The scene in St. Thomas

[HuskyNan]

A very interesting night. First of all, after two nights of half full arenas, the place was PACKED, standing room only. Local fans came out in droves to see the two ranked teams play. Parking was scarce and our crew (my husband, two sons, ThisJustIn and I) had a bit of adventure when the rental car got hung up on the curb as I tried to park. Some nice young men came to help us and very kindly didn't laugh at the crazy tourist.

Anywho, there was a fair sized contingent of Purdue fans. As the game went on there was considerable grumbling by them over the physical nature of the game and they thought Purdue was being, well, screwed by the refs. One Purdue fan screamed "You're an embarassment" at the ref with the dark ponytail. Versyp screamed into the refs ear as she stood by the Purdue bench and got a warning which became a T a short while later. It was just a matter of time - Versyp just rode the refs.

One Purdue fan screamed what I consider highly inappropriate comments towards Bria after Bria fouled a Purdue player and they both fell to the floor. The other fans must have hushed him as he didn't continue but, man, get a life. Oh, another Purdue fan said that Stef wasn't fouled when she was whacked in the face and fell to the floor. According to her, Stef just fell down, lol.

The game was really, really physical. Even though the Purdue fans were grumbling, the Boilermakers gave as well as they got. The refs let 'em play and they did. There will be a lot of players from both teams in the ice bath tomorrow. Re: Kaleena, I think she fell and whacked her head on the floor. She seemed groggy when she got up.

in the arena, there was a commotion on the other side, behind Phil, and I do believe a fight broke out. I thought it might be a UConn fan vs Purdue fan but apparently it was two young local guys. The security was quite good - they were on top of the situation immediately.

During the trophy presentation, the fire alarm went off! The announcer just kept announcing and people just continued to mill around. Has anyone ever paid attention to fire alarms after elementary school?

I want to complain about the UConn fans. Purdue makes a run, cutting into the lead and...nothing. Dead silence. I tried the Let's Go Huskies! cheer and people just looked at me. Geez.

 

[uconnfan68]

The game was really, really physical. Even though the Purdue fans were grumbling, the Boilermakers gave as well as they got. The refs let 'em play and they did. There will be a lot of players from both teams in the ice bath tomorrow. Re: Kaleena, I think she fell and whacked her head on the floor. She seemed groggy when she got up.

Thanks for the great reports. Just wanted you to know KLM was inadvertently hit by their big girl and looks like she'll have a sore neck. Don't remember seeing her at the pictures afterward, but her head didn't hit the floor.

 

[Phil]

yeah, some sort of fight broke out behind me - I came in planning to sit int he UConn section - I arrived an hour before tipoff, and there wasn't enough room for six of us to sit, so we went tot he other side and sat with some of the locals.

I didn't actually see the fight, but I could see a security guard hustling someone out of the arena.

Apparently this was the place to be on Saturday night, some joked that every teenager on the island was there, some int he arena, but hundreds milling in the aisle, and walk ways and stairwells. It was challenging to get around the arena because it was so packed.

 

[slug25]

Kaleena was with the team when it returned to Frenchman's Reef. She was smiling but still smarting a bit. The Doc was keeping a close eye on things, but KLM seemed to be OK from what we could tell as bystanders.

 

[Wonkster]

OPPORTUNITY LOST FOR NAN ...

COULDA BOUGHT THIS FAN A TICKET!!

 

[UConnCat]

"We missed shots early, probably eight layups, so if we could have had four of those layups it could have been just a different game," Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said.

Just four?

 

[speedoo]

Kaleena was with the team when it returned to Frenchman's Reef. She was smiling but still smarting a bit. The Doc was keeping a close eye on things, but KLM seemed to be OK from what we could tell as bystanders.

Thanks, good news.

 

[cardfan]

Not really surprised at the reaction of the some of the Purdue fans. I've been to dozens of arenas for women's bball across the country, and by far, the Purdue fans at Mackey court were the most vocal about EVERY call.

 

[mauconnfan]

"We missed shots early, probably eight layups, so if we could have had four of those layups it could have been just a different game," Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said.

Just four?

She's an idiot.....remind her they shot 13 for 18 or something from 3.......if they shot a normal 7 for 18 they would've been beaten by almost 60.......she walked by Geno as fast as possible as he was going to talk to her......crappy loser!!

 

[speedoo]

She's an idiot.....remind her they shot 13 for 18 or something from 3.......if they shot a normal 7 for 18 they would've been beaten by almost 60.......she walked by Geno as fast as possible as he was going to talk to her......crappy loser!!

She's NOT an idiot.. I think she's a good coach, but against UConn, every coach looks worse than they really are.

Her team won the B1G last year and they will challenge again this year.

 

[Icebear]

"We missed shots early, probably eight layups, so if we could have had four of those layups it could have been just a different game," Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said.

Just four?

This goes under the category of things you have to tell yourself but aren't necessarily true.

 

[caravaggio]

I agree that I think she's a good coach; but I also think her comments were a bit, shall we say, delusional.

 

[alexrgct]

Yeah, if Purdue had scored 34 more points, they would have been right in that thing...

