Some tidbits from the box score that (at least to me) weren't evident while watching the game:
- Serah played only 9 minutes, and Jana played just 7. That means that Sarah Strong was UConn's de facto center for 23 of the 39 minutes that she played in the game. In essence, UConn's default lineup is the so-called "small" lineup with Sarah and Blanca as their two "bigs" (at least on defense). Those two are doing their jobs in that role, with 15 rebounds between them (13 of which were defensive).
- Blanca's contribution went way beyond her scoring, although that was exceptional (7-for-12 and 4-for-8 from 3). She had 8 rebounds including 2 at the offensive end, even though she was functionally a guard on offense. She also had 3 assists and 1 steal.
- UConn as a team had 8 more shot attempts than Notre Dame (54 vs. 46) and also shot a higher percentage (44% vs. 39%). That is probably because UConn had 4 more offensive rebounds than the Irish (not something I would have guessed from watching the game) and 4 fewer turnovers.
- Although KK was held scoreless on 6 shot attempts, she had 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and ZERO turnovers. Her counterpart Hidalgo had 3 assists and FIVE turnovers, although she did remarkably have 11 rebounds. But KK definitely "earned her minutes" in today's game. Geno recognized this by giving her 31 minutes of playing time.
- Ashlynn did not score in 22 minutes, but she grabbed 5 rebounds (2 offensive), some of which were in the highlight reel category. And she had 2 steals, 1 assist, and only 1 turnover.
- Surprisingly given UConn's advantage in offensive rebounds, second-chance points favored ND by 9-0. That's right, UConn did not get a single second-chance point in this game!
Let me add some comments about the Final Four. Among the remaining teams other than UConn, the only guard that I see who is really comparable in skill to Hidalgo is her former running buddy, Olivia Miles of TCU. Honestly, I don't expect that Olivia will be traveling to Phoenix. That means that UConn is not going to face another uber-talented guard in either Final Four game comparable to what they faced today.
South Carollina (UConn's probable opponent on Friday) has a talented stable of guards: Raven and Tessa Johnson plus Taniiya Latson. As a group, they are better than Notre Dame's backcourt, but none of them resemble Hidalgo. I would give UConn's backcourt of Azzi, KK, Ash,
and Blanca an overall advantage in talent and organization over the Gamecocks' group. The SC frontcourt will be Joyce Edwards and Medina Okot vs. Sarah and Serah/Jana/Blanca. The UConn advantage here is not clear-cut, but I think it is real. I would expect that Serah and especially Jana can play Okot well enough to neutralize her. And I don't expect SC's team offense or defense will be at the level that Notre Dame brought in today's game.
