DePaul Post-game Thread

[EricLA]

U-Came, U-Saw, U-CONNquered...

How worried were UCONN fans for this game? I would say that most were. No Caroline, no Olivia... Paige still out, Aubrey done for the season... overall I would say this is one of our best games in a long time. Not because we blew anyone out, but DePaul is a really good team. We had a few more days of practice without Liv and Caroline. Maybe that made a world of difference, even tho I'm still mystified why the effort, hustle, and energy vs. Villanova seemed so off compared to this game.

But my point about this being one of our best games in a long while - it was just so nice to see everyone playing well. Off shooting night for Azzi, but our post players DOMINATED. And only 4 TO's thru 3 quarters - that was one of the biggest stats of the night.

• We know DePaul is really good. They gave us all we could handle last game and then some. We've had numerous games this season where we came out slow, got behind, and either had to mount a comeback, or found the deficit way too much. This game was different and the tone was set early on.
• I loved that our post players were 7-8 from the FT line. Did NOT love that our guards were 1-3.
• Our post players came to play!! How awesome was it seeing Dorka and Aaliyah absolutely light up the scoring sheet? Both worked incredibly hard establishing position.
  • Liya 19 hard earned points in the post
  • Dorka 22 points and 2-3 from deep. 8 boards and 4 assists. She's my POG.
• How did Nika (2) and Christyn (1) and Azzi (1) have more blocks than our post players (2 combined)???!!
• 20 assists compared to 10 for DePaul. But Dorka and Liya with 7 between that. Really nice job setting teammates up across the board.
• Best drive AND steal of the game occurred within 3 seconds of each other. Christyn's drive with the shot clock winding down midway thru Q4 - shake and bake, great drive and layup with her off hand, then Evina stealing the inbound pass and scoring - that was a great moment.
• Great seeing Amari and Piath get into the game. Wished Piath hit one of those point blank layups tho.

Bottom line, this was a tremendous win IMHO. The defense was really really good. So proud of the hustle and grit of the team.

 

[Geew1992]

Who saw this??

 

[oldude]

Some thoughts on the DePaul game:

• Now that’s what I’m talkin about!!!
• Another record tonight as UConn fields their 9th different starting lineup in only 21 games this season.
• Without Liv & Caroline, against a team the Huskies beat with a last second basket two weeks ago, this was a game that UConn should have had no reasonable expectation of winning, and yet the Huskies came out and played with great heart and intensity, pulling out an improbable victory against the Blue Demons.
• Dorka & Aaliyah really came to play tonight. With no Liv, UConn’s 2 Bigs both delivered their best games of the season.
• Before the game, I would have thought we needed 30 from Azzi to have a chance. That didn’t happen. Not to worry, Christyn, Nika & Evina all came up BIG delivering play after play at both ends of the court. They were fabulous tonight.
• Morrow did her thing, more or less, but UConn frequently ran a second defender at her in the post, and she was never really able to dominate the game as she did in Chicago.
• This season has been a roller coaster to be sure. Tonight, against all odds, UConn was riding high.
• OK. Who had UConn +24?

 

[Kaizen]

Droka 22, CW 20 and Aaliyah 19. What a win.

 

[FridaFriend]

WOW

 

[Redux]

So, shall we swing back the other way?

Maybe, rather, just celebrate it and not look at it as some global statement.

 

[Zorro]

w
Whoda thunk it??

 

[LarryLegend]

gutsy game by every player. Again Dorka was great. DePaul had one of those nights

 

[HuskyNan]

Dr Jekyll reappears. Stick around, Doc

 

[Nolefan]

If this team ever fires on all cylinders with a healthy team watch out …

 

[Hoops66]

OK tell me if I can breathe again!?

 

[Happydad745]

Dorka showed us why we want her back next year; CW looked like the highly rated player she is suppose to be; The team's defense reminded me of years past, when that was the strongest side of their game.

 

[EdSaid]

Maybe Villanova was the wake up call they needed?

 

[msf22b]

I didn't see the game...was its on Fox?...I couldn't find it

I said after the last game Aaliyah will be ok...after her difficult night after her wonderful Tennessee effort.
We can't expect consistency yet...but tonight, again, a fine game...more of this to come

E seemed to provide a spark whenever she came in...great.

And Dorka (thank goodness not injured) had a wonderful outing

Now, they have to do it again on Sunday.

 

[Tonyc]

This was a breakout game for Edwards and Dorka Do you realize whats happening during this season that has been a mess. What is happening is everybody who doesnt see alot of playtime are havin break out games which only makes us better later in the season and next season. As tuff as this season has been its working in our favor. We are gettin really really good and when everybody gets up to speed. Lookout. Lookout heres comes tomorrow

 

[HuskyNan]

Too bad Geno didn’t scout Hungary 5 years ago.

 

[jaydee602]

gutsy game by every player. Again Dorka was great. DePaul had one of those nights

I think Doug Bruno summed it up. DePaul is used to coming down court & firing up shots at will. They weren't willing to work hard & find room to shoot. Credit the Husky defense for taking DePaul out of their comfort zone.

 

[Blakeon18]

Tell me before the game that Azzi goes 2-11 and I would have cringed at the outcome.
Best game of year for Dorka and Aaliyah...and in general Nika played under control with good defense and passing.

Entertaining....for sure. Come out Sunday with the same energy and we'll be fine.

 

[CocoHusky]

Tonight was mostly about a bunch of little things adding up to a big MOV. For example every UCONN starter blocked a shot in this game. UCONN had 2 turnovers at the half.

 

[Heytherego]

Great game! What a weird season this has been. Never would I have guessed we would win by double digits with PB/CD/ONO out and Azzi scoring 4…
After watching Villanova compared to this game it seems like a 180 in terms of effort. At times the team looked tired out there tonight, but during Villanova it was so disheartening because it didn’t seem the effort, intensity and focus was there. You could tell they were locked in tonight, they need to carry that throughout the rest of the season. A loss is okay, but not for lack of effort. Great team game today. Glad our posts got going and our guards looked solid.

 

[Topdawg]

Did you see that Nika had 0 personal fouls? Very good game for Evina and Azzi too. All three were strong on defense.

 

[huskeynut]

Talk about in your face defense from the get go!!! Took DePaul completely out of their flow. Held DePaul 30 points below their game average.

Dorka and Aaliyah imposed themselves in the paint.

Great win!!

 

[Next 12]

God bless this team. We preserved the longest record that in my opinion will NEVER BE BROKEN. I'm not sure of the exact amount, like 1,200 + games without 2 losses in a row. GO UCONN!!!!

 

[MilfordHusky]

As an aside, Nova beat Marquette in OT. Siegrist had 2 FTs with no time in regulation and sank both. She finished with 42 and 13. I think they may be in the dance!