Guys, what was the turning point in that game?
IMO it was in the first with about 3 minutes to go when Bria made a three pointer followed by a 2 pointer. Stef & Co. celebrated with her and the lead suddenly became 10. The announcer said: "Has UCONN finally figured out how to knock off ND?" That's when I knew the NC was ours.
I also thought so too Sonny…and remember the second, the pull-up from around the foul line was after the Kelly block off Sky, Bria picked it up, rounded the base-line and drove the length to make her shot. A stunning dominant moment all the way around.
[quote Uconn-ND IV
was not in the remote vicinity of a close game. ND hung tight in the first half until UConn unleashed the full force of its basketball team for the first time all season. ND had a meaningless run in the second half that uconn promptly squashed before proving conclusively that ND was an overrated pile of useless. Which they were, btw. Uconn should have been 15+ points better than ND all season. Stuff happens.[/quote]
Alex, your point about Notre Dame's apparent weakness is the basis for my extended discussion with Doggy and others as to the reason for the main season's woes. My working theory which I articulated throughout is that somehow, Geno did not mesh with the Freshmen, nor give them enough responsibility early.
IMHO what was required was a dose of encouragement and a bit more time in key moments. But this is a working theory which is unsupportable; only people who were there really know although Geno did make some sounds as to his lack of affinity with this group.
For me a striking example was when Morgan almost single-handedly won the overtime Notre Dame game and was not rewarded with more responsibility (but her physical condition may also have been a cause for her lack of more court time).
Somehow the team had these non-gelled elements and when Stewie lost confidence (seemingly takes a lot to do that), the team was playing with one hand tied behind its back. At the same time: Caroline was a walking wounded, Bria was extraordinarily slow to round in to form and Banks had her unfortunate injury.
I just don't believe in blaming the kids for any of this, It's all on the coaching. And yeah, they won and demolished all along the way, but that dominance should have been turned out earlier.
But if one thinks about it, the return to form by Bria was exceedingly important and Stewie's finding her true level was the clincher.
This is one of these occasions that Ice and I have discussed over the years that it would have been informative to have been a fly on the wall.
