This was an unusual night at Gampel. Santa was sitting behind the bench. It was a decent crowd for a weekday game in December against a weaker opponent. Said weaker opponent hung around quite well in the first half, they generated some open looks and cashed in on them. Their guards acquitted themselves nicely. Pretty well coached, I would say.
The cavalry showed up in the second half. And somebody took the lid off of the basket. the defensive intensity picked up as well and UConn was able to generate some hoops in transition.
After sitting through that snoozer of a first quarter, the final game stats are quite a shock to read. That’s a good thing. It seemed like UConn was getting good open shots in the first quarter, they just couldn’t hit anything.
What made it worse was I don’t think we got an offensive rebound in the first quarter. One and done. And we weren’t getting any turnovers into easy scores either. So the energy in the building was nonexistent at the end of the first quarter. What’s going on here, was the sentiment.
Geno was mixing and matching in a way that hasn’t been seen at Gampel in a long, long time. Ash was in, then out. Chen was set to come out over a contact lens issue but made a layup using her good eye before she headed to the locker room. Sarah was in, then out. Lots of combinations. Chen and KK on the court together, for example.
That Sarah Strong is a big time player. I am thrilled we will see her for four years. Morgan got a lot of playing time as well and looked very good. The future is bright. So is the present.
A young women did the Arvelo Airlines shoot to win contest, didn’t win but then her boyfriend proposed to her at half court. Shaking off her disappointment at not winning, she said yes. Later in the evening, a guy hit a half court shot and won something for it, I think money off his tuition.That was also cool. The shooting ability of the fans has definitely gone up.
We had eleven available, Aubrey participated in warmups. Ayanna was in the sling, bummer.