Girls lose :(

[ctchamps]

As poorly as some of the UConn players played on offense, it was the defense (or lack thereof) that lost the game. ND scored 91 points. That does not happen if UConn plays a good game on defense. As for the refs, they where bad in that they where inconsistent. Was the officiating affecting UConn's intensity (or lack thereof) on defense? That is debatable. Either way, ND made the big plays when they needed them. Tough loss.

That’s where I believe the injuries to Gabby and Crystal had the greatest impact. Give MM credit. She had a great game plan and was fortunate that her weakest starter had a career game.

 

[storrsroars]

As poorly as some of the UConn players played on offense, it was the defense (or lack thereof) that lost the game. ND scored 91 points. That does not happen if UConn plays a good game on defense. As for the refs, they where bad in that they where inconsistent. Was the officiating affecting UConn's intensity (or lack thereof) on defense? That is debatable. Either way, ND made the big plays when they needed them. Tough loss.

Q2 was absolute shutdown defense. And the refs let them play. Stevens was huge in that.

Q4 was awful. Not sure what Geno was thinking sticking with KLS with 4 fouls, which opened up the inside for ND. I don't watch them enough to know how Geno usually subs, but it sure looked to me like UConn was a better team with Stevens on the floor tonight. Regardless, sticking with KLS late hurt the team and Muffet took full advantage.

 

[ASweet3781]

Q2 was absolute shutdown defense. And the refs let them play. Stevens was huge in that.

Q4 was awful. Not sure what Geno was thinking sticking with KLS with 4 fouls, which opened up the inside for ND. I don't watch them enough to know how Geno usually subs, but it sure looked to me like UConn was a better team with Stevens on the floor tonight. Regardless, sticking with KLS late hurt the team and Muffet took full advantage.

UConn rallied from a 10 point deficit against ND in December when Samuelson left the game due to her ankle and he had no choice but to turn to Stevens and Walker.

 

[Bryan Lord]

Women's board in full meltdown mode, there are people posting their goodbyes to WCBB because they can't take the heart ache.

I think the men's team has lost more this year than they have in the last 10.

 

[Hankster]

As someone who really doesn’t live or die for the women’s team, there were a lot of one way calls there. Gotta level the playing field somehow...

Still, they passed sloppy as hell there.

At one time late in the game I thought I saw UConn went to the Charity stripe 6 times.

 

[Hankster]

UConn rallied from a 10 point deficit against ND in December when Samuelson left the game due to her ankle and he had no choice but to turn to Stevens and Walker.

Speaking of Stevens. A tough first quarter for the girls. Geno puts in Stevens in the 2nd, and it was goodbye ND. She scored and blocked or altered ND;s inside game. ND could not drive with ease as they did in the first Quarter. Dangerfield sat most of the 2nd QTR. Dangerfield was horrible in the 1 Qtr. Although Dangerfields shot was a temporary dagger, I felt with Stevens in there she could easily chip away in the paint. ND really couldn't stop her. Second half she was in and out, mostly out.

 

[UConn990411]

Speaking of Stevens. A tough first quarter for the girls. Geno puts in Stevens in the 2nd, and it was goodbye ND. She scored and blocked or altered ND;s inside game. ND could not drive with ease as they did in the first Quarter. Dangerfield sat most of the 2nd QTR. Dangerfield was horrible in the 1 Qtr. Although Dangerfields shot was a temporary dagger, I felt with Stevens in there she could easily chip away in the paint. ND really couldn't stop her. Second half she was in and out, mostly out.

I only watched about 6 games this year, but every game I found myself saying “Geno doesn’t play Stevens enough.” It’s like he felt obligated to play the lineup from last year - almost to the detriment of what was actually their best lineup.

I rarely ever second guess him, but this was one of those (possibly fair) exceptions.

 

[whaler11]

I happened to see the 4th quarter and OT.

Geno was in full Cronin mode. Freaking out so badly up 5 that Daley was holding him back was a pretty bad sign. They certainly seemed to play to his level of tightness late.

 

[the Q]

I happened to see the 4th quarter and OT.

Geno was in full Cronin mode. Freaking out so badly up 5 that Daley was holding him back was a pretty bad sign. They certainly seemed to play to his level of tightness late.

That’s because they called 2 absolutely made up charges that would’ve basically put the game way.

 

[the Q]

2nd year in a row girls were playing timid, jogging up and down the floor letting chubby Nd girls beat them in transition.

I thought last year was a fluke, but these girls haven’t handled the bright lights well 2 years in a row.

 

[whaler11]

That’s because they called 2 absolutely made up charges that would’ve basically put the game way.

You can pass the next 9 months blaming the refs. Enjoy.

 

[HuskyNan]

They don't play a good team in January-March in their piss league. Is that clear enough for you? The 2nd best team in the AAC is USF who lost by 30 to Buffalo. They get a high profile non league opponent once or twice during that time but as bad as you think the AAC is in mens basketball it is heinous in women's basketball.

They beat two of the other final four teams in February. The South Carolina game was away.

Muffet is a great coach. ND deserves some credit for taking UConn out of its game.

 

[Devland]

That’s because they called 2 absolutely made up charges that would’ve basically put the game way.

The problem with the charge call, that he freaked out about, was the Notre Dame girl had both feet completely inside the circle. Unless the women don't use the circle (I don't watch many women's games so I am not up on their rules). Celtics were off tonight and I hate baseball. It was a horrible night to watch sports.

 

[bigknight3]

Refs were horrible, but Kia Nurse did travel on her game tying layup and it wasn't called.

Painful.

Massive travel!

Also, Katie Lou Samuelson ended up with the ball in her hands for what should be an easy shot for her at the end of OT after the "buzzer beater". She got the shot off in time but looked like her focus was gone. She already accepted they lost the game.

