Huskies Rout Temple for 18th Straight Win

Gabby Williams (15) puts up two of her 12 points on Sunday. She was
one of six Huskies to score in double digits in UConn's 113-57 victory
over Temple.

By Bob Phillips

PHILADELPHIA—The City of Brotherly Love has always had a special spot in Geno Auriemma's heart. Geno who, was born in Italy, moved to Philly as a young child and grew up there. Sunday turned out to be particularly satisfying homecoming as, after his Huskies put out what he called a “lackluster effort” in a 78-60 win over Tulsa at Gampel Arena in their last contest last Thursday, No. 1 Connecticut thrashed Temple, 113-57 before 3,392 fans at McGonigle Hall on Sunday.

Kia Nurse led all scorers with 24 points, while Megan Walker added 22 to lead Connecticut. In all, six Huskies scored in double digits, including a double-double (12 points, 11 assists) from Gabby Williams. Gabby Williams (12 points), Azura Stevens (13), Crystal Dangerfield (12) and Napheesa Collier (13) were the other Huskies scoring in double digits. It was the season high in points scored for the Huskies, who were without arguably their best player, junior Katie Lou Samuelson, who injured her left ankle in the Tulsa game.

Mia Davis led Temple with 19 points and Tanaya Atkinson added 15 for the Owls, who are 1-6 in their last seven games.

With Samuelson out, Walker, a 6-1 freshman from Chesterfield, Va., made the most of her time in the sun.

“When you see how she played today, it’s the look she had out there,” said Auriemma. “’It’s where ‘I belong; this is what I came here to do.”

After the Owls raced out to an early 6-0 lead to open the contest, it was all Huskies after that. UConn led 28-18 at the first turn, and opened up a 24-point lead at intermission.

The Huskies put the game on ice immediately at the start of the third period, hitting eight of their first nine shots en route to a 34-point quarter—the highest-scoring single period for the Huskies this season. By the time the smoke settled, the Huskies held a 90-43 lead at the end of three. When Azura Stevens dropped in a trey with six minutes left in the contest, the Huskies had broken the 100 point barrier for the fourth time this season.

“Once we got settled in, our defense became a lot more solid and we were able to get out in transition a little more and things opened up for us a little bit,” Auriemma said. “I thought the offense looked really, really good at times.”

With the win, the Huskies improved to 18-0 overall, 7-0 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Owls dropped to 9-9, 1-5. The Huskies now head to Tennessee where they will take on x-x Memphis on Wednesday. Tip-off is at 1 p.m., and the game will be televised live on SNY, with a 7 p.m. encore.
 
Nurse Named Player of the Week

Kia Nurse has been named the American Athletic Conference Player
of the Week.

Kia Nurse was tabbed the American Athletic Conference’s Player of the Week. The Hamilton, Ontario native averaged 18.0 points per game and shot 60 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from beyond the arc in victories over No. 9/7 Texas, Tulsa and Temple.
 
Nurse scored 13 points and chased-down five rebounds in 40-minutes of action against the Longhorns.  In that game, the Hamilton, Ontario native went 3-for-6 from the floor and six-for-six from the free throw line. On Thursday, Nurse had a 17-point effort vs. Tulsa, going 5-for-7 from beyond the three-point line.

On Sunday, she led all scorers with 24 points vs. Temple, adding four assists without turning the ball over. She was 9-for-13 from the field vs. the Owls, including 4-for-8 from downtown, and added six boards.

The 6-0 senior guard leads the nation in three-point field goal shooting percentage at 50 percent. 

—with staff reports