Villanova Postgame Thread

[Surly1]

First, a solid win on the road. After letting Siegrist roam for 10 early points, the team collectively did a great job defensively on her, not allowing her clean looks. Aaliyah struggled again offensively, but made up for it with her rebounding and having the primary responsibility of guarding Siegrist.

The game was not pretty as the refs wanted to stamp their imprint on the game. Lou was back in her "flow."

One peeve I had was with the announcers. IT appeared they were more interested in hearing themselves speak rather than cal the game. It was beyond annoying how they couldn't let one second pass without speaking. Is it me or did anyone else feel likewise.

Hopefully, the team can have a few breathers in the next 3 games before the BE tournament begins.

 

[Centerstream]

With Fox being a network of The Big East, this sure sounded like a Nova homer broadcast. IMO.

 

[housekeys]

The announcers stated the game flow in a single sentence "3 fouls in 15 seconds". Yup, that's a wrap.

Actually they would be more correct if they said, "3 fouls in 15 seconds, and an equal number not called"

 

[billnaples]

Anyone know why Patterson is not getting any minutes. Did I miss an injury? I understand Bettencourt and to a lesser extent DeBerry but thought Patterson had played decent.

 

[fomalhaut]

The fourth foul call on Muhl was one of the worst I've ever seen. She was run over by Olsen (?) and plowed right into Siegrist, and got called for a foul instead of an offensive foul on Olsen. That's the same kind of play Fudd got hurt on, against Notre Dame.

Not to mention three different Connecticut players got hit in the face without a single foul being called.

Having said that, Connecticut played an outstanding defensive game, and a good game overall except for the absurd number of turnovers.

 

[Biff]

The kindest thing I can say about the officiating in this game is that it was horrendous.

You are a kinder person than I.

 

[EasyEd]

The team's commitment to D was the key to the game and they scored enough to win.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Loved the defense and rebounding!!!!!

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I was never in doubt that they were going to win during the fourth quarter run by Nova.

 

[Centerstream]

Anyone know why Patterson is not getting any minutes. Did I miss an injury? I understand Bettencourt and to a lesser extent DeBerry but thought Patterson had played decent.

Have you been watching the same games that most of us have watched? How many points has she scored?

 

[HuskyNan]

1) This game is 120-55 if UConn is at full-strength.

2) The officiating was random and inept. The officials have no idea what a held ball is and the fourth foul on Muhl should result in someone losing a paycheck. Kid fighting concussions gets whacked in the head and it was totally cool with those nitwits. Grand.

3) Villanova is all-in on spray tans. You generally do not see that level of tan outside of Arizona State or maybe FSU.

4) Edwards‘ basket to make it 54-50 was the game.

5) That was Villanova’s best shot at beating UConn for the foreseeable future and…it did not work.

Really, really good win.

You didn’t mention the uppercut to Aaliyah’s chin that was called a turnover

 

[HuskyNan]

Credit to UConn's defense on Siegrist this time or did Villanova again not look to get the ball to their best player?

Lou scored 22 points on 12 shots and Siegrist scored 21 points on 22 shots. I love Siegrist btw.

The kindest thing I can say about the officiating in this game is that it was horrendous.

Very good win.

UConn finally defended the ball instead of the player. Geno also rotated Aaliyah and Dorka on her and Maddy couldn’t see over them to go get the ball. Some fine coaching there

 

[dtbtbtb]

Few Thoughts:
*Great win for UConn which practically assured them the regular season championship! Villanova is a good team and winning against them on the road with that sell out hostile croud was great.
The refs in WBB sxck...all those ticky tack fouls they called and all the hard fouls they didn't call was hard to understand.
*Why is CD head such a magnet to be hit??? poor kid! there must be a for her to play with some kind of a soft helmet...
*Lou: what an amazing player! so cool under pressure
*AE: was waiting for the Edwards the AA to show up during the last few games. Still was not it but she was fighting hard, guarding Maddy S. and did a real good job on her (remember that Maddy had 50 and 39 points her last 2 games).
*Nika: our mad Husky you don't want to mess with Nika but when she complained very verbally (using some choice words), the refs were quick to give her a third foul...
*Those turnovers are just crazy...they make some brain fart mistakes that cost them in having way less opportunities to shoot.
*The strong defense is really keeping UConn in games.
*Azzi, we need you!!!



*

 

[Littlemin]

Great win. Liked seeing Muhl play smart while in foul trouble. Loved the composure when the momentum shifted in Q4. Very nice win for the team. Now if they can figure out the turnovers!

This team does a lot of things “wrong” if you will. But they have great chemistry, even greater heart, their one constant is defense, and they know how to win.
It is a weird dichotomy, their confidence they can make any play leads to many of the TOs, but also let’s them play with a fearlessness that leads to making plays down the stretch of close games.
Serious kudos to Edwards today; just an absolutely tremendous job on Siegrist, she was 5-7 in the1st qtr, 3-15 after that.

 

[Wbbfan1]

UConn held Nova to 1 point in the final 4 minutes of the Game. The game was there for Nova to take and they didn't take advantage of the opportunities they had. I was surprised that Maddy Seigrist was held to 5 in the 4th Quarter. Maddy also only had 7 points in the 2nd half. A bad shooting day for her. Aaliyah Edwards covered Maddy for most of the game and that seemed to bother Maddy. Both Nova and UConn left a lot of points on the floor and if they meet in the Big East tournament who knows which team will win.

 

[HuskyNan]

Anyone know why Patterson is not getting any minutes. Did I miss an injury? I understand Bettencourt and to a lesser extent DeBerry but thought Patterson had played decent.