 

[browndog319]

Conspiracy theory: do you think this was done to change the narrative around how UConn is bad for women’s basketball? The better game would have been MSU against UConn but another 1 seed taking out UConn shows more parity, not dominance of one team... and if the officiating was an issue. Just a thought.

 

[bigknight3]

The problem with the charge call, that he freaked out about, was the Notre Dame girl had both feet completely inside the circle. Unless the women don't use the circle (I don't watch many women's games so I am not up on their rules). Celtics were off tonight and I hate baseball. It was a horrible night to watch sports.

They said in the broadcast that the circle has nothing to do with the primary defender. It's if a secondary help defender is stepping in. The ref determined that Uconn player dipped her shoulder into her primary defender to score.

 

[BugsyCT]

Women's board in full meltdown mode, there are people posting their goodbyes to WCBB because they can't take the heart ache.

I think the men's team has lost more this year than they have in the last 10.

Not surprised - that segment of fan base has been unparalleled in terms of being spoiled. Even after 11 NCs and 19 FF appearances, destroying opponents every night every year, if THIS is enough to tip the scales for them to call it quits, then maybe they need to do just that because sports fandom has never been easier than what they've had in the Geno era.

And for anyone blaming the AAC for them losing this game - really? REALLY? Was the old Big East really that much better than the AAC at WBB? Outside of ND and maybe UofL and Nova who challenged them on a yearly basis, if I recall they were destroying conference opponents regularly back then too and the "lack of parity in women's hoops" complaint would pop up whenever they beat Cincy or Providence or St. John's by 80 points. So please stop with that nonsense. OOC this year they played Stanford, Cal, Maryland, UCLA, Michigan St., Nevada, ND, DePaul, Oklahoma and destroyed them all. And they just beat Duke and destroyed SCar (team that won it all last year). It's not the conference. Not for the women's team.

 

[bigknight3]

Q4 was awful. Not sure what Geno was thinking sticking with KLS with 4 fouls, which opened up the inside for ND. I don't watch them enough to know how Geno usually subs, but it sure looked to me like UConn was a better team with Stevens on the floor tonight. Regardless, sticking with KLS late hurt the team and Muffet took full advantage.

KLS was his only consistent outside scoring threat. ND woulda packed the paint without her in.

 

[the Q]

You can pass the next 9 months blaming the refs. Enjoy.

Just saying that’s why he was freaking out.

Those calls were awful. Not even an argument to being accurate.

Uconn played soft, slow and timid all night.

They can’t handle the bright lights.

 

[the Q]

Massive travel!

Also, Katie Lou Samuelson ended up with the ball in her hands for what should be an easy shot for her at the end of OT after the "buzzer beater". She got the shot off in time but looked like her focus was gone. She already accepted they lost the game.

They never call that travel. I wish they would.

But that happens 20+ times per game in men’s game. I said that during last years FF and half the board freaked out about it.

 

[housekeys]

They said in the broadcast that the circle has nothing to do with the primary defender. It's if a secondary help defender is stepping in. The ref determined that Uconn player dipped her shoulder into her primary defender to score.

I have to look at the play again, but I think the foul was on KLS who drove and passed the ball to a teammate who scored. The ND player slid into KLS path and the ref called a charge. This gave KLS 3 fouls, and negated the UConn basket, on a play that I thought should have been a no call, given the tone of the game set by the officials. That is what is wrong with the officials in both genders. They set a tone for calling the game, and then, out of the blue, they violate their view of the game for certain plays. This happens to both teams and that is why fans bitch.

 

[80shusky]

Women's board in full meltdown mode, there are people posting their goodbyes to WCBB because they can't take the heart ache.

I think the men's team has lost more this year than they have in the last 10.

What would happen if they *gasp* lose two games in a season?

 

[the Q]

I have to look at the play again, but I think the foul was on KLS who drove and passed the ball to a teammate who scored. The ND player slid into KLS path and the ref called a charge. This gave KLS 3 fouls, and negated the UConn basket, on a play that I thought should have been a no call, given the tone of the game set by the officials. That is what is wrong with the officials in both genders. They set a tone for calling the game, and then, out of the blue, they violate their view of the game for certain plays. This happens to both teams and that is why fans bitch.

The KLS one the defender was out of bounds. Which means it cannot be a charge.

You cannot have legal guarding position while out of bounds.

 

[bigknight3]

I have to look at the play again, but I think the foul was on KLS who drove and passed the ball to a teammate who scored. The ND player slid into KLS path and the ref called a charge. This gave KLS 3 fouls, and negated the UConn basket, on a play that I thought should have been a no call, given the tone of the game set by the officials.

There were two charges that set Geno off. One was Stevens (I think?) dipping her shoulder into her primary defender directly underneath the basket.

The play you mentioned was KLS. I think a ND player stepped in outside of the circle while KLS dumped the ball off to teammate. The ND defender flopped. KLS stepped out of bounds to avoid running into the ND defender. I was surprised they called the charge considering KLS step diagonally out of bounds. She didn't run directly into the ND defender.

 

[ctchamps]

There were two charges that set Geno off. One was Stevens (I think?) dipping her shoulder into her primary defender directly underneath the basket.

The play you mentioned was KLS. I think a ND player stepped in outside of the circle while KLS dumped the ball off to teammate. The ND defender flopped. KLS stepped out of bounds to avoid running into the ND defender. I was surprised they called the charge considering KLS step diagonally out of bounds. She didn't run directly into the ND defender.

Yes KLS stepped diagonally and should not have received a foul but the perspective of the ref didn’t have the benefit of camera angle viewers had.