Huskies Trounce Oregon—Next Stop, Dallas!

By Bob Phillips


Napheesa Collier led the UConn offense with a monster 28-point, 12-rebound
game vs. Oregon. Gabby Williams added 25 points for the Huskies.

BRIDGEPORT—In the end, things played out the way they were expected to. Behind a 28-point, 12-rebound effort from super sophomore Napheesa Collier, the University of Connecticut Huskies blew away the Oregon Ducks, 90-52, before a sellout crowd of 8,898 at the Webster Bank Arena on Monday night. Gabby Williams added 25 points for the Huskies, who, incidentally, earned their 111th consecutive victory in the process.

The Huskies, who led from start to finish, put it away early. Leading 6-4, Connecticut went on a 17-point run fueled by two three-pointers from Saniya Chong, to take a 23-4 lead.

Can you say “Goodnight, Gracie”?

The Ducks, who made it to the Great Eight for the first time in program history by upsetting seventh-seeded Temple, No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Maryland, managed to close to within 13 midway through the second quarter. But the Huskies closed out the half on a 15-3 run to take a 25-point lead, 49-24, into the locker room at intermission.

And that, friends, was truly lights out for Oregon.

Kia Nurse scored 11 points and dished out a game-high seven assists for the Huskies, while Chong chipped in with 11 points. Katie Lou Samuelson had a relatively quiet evening (eight points, three boards, four assists), but her five steals were key. More on that later.

Freshmen Sabrina Ionescu (15 points) and Ruthy Hebard (12 points) led the Ducks.

The name of this game was defense—as they all tend to be in March. Toward that end, the Huskies forced 22 turnovers, and scored 32 points off Oregon miscues. Connecticut, meanwhile, turned the ball over just six times, resulting in 12 Oregon points. The Huskies were also dominant on the boards, out-rebounding Oregon 36-26, including 12 off the offensive glass that were parlayed into 21 points. The Ducks were able to manage just two second-chance points.

“There were a lot of question marks going into the season,’ said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. “They seemed to answer every single one of those questions. They deserve to be in the Final Four. They earned it.”

Auriemma was referring to the loss of Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson from last year’s squad. It was time for new leadership this year, and that’s exactly what they got. Indeed, on Monday, Collier and fellow super-soph Katie Lou Samuelson were honored as AP All-Americans on Monday, with Williams, a junior, named to the second team.

“It means a whole lot, especially with this group because no one thought we'd be here and we worked so hard this year,” said Collier, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the Bridgeport Region.

The win vaulted Auriemma past Pat Summit, the late, great Tennessee coach, for most NCAA Tournament victories. This was Auriemma’s 113th.

"I want to congratulate coach Auriemma on a great game and a great season so far,” said Oregon head coach Kelly Graves after the game. “[This was the] first chance I've ever had to play UConn, and kind of see up close exactly what they're about, how they play. I'm not going to make many headlines with this, but they're really, really good.”

Graves said she had her team ready to play and confident going in, but, well, you know…

“I just don't think we were able to handle [things] early,” she continued. “I think just kind of the shock of how good they are got us on our heels quickly. I thought we kind of rebounded a little bit in the second quarter, and again, in the third quarter, [but] unfortunately, the turnovers doomed us right from the get-go. Their defensive pressure really set the tone.”

Dallas or Bust

So now it’s off to Dallas for Husky Nation, where Connecticut will take on Mississippi State on Friday night. In case you’ve forgotten, the Huskies crushed the Lady Bulldogs by 60 points in last year’s Regional semifinal—also played in Bridgeport. But, cautioned Auriemma, don’t expect things to go quite as easy this time around.

“That's not the same Mississippi State team we played last year here,” he said. “That's a whole different team. They have a lot of the same players, but that's a whole different team. They looked amazing last night.”

Mississippi State topped Baylor, 94-85, in the Oklahoma City Region Final, and carry a 33-4 record into the Final Four.

“I mean, going into the NCAA Tournament, I thought Baylor had the best chance of winning based on if you check all the boxes and say, 'Here's what you need to win: You need size, you need experience, you need athletic ability, you need good guard play, you have to have depth,'" continued Auriemma, who has been working non-stop for 24 months when you factor in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. “So when you check off all the boxes, you go, wow, they're the only team that has all that. And for Mississippi State to keep answering and keep answering and keep answering and keep answering the entire 40 minutes, that was an amazing performance.”

This will be the Huskies’ 10th straight appearance in the Final Four. Impressive, you say?

“It’s hard to put it into any kind of context, you know?” asked Auriemma, rhetorically. “I don't know what the previous record was. So I don't have anything to compare it to.”

For the record, this appearance will tie the record held by the dynasty UCLA men’s teams. The Huskies already held the women’s mark.

“It's such a hard feat to accomplish in so many ways, he continued “It only takes one loss. You're now playing best out of five or best out of seven. So in all those 10 years, all it took was one loss at the wrong time during March and you're out. So for us to have gone 10 months of March in a row and not having lost a game through a whole different cast of characters, over all that time, that's pretty darned good.”

Tip-off on Friday is slated for 10 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on The Deuce—ESPN2, and broadcast regionally on the UConn Radio Network.