Lou was beautiful last night. In Q4, she finally played with confidence and looked like she belonged out there. Yes, it was surprising in the first four games to see her shoot so poorly, but we all knew her 3-point shooting would come around. You don't go from being one of the best shooters in the nation to a lousy 4-18 shooter for no reason, and I think it was all about nerves. Before DePaul, her misses weren't because she was taking ill-advised shots or she was forcing them up while being tightly covered- they were mostly all bad, open misses. Clankety clank.
It seemed Lou was nervous, as might well be expected with all the hoopla with which she came to UConn. Tons of pressure trying to fit in, show your stuff, and help the best team in the country. The expectations on her were (are) sky high. People were talking about Lou as the next coming of Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis. So unfair, such pressure. So while the clankfest she endured in her first 4 games was troubling to many, the all-around poise she displayed last night was a tremendous leap forward. As was Geno's confidence in keeping her on the floor with the game on the line.
Lou handled the press great, passed and handled the ball calmly and precisely, and moved nicely without the ball for two easy baskets. Lou is losing those early season jitters and becoming more comfortable with her coach, her teammates, and playing at this highest level. I think this high-pressure DePaul road game will re-instill Lou's self-confidence, and we'll begin to see in the coming weeks just why she was the number one high school player in America. Nice work, Lou.