 

[mauconnfan]

She's NOT an idiot.. I think she's a good coach, but against UConn, every coach looks worse than they really are.

Her team won the B1G last year and they will challenge again this year.

Don't think I said she was a bad coach I said she acted like an idiot........her girls had the extra step everywhere in the lane, the calls were right and she was bitching, easy stuff and then to just ignore Geno's attempt to communicate show's the person she is.......don't blame her completely after all no one likes getting their a** kicked but she showed to be a whiner during and with quotes after..........the UConn women play them again and win by 50 or more easily........

 

[Icebear]

Don't think I said she was a bad coach I said she acted like an idiot........her girls had the extra step everywhere in the lane, the calls were right and she was bitching, easy stuff and then to just ignore Geno's attempt to communicate show's the person she is.......don't blame her completely after all no one likes getting their a** kicked but she showed to be a whiner during and with quotes after..........the UConn women play them again and win by 50 or more easily........

She is known in the Big Ten as a whiner. Generally, however, she is a good coach.

 

[Phil]

"We missed shots early, probably eight layups, so if we could have had four of those layups it could have been just a different game," Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said.

Just four?

She's absolutely right. If they had hit four of those layups, they would have only lost by 26, and been the only team so far to be within thirty.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Versyp is a successful D1 coach. I'm sure she was aware of the scoring margin when she made the comment. I'm not sure why anyone would think her an idiot.

My impression was that her comment had nothing to do with the score. I think she felt that if they had been able to make some baskets early on the game might not have been a rout. As it was, players missed early shots, UConn built an early lead and it took some of the confidence out of her team.

 

[HuskyNan]

Don't think I said she was a bad coach I said she acted like an idiot........her girls had the extra step everywhere in the lane, the calls were right and she was bitching, easy stuff and then to just ignore Geno's attempt to communicate show's the person she is.......don't blame her completely after all no one likes getting their a** kicked but she showed to be a whiner during and with quotes after..........the UConn women play them again and win by 50 or more easily........

The PU fans seemed to feel that UConn always traveled but Purdue never did. fter Stef was called for a walk, one guy stood up and yelled, "Finally! Thank you!!".

 

[OneTrickPony]

My impression was that her comment had nothing to do with the score. I think she felt that if they had been able to make some baskets early on the game might not have been a rout. As it was, players missed early shots, UConn built an early lead and it took some of the confidence out of her team.

This would be my view...I think her team played hard throughout, but when you can't score at all it has to be deflating. I am surprised that a very good D1 team would design an offense so early in the season with no attempt to work in the paint. I'd have to say that Versyp's plan worked (great outside shooting) but without much chance of winning the game...how much better can they possibly shoot?

 

[Wonkster]

She is known in the Big Ten as a whiner....

http://tinyurl.com/c2brafg

The Whiners ...

 

[vtcwbuff]

The PU fans seemed to feel that UConn always traveled but Purdue never did. fter Stef was called for a walk, one guy stood up and yelled, "Finally! Thank you!!".

Sounds like Boneyard fans.

 

[Forty_four]

She's NOT an idiot.. I think she's a good coach, but against UConn, every coach looks worse than they really are.

Her team won the B1G last year and they will challenge again this year.

She may not be an idiot but it is a foolish comment.

 

[Tonyc]

I think shes a very good coach. If the refs called a close game her team wouldve fouled out. Like most games we will see for the next couple of seasons this was a mismatch. Purdue is a very good team, a ranked team and a well coached team but for the next couple of seasons UConn is no match for almost any team. Lets face it guys, this is one talented and explosive team.

Purdue was very physical, but could do nothing with UConns defense. They were overwhelmed and when nothing was working and they were out manned the only thing left was looking for excuses that could help them. Unfortunatley there are going to be alot of coaches who arent happy with Geno because theyre teams are being embarrassed, humiliated, and flat out discouraged. The margin of error for opponets playing againest UConn is much higher then other teams. Because of the talent on this roster there is no let up. They just keep coming at you, no matter who he puts in. Coaches have to realize that going into a game.

I can see why Purdue is upset with the calls. I was too. To many no calls when players were getting away with obvious fouls. Its not Genos fault, he has no let up on his bench and its not his fault that his teams in most cases have more talent and are better coached. I get angry when I hear and see stuff like coaches wont talk to opposing coaches. Thats Good Sportmanship. Suck it up, put a smile on your face, and go to your lockeroom and then let your feelings out.

Sharon is a competitor and expected a good fight. Her team didnt deliver because of UConn. This was a big letdown. She was angry and crushed her team got killed. Alot of coaches are going to feel that way. Alot of coaches know going into a game againest UConn this could happen. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to prevent it.

 

[cferraro04]

Just like TonyC said....that's all.

 

[Bestiarius]

remind her they shot 13 for 18 or something from 3.......if they shot a normal 7 for 18 they would've been beaten by almost 60.......

And the 13 3s wasn't an indication of bad defense on Uconn's part. They were gunning them in from the next island. When Houser took a shot I thought they were saying howitzer!