Huskies Roll to 36-Point Thrashing of UCF

Napheesa Collier led the way with 23 points, while three other Huskies scored in
double digits in UConn's 93-57 victory over UCF on Sunday. (Photo courtesy
Jason Reider)

By Bob Phillips

HARTFORD—Tied for the conference lead? Seriously? OK… semantics I suppose.

Napheesa Collier led all scorers with 23 points, powering the University of Connecticut Huskies, ranked No. 3 coming into the contest (more on that later) to a resounding 93-57 victory before 12,139 fans at the XL Center on Sunday. Megan Walker added 21 points—shooting 60 percent from the floor—while Crystal Dangerfield chipped in with 17 and Katie Lou Samuelson 15 for the Huskies, who improved to 18-1 (17-0 in the American Athletic Conference).

Kayla Thigpen led the Knights, who saw their seven-game winning streak snapped, with 14 points followed by Nyala Shuler and Sianni Martin with 13 points each.

“If you execute the game plan and the ball gets where it needs to get at the time the ball needs to get there, you end up with a pretty good shot,” said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma, explaining his team’s total dominance over the nearest “competition” in the conference. “The way we came out with energy and edginess was a big factor. When we play like that on the defensive end the offensive tends to be sharper.”

With nine rebounds vs. Central Florida, Collier now needs just two more boards and 37 points to become only the fifth player in UConn women’s basketball history with 2,000 or more points and 1,000 or more rebounds.

"Coach [Auriemma] has been really challenging us all year, especially leading up to this game, that we need to have more aggression and more energy,” said the 6-2 senior from O’Fallon, MO, who was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team last season. “So, I think we just decided that we were going to do that today and that's the same mindset that we need to have every game."

After the Huskies raced out to an 8-0 lead about a minute and a half into the contest, the lead grew to 24-14 at the first turn. By intermission, it was 61-36 Connecticut rendering the second half moot.

"When you are playing a game and everything is half-court, then every possession becomes life or death,” Auriemma observed. “Today because of our offense, we got a lot of great looks early on. We made a bunch during the stretch when we blew the game open. We ran the floor pretty well today, and our transition game was good because we had people to throw the ball to up ahead." 

Auriemma was effusive in his praise for his team, pointing to Walker in particular, calling it “her best game as a Husky.”

“Yeah it was fair,” said the 5-5 junior from Murfreesboro, TN. “This was a big game, and I knew I wanted to set a tone and have my teammates back me up. I think we did a great job—everybody."

The win gave Connecticut the sole No. 1 position in The American standings. Since the Huskies have never lost a game—regular season on championship tournament—since the AAC was formed in 2013, the likelihood of UConn falling from the top perch roughly the same as the Giants winning the 2020 Super Bowl and Eli Manning earning his third Super Bowl MVP.

Virtually non-existent, in other words.

Second-place UCF fell to 17-3, 6-1. So the next time you hear another conference team compared to the Huskies, please take that comment with a grain of salt. “Tied for first”? That one needs an asterisk, for sure. 
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Things don’t get easier for the Huskies who know travel to Louisville where they will challenge the No. 3 Cardinals on Thursday night. The game will be televised live on ESPN, with a 7 p.m. ET tip-off st the KFC Yum! Center.

We’re No. 2

Earlier today, the Huskies moved up to the No. 2 position in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll, thanks largely to Notre Dame, the former No. 1 team, dropping a 78-83 decision to unranked North Carolina on Sunday. Baylor, formerly No. 2, moved to the top spot, while Louisville, Oregon and Notre Dame followed UConn in AP’s national rankings.

Baylor’s last visit to the top of the heap came in the 2012-13 season, when the Lady Bears were No. 1 in the final poll—including the final 11 weeks of the season.

"Anything that's considered positive for our program and Baylor we welcom," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "But really, what does it mean? It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't win a championship for you. It just puts a bigger target on your back."

The 17-1 Lady Bears received 24 of 28 first-place votes in the AP poll.

—with staff reports

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