They needed scoring and strong defense. The bench players aren’t experienced enough to play both ends of the court yet

 

[Blue Huskie]

Chris D. was just on the radio. She didn't say a bad word about the refs. Just that it was physical. 99% of the time she won't complain about it. She's a bigger person than I (LOL) She gave credit to the collective Defense on Siegrist. Some big shots at big times by some people.

 

[Topdawg]

A hard fought victory for UConn against a tough opponent!

What went well:
1. Rebound advantage of 47 to 25.
2. Strong shooting performance from Lou.
3. Double doubles from Aaliyah and Dorka.
4. Great team defense on Maddy with particular credit going to Aaliyah and Aubrey
5. 8 assists from Nika.
6. Strong contributions from Caroline and Aubrey.
7. Free throw advantage. 17 of 26 vs. 6 of 12

What could have been better:
1. Turnovers, 22 vs. 9 for Villanova
2. Steals 4 to 12
3. Shots taken, 47 vs. 60

The team maintained good composure and moderate energy levels to pull off an important road win.

Onward to the next game. I believe no one got hurt and I hope Azzi continues to recover and will join the games soon.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I'd let these ladies back me up in a bar fight.

 

[Blue Huskie]

Anyone know why Patterson is not getting any minutes. Did I miss an injury? I understand Bettencourt and to a lesser extent DeBerry but thought Patterson had played decent.

The refs would have fouled her out in 3 minutes.

 

[Tonyc]

The TOs made it close. Still to many turnovers. This is a team with alot of heart and guts that never gives up. Some how they keep it together though all theyve been through and the TOs. Man if those Tos were down to 12 or less a game we would be beating alot of teams by 20+. We found a way to overcome alot of things today and won. Pregame alot of fans didnt think we could win and defense helped it alot. Not a bad rebounding day either. Now we wait for Caroline to get healthy and maybe we hear something about Azzi.

 

[Fishy]

You didn’t mention the uppercut to Aaliyah’s chin that was called a turnover

Honestly, the fourth foul on Muhl almost reset my brain and anything that happened prior in the game or in my recent life was erased.

I watched with the sound off so I thought it was an offensive foul at first because it was, you know, an offensive foul. I could not believe it.

The official on the baseline there was so random in his calls - it was like he was just rotating through all of the his hand gestures just to practice them.

Plus, honestly, that this point in the game, I was all in on making fun of the Nova spray tans to anyone who would listen.

 

[Kaizen]

4) Edwards‘ basket to make it 54-50 was the game.

And Lou's 2 more pts secures the win at 56 - 50.

I also think Edwards' defense on Siegrist, 8-22, 21 pts is also the key..

 

[huskeynut]

Great win by UConn.

Tough defense all game. Aaliyah held Seigrist 21 points on 8 - 22 shooting. Controlled the boards and had a better shooting percentage than Nova. Grind out offensive performance with Lou, Aaliyah and Dorka in double figures.

Officiating was terrible, and I'm being kind. Aaliyah takes a shot to the jaw and no foul. Aaliyah called for a walk. Caroline hit in the head by Seigrist and no call. Olsen pushes Nika into a player and Nika gets the foul. Do they even know what a jump ball is? Seeing too much of this type of officiating.

Announcers - ugh.

 

[HuskerDo]

I must have missed something on the play in which Nika was pushed from behind, with a jump ball then called. Not a great call--as the announcers said--but it happens. Then I look up and Villanova is shooting free throws (missed both). Who was the foul on and when did it happen?

 

[Fishy]

And Lou's 2 more pts secures the win at 56 - 50.

That shot was damned near impossible.

 

[Ralph]

I missed something completely near the end, Nika had the ball two players went at her, one of them seemed to hit her in the face. Announcers seemed to be saying jump ball tie up. Then with no explanation Villanova is shooting free throws. What happened?

 

[ABCDFE]

Really proud how the team stepped up in crunch time. This game seemed to be slipping from them after they built a 12 point lead and then Caroline getting hit on the face. They could've folded, but battled back with timely shots especially by Lou.

• Nika - From the eye test she didn't have her best game, she provided no offense and had some blow bys on defense. It is what it is, without Azzi she just isn't as aggressive because she's needed to stay on the floor.
• AE- Overall I thought she played pretty well. I think when she sees the double team she needs to quickly pass back out and reset, too many times we're turning ball over with forcing the issue in the low post
• Dorka - Solid game by Dorka. I'm no expert, but it seems that Dorka gets pushed to the floor too often, kind of like crumpling. Not sure if this is strength or balance issue, but it's hard to see her bang with bigger posts
• Lou - Can't say enough about this gal, just so clutch and even though she's banged up she has a knack of making all the tough shots. Kudos to her.
• Aubrey - got some big rebounds and chipped in some points. Her defensive assigments today were tough. Hoping she can be a bit more offensive minded for us as we're having a tough time scoring. Wondering if Geno & Co. can draw up some plays for her in the post so given her athletic ability and scoring threat near the basket
• Caroline - Savvy player, really nervous every time she's down low getting a rebound etc. Hope it isn't anything serious from the hit to the face. Didn't shoot the ball much, but make some nice buckets in second half

 

[Urshurak]

Anyone know why Patterson is not getting any minutes. Did I miss an injury? I understand Bettencourt and to a lesser extent DeBerry but thought Patterson had played decent.

No offense. That’s why. In a game like this we need points, especially with Nika not scoring.

 

[Kat]

I have never seen a game where so many players, all on one team, got hit in the head/face by their opponents, most of the time without a foul being called.