I taped the game and watched it at this morning. My thoughts - some good, some not so good...
Vandy was overmatched. They rely on a bunch of freshmen who at times did some good things individually, but more often got steamrolled by UCONN. I liked their center a lot - she had one terrific post move in the first half and scored over Stokes, which is no small feat.
I thought the team played really well as a whole. A lot of communication, and especially help defense when a player was beaten by the kid they were guarding. Did not see that in the Stanford game as much. 2 nits to pick from the announcers - again Meghan went on and on about the "energy" of the team. I think that's a bit incorrect to say that only vs. Vandy did they play with good energy. I think they've had good energy all season, but the chemistry was better (communication, spacing, etc etc). Also, she mentioned again several times when referring to the energy as "UCONN wanting it more". That's a load of horse crap. It's like saying UCONN won the NC because they wanted it more than ND. I hate that saying and have no idea why announcers continue to use it in their broadcasts.
While I like Stokes' size in the post, Morgan Tuck deserves to start. She seems to be involved in one way or another in almost every play. The kid is just fantastic and we are starting to see now why she was ranked #1 at one point when she was a freshman or sophomore in high school.
Kia Nurse also deserves to start. She's mature beyond her years, has a confidence about her, and can score from pretty much anywhere. Also she makes terrific decisions - often we "complain" that freshmen make dumb freshman mistakes. I don't see her doing any of that.
I still don't see the same Moriah we saw last year - I thought she was spectacular and the 2nd best guard in the nation. But I thought she was really solid vs. Vandy. Liked seeing her shot fall. She seemed to be shying away from it in earlier games. Then again, with so many scorers, she does not need to jack up shots...
Stewie seems to be struggling. At least one of the foul calls in the 1st half was bogus, but if she can't figure out how to score more when being double teamed, she won't be NPOY. 12 points, 2 assists and 3 boards is not the production we should be getting from the reigning NPOY. Still, I think some of her problem was the foul trouble. 3 in the first half but only 1 in the 2nd half.
KML has been the most consistent scorer on the team this season, Stanford game excepted. She's averaging almost 20 PPG and I really focused on her vs. Vandy. She has a great handle - much better than I thought. She seemed to move well and was not noticeably slow or deficient on defense.
Stokes had a few good moments in the 1st half, and a ton in the 2nd half. Thought she looked really good - intense, and really strong on defense.
Chong is a bit of a mystery to me. Geno raved about her in the preseason, but her defense is swiss cheese. She gets beat constantly on defense because she does not get down in her stance, does not keep her arms up, and does not defend with her feet - but rather with her hands. It's disappointing to see a sophomore play such poor defense. And her offense is only average. I don't like her with the ball in her hands directing traffic. I'm much more comfortable seeing Moriah or Kia with the ball in their hands. I think Saniya has the chance to be a really solid reserve - maybe something like Ashley Battle. I don't really ever see her starting, at least not till her senior year when Jefferson is gone. I hope I'm wrong, but I have not seen a large jump from her freshman to sophomore years.
Gabby Williams - what an energizer bunny. Reminds me a bit of Morgan - in that when she's on the court, she's involved in most of the plays in one way or another. She needs to work on FT's but really seems to be picking things up quickly, especially for a kid who missed almost 2 years with injuries.