oh, IMO - this ND win is good for wcbb, but I do feel bad for all of you UConn fans. Losing is never fun.

Yeah ND is gonna kick our you know what next year that was always expected.

 

[msf22b]

This fanbase really needs to handle losses better. The blame game sickens me especially when it's targeted at young women who play their hearts out. Geno can handle the criticism, but what I've seen tonight is really disgraceful comments directed at young women who give their all. Basketball is a game and nothing more. Get over it. On to next season. Wow.

Like they played better, scored more points; great season, the end

 

[Twolf]

UConn lost the game because they had no answer for the Notre Dame guards. They needed Z in the game on offense, but in no way they could match up on the defensive end when she was in for Dangerfield. The unforced turnovers both on out of bounds & in the half court offense gave ND extra possessions and they are too good on offense to do that. The ND guards drove it downhill against UConn and got to the line, while UConn shot only 6 free throws in 45 minutes. UConn played at least 4 defenses in the game- 1-3-1 zone, 2-3 zone, triangle and two, and man, and couldn’t get consistent stops in any of them. The play of Jackie Young was the biggest factor in ND’s win. It’s tough to swallow, but ND played tough, and the 3rd quarter was what came back to haunt UConn.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

This UConn team is the only team in history to return three All-Americans. Plus, they brought in an All-American talent, and the #1 rated player out of high school. You can not lose under those circumstances.

 

[Tenspro2002]

You think freshmen replacing a two-time all-american and the defensive player of the year will make the team better?

Nurse and Gabby will be huge losses, but I wonder if we need some fresh faces to move past this.

They had outstanding careers and deserve every accolade, but the last two years, these were their teams, and those teams came up small in the biggest spots. Something about their leadership -- and even at the beginning of the year, Geno alluded to that not being what he wanted it to be -- lent itself to this kind of tight performance.

 

[Plebe]

Here is my outsider's opinion - Notre Dame was tougher down the stretch - Jackie Young was better than UConn expected and Arike was everything ND needed her to be. I will not lie, I was rooting for the Irish and I really think you need to be worried about them next year. They were down significant players this year and they don't graduate anyone important. You lose Gabby and Kia. Should be interesting, Oh, IMO - this ND win is good for wcbb, but I do feel bad for all of you UConn fans. Losing is never fun.

Why is the Notre Dame win "good" for women's basketball?

 

[Boxerpups4me]

You think freshmen replacing a two-time all-american and the defensive player of the year will make the team better?

They lost stewie, tuck and jefferson but still went undefeated regular season and made a final four, so ya i think they will be better..who says freshman are replacing anybody anyway..

 

[Iowafan61]

This fanbase really needs to handle losses better. The blame game sickens me especially when it's targeted at young women who play their hearts out. Geno can handle the criticism, but what I've seen tonight is really disgraceful comments directed at young women who give their all. Basketball is a game and nothing more. Get over it. On to next season. Wow.

You are right ,and i did that im sorry,it is only a game ,thanks

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Nurse and Gabby will be huge losses, but I wonder if we need some fresh faces to move past this.

They had outstanding careers and deserve every accolade, but the last two years, these were their teams, and those teams came up small in the biggest spots. Something about their leadership -- and even at the beginning of the year, Geno alluded to that not being what he wanted it to be -- lent itself to this kind of tight performance.

You think UConn's defense was inadequate tonight? Wait until they have to guard without Williams and Nurse. And we don't even know if Stevens is returning.

 

[VivaLsVgs]

This UConn team is the only team in history to return three All-Americans. Plus, they brought in an All-American talent, and the #1 rated player out of high school. You can not lose under those circumstances.

But yet we did.....isn’t that why they actually get on the court to play the game? It doesn’t matter who you have on paper it’s who puts it out there for 40 min on the court.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Ya but uconn lost stewie, jefferson and tuck and STILL


They lost stewie, tuck and jefferson but still went undefeated regular season and made a final four, so ya i think they will be better..who says freshman are replacing anybody anyway..

That team had two top-3 talents in Samuelson and Collier that developed into Wade Trophy finalists as sophomores. Do you see that for Walker and Coombs? Who is going to make the team better next year? Irwin? Camara? Bent? I don't get it.

 

[Boxerpups4me]

You think UConn's defense was inadequate tonight? Wait until they have to guard without Williams and Nurse. And we don't even know if Stevens is returning.

Right..uconn will be just fine, just like they were fine after losing stewart, jefferson and tuck

 

[Boxerpups4me]

That team had two top-3 talents in Samuelson and Collier that developed into Wade Trophy finalists as sophomores. Do you see that for Walker and Coombs? Who is going to make the team better next year? Irwin? Camara? Bent? I don't get it.

I def see it with walker

 

[BostonCanuck]

There were so many things that went wrong tonight that should not have happened, right down to biased officiating by the male ref, to be honest. But if I had to pick one overarching factor, it's that we did not have a big player step up and to win the game for us. That opportunity was there, but no one made it happen. Near the end of regulation, there were some big plays made to avoid losing the game, but nobody could step up to win it.

I personally believe that the pressure to live up to expectations and past history has become too much for the Huskies. Individually and as a team, they played very tentatively tonight during long stretches, in uncharacteristic fashion, similar to last year's semi-final.

There's a lot more to it, of course, but at the highest level those are my initial thoughts.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Disagree. We still were playing top teams as recently as last month - a #2 and a #1 seed. We just don't have the ability to put top teams away anymore, and frankly why should we? Our talent isn't head and shoulders above the other teams.

Going by accolades, high school player rankings, or even team results it sure is.

 

[Charliebball]

Agree. If anyone choked it would be Geno. But choke is not the right word. Aggressiveness is the word. ND was more aggressive and took the game to UConn. I mention Geno because, like last year, he did not press the opposing team, in order to speed up the game. Not once if I remember. Even so, ND scored 91 points! If you can score against UConn, either because you play lights out on offense with career games from unexpected players, or, UConn plays without intensity on defense, UConn is in trouble. Geno will also be second guessed on keeping AZ on the bench longer than needed in the 3rd quarter. Oh well. ND deserved the win. They wanted it more and you can sense that from the 1st minute of the game.

the one thing UConn has lacked for the past few years is a player who can consistently get her own shot one on one from the outside in like Ogunbawle.............in most instances that doesn't matter with UConn's great motion offense but there are times when that specific skill is called for..........next year UConn will have such a weapon in Christyn Williams............let's hope she gets her chance in the semi-finals next year.......

 

[Psyjaxx]

UConn vs. ND in semifinal means potential for refs to impact the game with less scrutiny. Anyone that doesn't think this game was impacted by how it was called is clueless. We don't play bad against ND because they play magical defense. We play bad because ND is allowed to hack and it prevents our superior players from utilizing their skill and athletic advantages. And then they get rattled. You can say that is their fault but pretty much anyone would get rattled when being hacked constantly. They ALWAYS become afraid to drive when the game is called like this.

The number of non-calls against ND was quite obvious. Made the game hard to watch. ND played a very good game - especially by Arike and Jackie Young. But the refs seemed to want to have their influence. Just sayin'