I was at the game and it was a wonderful way to cap off the Gampel season. Everyone contributed big time!
It was definitely nerve racking early on when Baylor was draining those uncontested threes but we tightened up the defense after that. In the interview after the game, Chris Dailey (listende to her interviewed by Bob Joyce on the ride home) said Baylor was getting wherever they wanted early but after that we were able to clean up the switches and keep them on one side of the court to limit their options.
I thought our guards did a decent job of keeping Baylor`s quick guards in front of them and the help defense was very good when one of them got by.
Andrews only had five points on 2 of 13 shooting, that was primarily Nika although Aubrey had her at times as well. Bickle only had three points and was a total non-factor.
I simply cannot get enough of Nika Muhl. She plays with such passion, with such emotion and that buzzer beater in front of the student section was electric! Geno gave her a huge hug when she came out of the game at the end. Well deserved. I think this team has a special place in Geno`s heart.
The students were amazing and Geno went over after the game and applauded them. Classy move by a classy guy.
I was watching Aubrey in warmups and she looked much more fluid than she did on Saturday, when she looked rather stiff before the game. She was an absolute beast out there. You could tell that Aubrey tweaked her back on an awkward play under our hoop but I was overjoyed to see her return to the bench and ecstatic that she came back into the game. Nice that both Lou and Aubrey were around at the end and what a moment when Lou hit the final three, the last points to be scored on that court. That will be a trivia question in a few years. I`m thinking we will be healthy going into next weekend.
I think that Azzi has now shot herself out of the slump. Man, was she amazing in that third quarter, 16 points! If Aaliyah had to go to the bench with four fouls in the third quarter a month ago, Azzi would not have been available to take over and we may very well have ended up in a nail biter.
One thing I did not understand is why did the basket count on the play where Lou was whacked in the head, intentional foul. Did they explain that on television? it seemed to me that the foul clearly happened before the shot was taken.
And how on earth did Dorka get that shot to go in???
The Baylor coach, Collen, is demonstrative to the point of being apoplectic. I don`t know if that was captured on television or not. The referees showed some restraint in not teeing her up, I thought.
It was nice to see a lot of the men`s players there, and I think Danny Hurley was there as well. And Maya Moore, the legend. I was in Section 211 and the UConn players were in 112. Also in the lower section below me with fabulous seats were two nuns who were taking selfies before the game. I had a Catholic school education so I am well aware of the fact that they were violating numerous rules, vows, etc., etc. but they were cheering for UConn so all is forgiven!
Not to get ahead of ourselves, but does anyone else think we have another date with Tennessee next Monday?
