First, hopes and prayers for Aubrey - but it did not look good. Even Meg and Alan were like "ugh. We've seen this way to often with UCONN". Had to be helped off the floor. Really cast a pall over the rest of the game. Post game you could tell Geno was really down about it.
It would be easy to look at the first half offensive explosion of 53 points and say "wow the team played great", and to a degree they did. I thought Paige especially, and KK/Aaliyah all played tremendously well. 6-8 from 3, 66% overall shooting, holding Creighton to 32 points and 3-13 from 3. I thought the defense was particularly active and they tried really hard to close out and defend the 3 as well as they could. But Geno did mention Paige being too unselfish - and several times she passed up shots only to let someone else try, and miss, wasting the offensive possession. And Nika reverted back to making bad passes and poor decisions with the ball.
You always get the feeling Creighton could make a run, and boy do they jack up the 3's. But again, loved getting them into foul trouble. 3 of their starters with 2 fouls each in the first half. I think a lot of problems Creighton had came from UCONN making them play even faster than they wanted. The defense really was swarming, helping, and for the most part really good. 3rd quarter was meh. A bit of sloppy play and miscues. Great end to the quarter tho with a pressure turnover, nice save by Ice, and basket by Ash. And I'm just gonna say it (even if i get fined... LOL). The refs sucked. Paige and especially Liya were absolutely mugged in the post, but Nika breathes on a player and she's called for a foul? 14 total fouls called in the 3rd quarter alone.
- Paige - ridiculous stats - 24 points, 7 assists, 5 boards, 4 steals, 0 blocks (slacker!!). All this and I bet Geno still thinks she is too unselfish.
- I swear Liya had more boards than she was credited for. It seemed like she was snatching them down on almost every play. Great all around game from her. Double double yet again.
- Ash did what Ash does - a do everything player who plays 100% every second she's on the floor. Not only a stat stuffer, but a strong guard and terrific rebounder. She and KK were terrific.
- KK would be higher up due to her great play in the first half, but really - too many fouls. Good to see Geno talk to her after #4, and her to sit with an unhappy face on the bench. Something to learn from. And I'm guessing she did - came back in the 4th and really contributed. So impressed with her composure and maturity especially as a freshman.
- Ice looked much better, and even tho she was not great or even very good, her play so far this year has been disappointing enough that signs of life recently has been impressive, and will be much needed if what we fear is the worst news for Aubrey. She was solid, made good plays and choices, and hopefully is on the way up. She just looked more comfortable out there.
- Q - for all Geno's talk about her upside being so high, did not see that as much as hoped today. She will be sorely needed going forward. Nice seeing her drain a few shots late. She just needs to put it all together - the potential is there!
- Nika - 7 assists, 5 boards, and some great decisions separated by seriously bone headed turnovers. Still, mega congrats on her 500th assist. She is such a hard worker and bleeds blue forever.
- Nice seeing Ines and Amari get in - you'd expect that with a 40 point lead. But... and this sort of epitomizes their play. Amari was posting up. Ines threw a pass that was a tad too high for her. TO Ines. But instead of moving forward and leaping for the pass, Amari pulled hands back as if to say "i don't want it to go out of bounds off me". The problem was the pass came from Ines so it was already off a UCONN player. I doubt she could have caught the pass, but not to try - sort of sums up a lot of her game.
Came out strong in the 4th quarter. Actually, the team played really well after Aubrey's injury. Held Creighton to under 17% from 3 for the game. That's incredible. And we shot 47% from 3 and almost 81% from the FT line. Cannot complain at all about the MOV or how they defended Creighton. Much of the game was incredibly well played, especially for long stretches in the first half, and the 4th quarter. And they made a concerted effort to really get out and harass Creighton from beyond the arc. Overall a really solid game marred by potentially another devastating injury.
