UConn @ East Carolina Game Thread

[MilfordHusky]

Chong with a trey, now at 499 career points.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Butler turn around shot off the glass. 79-38 2:32 4th

 

[Blue Huskie]

Nat still going strong!

 

[Kaizen]

Saniya made 3 pts

 

[Gus Mahler]

Actually I thought it was Newton's Third Law of Motion.

or Butler's First Law of Emotion.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Butler completes the 3 pt play 82-38 2:00 4th

 

[MilfordHusky]

FG and FT for Natalie. 82 points. Free wings!!

 

[HoopsFan21]

Pulido and TLaw in for the under 2

 

[HoopsFan21]

84-41 final

 

[Kaizen]

Butler made 2, total 11 pts

 

[JavaMan]

Final Stats [HERE] and [HERE]

 

[Blue Huskie]

Butler made 2, total 11 pts

Love the way she worked through that. She was out there playing her game and doing what they want her to do. Not just swinging elbows after what happened. Great job.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Stewie's stat line: 16, 11, 4, 3, and 8. 0 TOs, 0 fouls.

 

[iri10]

or Butler's First Law of Emotion.

And given Natalie's imposing size, I suspect the Clue Axiom will be in play during any potential foul call: "The Butler Did It."

 

[Huskies Rule]

I hate to say it, but when Saniya gets in, runs the point, and the game is out of reach, she seems to forget about distributing the ball (like tonight), takes too many poor shots, and seems more interested in scoring herself than finding her teammates.

As a junior looking for more playing time, she isn't helping herself. I expected much better from Saniya.

 

[EricLA]

She didn't "throw" her to the floor. The kid was going for a retaliation bump and Nat was stronger than she was.
I was watching Chris's reaction and she seemed to be sticking up for what Nat did.

Bingo. Let's not get all hysterical. Nat was a tad overly physical. So was ECU. The red head for ECU almost took out Samuelson earlier. ECU is a physical team and they were frustrated and it showed. Good for KLS and Butler for giving it back. It was reminiscent of Bam Bam... She was quite the enforcer.

Anyway I'm glad Nat worked thru it. Got back into the game and scored double figures. I bet Geno is privately pleased she showed some fire.

Side note - in the 4th quarter we ended up outscoring them 18-10. I think ECU was up 6-2 early in teh quarter. So with mostly our reserves in for the rest of the game, we did outscore them 16-4. Just sayin...

 

[Icebox]

I actually really like how Saniya runs the point. She brings the ball up and runs the offense better than anybody but Mo.

 

[johnnyc]

Love the way she worked through that. She was out there playing her game and doing what they want her to do. Not just swinging elbows after what happened. Great job.

Yeah I noticed that too. She stayed focused. In fact she hit an outside shot shortly after play resumed.

 

[HoopsFan21]

We're the 800 lb gorilla in the room. Let's be classy. It's easy money (a.k.a. PR) when you know you will win by 30-40-50 before you even tip. I love seeing shots where our players are helping the opposition off the floor.

 

[Kaizen]

Bingo. Let's not get all hysterical. Nat was a tad overly physical. So was ECU. The red head for ECU almost took out Samuelson earlier. ECU is a physical team and they were frustrated and it showed. Good for KLS and Butler for giving it back. It was reminiscent of Bam Bam... She was quite the enforcer.

Anyway I'm glad Nat worked thru it. Got back into the game and scored double figures. I bet Geno is privately pleased she showed some fire.

I can see Butler has confidence tonight... good girl

 

[Huskies Rule]

Yeah they saw that Butler pushed her (not throwing her down). Nobody is denying that. But the play was over and the EC kid got in Butler's face.

The way I saw it, the play was over, Natalie was in the paint and quickly turned to run to the defensive end. I don't think she ever saw the ECU kid; she wanted to get the heck to the other end, fast, and the ECU kid was just there, in her face...Nothing to do but run her over... We all know that Nat is NOT a dirty player. She was getting hammered a lot and returned the favor. YOU GO, NAT! Playing tough and strong will get you lots more minutes- that's what Geno is looking for from her. So go blame Geno.

 

[Kaizen]

Look how ECU play tough on Coller,

 

[bags27]

I can see Butler has confidence tonight... good girl

There's an interview this week with Geno who said he wanted Natalie to "impose herself on the game" and an interview with Natalie in which she said that for the very first time she's beginning to play with the same instincts she had when a freshman at Georgetown. It must have been very difficult last year, being part of and apart from the team, and suddenly having as teammates the very best WCBB players in the world. The last couple of games, she's letting it all go and playing on instinct. This could get good!

 

[Giovanni]

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[Huskies Rule]

One last thought...I LOVE the fact that neither Geno nor Stewie give a damn about double-doubles or triple-doubles. (Not nearly as much as the fans do.) Stewie could have easily had several this year, but coach limits her minutes when the game has been decided. Period. I think most other coaches would keep their star kid in to get that headline double-double or triple-double. For many, I'm sure it would be a huge ego thing, a big story lead in.

But the only statistic that matters to our players and coaches is wins and NCs.