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Message: [QUOTE="Longtime fan, post: 3410528, member: 7093"] I am going to re-watch the game, because I do not recall Aubrey hitting an outside shot. I focus on this because we need ( for her ) the progression from ; " I'm afraid to take a shot" ; to, " I'm not confident "; to "what if I miss?"; to " I nailed it " ; to, " gimme the ball! " No doubt about it, though, Aubrey's energy and the turnovers and possessions she created ( not to mention the lay-ups) rattled Tennessee, and energized our team. From the moment she began stealing the ball, the entire team started hustling more. Suddenly, UCONN players were all over the court...often on the floor...diving for loose balls. When she does become confident with her outside shot, she is sure to be reliable as well. And we had no one yesterday, who could be depended upon to make an outside shot. I hope the coaches agree that she has earned a lot more playing time. Certainly, Megan and Crystal are excellent shooters, but not yesterday. I thought, perhaps, Williams had found her shooting eye in the previous game, but that was clearly not the case. Nevertheless, she is a force on defense, and in driving the lane. She is tough, strong and determined. It shows in her rebounding. It was critical for Olivia to begin hitting an outside shot. The entire universe changes for UCONN if she can do that consistently. She did hit outside shots yesterday ( twice, by my count ) and, I think , was 3-4 at the free throw line. Her outside shots, however, were not " all net," and that is what she really needs to do ( i.e. become more confident and polished as a shooter ). But I am complaining about the steak. Sorry. Let me add a word about Crystal. I think she needs to be given some rest. If we can't use Molly, use another line-up combination. But 40 minutes in a tough game, over a short-time period ( between games ) seem to be taking a toll. Perhaps her shooting fell off yesterday ( remember; she was our only scorer early, but she didn't make a shot in the second half ) because she was out of energy. She does so much and gets beaten up every game. Sometimes it appears as though it is a struggle for her to get back up on her feet, after getting slammed to the floor. The coaches have to see this as well. She has to be 100% at tournament time, and ready to go a full 40 once UCONN hits the sweet sixteen round. Burning her out now makes no sense to me. Ania shows great hustle and stamina. Her shooting can be devastating to our opponents ( I think they don't expect it ). Her accuracy isn't yet up to the level she can reach. But she is running, cutting, passing and rebounding very well. Clearly, she will now replace Kyla earlier, and for longer. We all love Kyla. But it was clear, yesterday, that she was not on her best game. Perhaps it was the level of competition. Who knows? We had a lot of players, yesterday, who were not at their best. I think Geno will continue to start her, but she has to "up" her game. And she can. The really good news is that we won against a good team, after being down at the half. We persevered in a contest where our big contributors couldn't make their shots. And the team learned the benefit of " going all out." And they learned it because Aubrey led the way. Olivia got tougher, too. And took a big step forward. This was a nice win. And important lessons were learned. [/QUOTE]

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