Takeaways from UConn over UCLA
UConn women’s basketball earned a hard-fought win over a scrappy 6-seed UCLA Bruins team on Friday night at the Times Union Center in Albany. The Huskies trailed by as many as five but came alive in the fourth quarter to earn a 69-61 victory and advance to the Elite Eight.
Katie Lou Samuelson Banged Up
UConn women’s basketball pulled off the victory against UCLA and the Huskies largely had to do so without senior Katie Lou Samuelson. She didn’t score in the first half and only finished with six points, four of which came from the free throw line.
“We only played four and a half players, so to speak,” head coach Geno Auriemma said.
Samuelson’s back injured seemed to hamper her throughout, shown by the fact that she was the last one out of the locker room at halftime. It only got worse when she hit the floor hard after getting fouled on a pump-fake. Auriemma admitted postgame Samuelson wasn’t right.
“Lou's mobility is not the same as it was. I'm sure that her back is still an issue,” he up.
Samuelson was not available to the media after the game. And Auriemma said he isn’t sure what her status will be for practice tomorrow. Samuelson’s back becoming more of an issue as the tournament wears on is not a good sign for UConn. The coach said she can’t make it worse but it also doesn’t appear to be getting better. The Huskies can’t expect her to be at full health against Louisville on Sunday but UConn will need her to contribute more in some aspect to beat a full-strength Cardinals team.
What makes the injury even more difficult is that Samuelson can’t sit on the bench without fear of the back tightening up, so if Auriemma decides to pull her out, it may have to be for the rest of the game. The injury will certainly continue to be the central storyline entering Sunday.
Freshmen Step Up
With Samuelson struggling, UConn’s two freshmen took on a bigger load. In the first half, Christyn Williams was one of only two scoring options for the Huskies, matching Napheesa Collier for a team-high 12 points. Instead of looking around to someone else when UConn was struggling, Williams took it upon herself to help carry the team. It was a performance that few freshmen are capable of having.
“That kid’s a freshman,” Auriemma said. “She’s playing 40 minutes every game in the NCAA Tournament and acting like ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m supposed to be doing.’ Says a lot about her as a person.”
It wasn’t just about what she did on the stat sheet, either. In the fourth quarter, Williams fell over the courtside tables trying to save a loose ball, something Auriemma described with obvious pride as “old-school”.
“Coach is always on us about our effort and hustle so I was trying to get the ball. Kinda bummed I didn’t get it,” Williams said.
The Huskies also got strong contributions from Olivia Nelson-Ododa. After Megan Walker got into foul trouble in the first quarter, UConn needed Nelson-Ododa to play 13 key minutes throughout the rest of the game. Despite a seemingly meager statline of two points, one rebound and two blocks, Nelson-Ododa helped spark the Huskies’ fourth quarter comeback with a rejection on UCLA’s first possession of the final period.
“I think she was a big, big factor in tonight's game, even without having to score a lot of points or do anything spectacular on the stat sheet,” Auriemma. “Just having her out there I think was -- and she looked like she belonged out there. Like her look on the bench was like, ‘Yeah, I got this, Coach.’”
With Samuelson likely limited on Sunday, UConn will again need to rely heavily on the freshmen to have a chance at taking down No. 1 Louisville.
Huskies Find Killer Instinct in Fourth Quarter
After the close call against Buffalo in the second round, UConn spoke about the importance of finding a killer instinct and putting teams away when they have the chance. Against UCLA, the Huskies found it in the fourth quarter.
When UConn went on a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter and take the lead, the Bruins took a timeout to settle down. Instead of letting UCLA get back in the game, the Huskies clamped down even further, scoring 10 of the next 14 points to take a double-digit lead. Samuelson’s and-one with 5:19 remaining was the proverbial nail in the coffin.
“All of a sudden, something happened, and I think they remembered that we're UConn, and this is what we do,” Auriemma said.
No player stepped up bigger in the fourth than Crystal Dangerfield, who scored 11 points in the final quarter. What made the feat even more impressive was that she failed to record even a single point in the first half. All but four of her points came in the biggest moments of the game.
“We talked about it in a couple different timeouts that it was time to make some big plays,” Dangerfield said. “We have confidence in everyone to make those shots and tonight it was my turn.”
Auriemma noted an important point after the game: When games get tight, rely on players, not plays.
“I tell the players this all the time, nobody is going to trick anybody this time of year with some fancy plays,” Auriemma said. “You know, you either have players that can make big-time plays or you don't. And we had these three guys up here, they made some big plays at crucial moments. That's what it takes to win at this time of the year.
Check out all of our post-game interviews in the Basketball Forum!