By Bob
Phillips
 |
| Defense is the Huskies' calling card. Here, freshman forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa swats away one of her four blocked shots for the game. |
UNCASVILLE—Call it
predictable. Call it inevitable. Whatever descriptor you choose, the outcome
was the same as it ever was. UConn,
the No. 4 ranked team in the country and the No. 1 seed in the American
Athletic Conference women’s basketball championship tournament, defeated No. 3
seed Cincinnati, 87-53, at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Monday night. The game was
also televised to a national audience on ESPN2.
Megan Walker led all scorers with 26 points. The 6-1
junior forward from Chesterfield, VA, shot 10-for-21 from the field, grabbed seven
boards, and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Christyn
Williams put up 22 points, grabbed eight boards and had two steals, while
Crystal Dangerfield chipped in with 14 points and eight rebounds. Angel Rizor led
Cincinnati a 16-points, nine-rebound performance and had two steals. Antoinette
Miller added 15 points and four rebounds and IImar’I Thomas scored 14 points
and pulled down five boards for the Bearcats.
After UConn took an early 7-4 lead, Rizor banged in a
15-foot jumper to cut the Huskies’ lead to one. After a basket by Anna Makurat,
the Bearcasts again drew to within one at 14-13 before a trey by Williams
staked the Huskies to a 17-13 advantage. Miller knocked down a jumper for
Cincinnati at the end of the first quarter to trim the UConn lead to just 19-15
at the first turn.
Defense has been this team’s calling card, and that was
apparent in the second quarter as the Huskies held the Bearcats to 18.2 percent
shooting from the floor in the period (4-for-22). The offense also started to
click. UConn opened the second frame with a 13-3 run, opening up a 32-18 lead.
A highlight-reel layup by Dangerfield, and a transition lay-up by Williams
after a steal pushed the Huskies’ lead to 48-26 at intermission. The Huskies
shot 13-for-20 (65 percent) in the second period.
The third quarter proved to be more of the same more of
the same. Four straight hoops and a trey from Walker gave the Huskies what
would prove to be an insurmountable 56-32 lead.
But it wasn’t over.
A 9-0 Connecticut run put the Huskies up by 29 points,
and UConn led 71-42 at the third turn.
And that, folks, was all she wrote.
The Huskies completed the sweep of the conference
tournament in each of their seven seasons as a member of the AAC. Including
their first stint in the Big East, this was Connecticut’s 15th conference
tournament championship in the past 16 years. Overall, Connecticut UConn
went 139-0 in the American (regular season and postseason tournament play)
since joining the conference when it was formed in 2013, winning all but two
games by double-digits.
“It’s not a
lot of pressure; it’s more of a pride thing,” Walker said of her team’s amazing
run in the AAC. In addition to her Most Outstanding Player honors, Walker was
one of four Huskies to be named to the All-Tournament Team. “We wanted to get
it done for our coach and the people who came before us. It’s something that we
do. It’s understood.”
The Huskies, who also have won
all seven AAC regular-season titles, kept their celebration subdued after the
final buzzer sounded, trading hugs and dousing each other with confetti from a
drink bucket. There are, after all, bigger fish to fry in the NCAA Tournament.
UConn, of course, is leaving The American and will re-join
the Big East in all sports for the 2020-21 school year. (That’s except for
football, which the Big East does not participate in. While Villanova plays in
the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) and Georgetown is a member of the
Patriot League in football, UConn will participate as an independent next
season—and for the foreseeable future.
“They understand
how hard it was,” added Geno Auriemma, who built UConn women’s basketball from
scratch into one of the premier programs in college sports history. “This
wasn’t easy at all. Sometimes we make it look easy, but it wasn’t easy at all.
This one took a lot of work.”
2020 American Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve
Most
Outstanding Player
- Megan Walker, F, UConn
All-Tournament
Team
- Megan Walker, F, UConn
- Christyn Williams, G, UConn
- Crystal Dangerfield, G, UConn
- Aubrey Griffin, F, UConn
- IImar’I Thomas, F, Cincinnati
- Angel Rizor, F, Cincinnati
—With Staff Reports
#uconn /
#uconnwbb / #uconnhuskies / #UConnNation / @uconnwbb / #bleedblue
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