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Jim Clark’s Husky Report: Connecticut 80 – West Virginia 47
By Jim Clark
Correspondent
Fresh off a 95-56 victory over struggling Pittsburgh, the Huskies face a Mountaineers team that is suddenly ranked 9th in the nation by Full Court Press, 11th by the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll, and 16th by Associated Press. Remarkable numbers for a team picked preseason to finish 9th in the Big East! But at 20-2 on the year, West Virginia is for real, and Coach Mike Carey has again proven himself one of the best in the game.
West Virginia also matches up better than most teams with UConn. They feature four guards, three of them at around six feet, and a 6’4” center, freshman Asya Bussie. They are athletic, and Carey’s teams are always aggressive. Liz Rapella has shown herself to be an outstanding leader and will do so again tonight.
There are fewer than 10,000 fans on hand at the XL Center in Hartford to witness Maya Moore hit a three on the first possession Tina Charles blocks Bussie twice, the defense forces a tie-up, then a shot clock violation on the other end.
When Tiffany Hayes hits a wide-open three at 17:55, Carey calls an expletive-laced timeout.
The ear singeing must have had at least some effect. The score stands at “only” 9-2 at 15:40, and the freshman Bussie has caused problems for Charles, blocking a shot, forcing a miss and later a travel. Charles has taken most every contested rebound, however, and obviously, West Virginia is having trouble scoring. But Bussie picks up a second foul (offensive), forcing the substitution of 6’5” (and maybe 150-pound) 8.9 minute-per-game Natalie Burton. Not a good idea, although Charles does not immediately exploit the mismatch.
The Mountaineers are as quick as advertised, and disrupt UConn in the half-court, as the game becomes a defensive battle. Nobody is going to beat the Huskies at that game for long. But UConn’s shots are contested enough, that “easy” layups keep rimming out, and the Mountaineers pull to 17-11, about as close as anyone has been with 8:00 left in the first half.
West Virginia deserves to be where they are. They shoot well, are unflappable, and run their offense well. They basically hold their own through the second half of the opening period. Connecticut shoots poorly, and Charles has an uncharacteristically passive game, shooting just two-for-five for a mere five points in the half. The Mountaineers are out-rebounding Connecticut (18-15 in the first half), even with their starting center on the bench. They are pushing Connecticut around, and these officials are leaving it alone. West Virginia has beaten the Huskies in loose balls recovered, another rarity.
UConn leads by just eight at the half, 32-24. At last! A competitive game! UConn’s lead is exactly the same as their free throws made, eight, to zero for West Virginia. UConn has had just four fast break points, and 10 turnovers in the opening stanza. Remember, this is a UConn home game.
Mike Carey takes his team into the locker room believing that they can win the game, as they have held even with UConn for the bulk of the first period. Thirty-two points in the first half are a Connecticut season low.
The first bucket of the half goes to a lightning-quick Sarah Miles, now four-for-six on the day. Charles scores off an offensive board (her own miss), then blocks Bussie twice on the ensuing possession. But the West Virginia defense has the Huskies are rattled, and UConn coughs up two consecutive dumb turnovers. The Mountaineers box out better than any opponent this year. Connecticut’s missed shots are predominantly in the paint, as defensive rotations have been effective at doubling the post.
Caroline Doty continues to run the point well, but she has disappeared as a scorer. Kelly Faris has started the second half in her place. Faris rewards her coach and ignites the crowd by picking Miles’ pocket, and turning it into an old-fashioned three-point play. That play “energized everyone,” Auriemma said after the game. “It was a great steal and to get to the foul line and make the free throw, I think it provided a huge lift.”
The play ignites a 24-4 UConn run, with Charles now playing like a demon. Suddenly, it’s 50-31, and the Mountaineers are looking rattled. They commit their ninth foul of the half at 14:01. Then it’s 58-32 at 11:33. UConn’s defensive intensity is up, and West Virginia is rushing what shots they get.
The back door is open: West Virginia, looking a bit tired, but still very aggressive, is giving up the back door cuts that have become such a Husky trademark.
And in the end, the “competitive game” turns into yet another 33-point Husky win, 80-47. Like so many teams before them, the Mountaineers cannot not sustain their full effort for as long as the Huskies, and the second half looks nothing like the first. Maya Moore has a season high 14 rebounds. West Virginia’s Liz Rapella scores 13, but on only 5-13 from the field. The star for West Virginia is Sarah Miles, 7-10 for 14 points, but six turnovers.
After-Thoughts
To see the difference from last year’s UConn team, you need look no farther than Kalana Greene. Once again this game, she scores the team high (18 points), and is averaging 14.8 points for the last five games, while shooting over 60 percent from the field. “Kalana’s like a lock. I think every time she touches the ball she’s going to score,” Auriemma explained. “She’s playing like a kid who’s been here five years. It’s just her confidence,” he continued. “Every time she shoots the ball she believes it’s going in.”
And she’s having a good time. “These are the games that are really going to help us at tournament time,” Greene opined when asked about the Mountaineer’s tough, physical play. “In . . . March, these are the only teams you are going to see, the teams that are tough and never going to back down. This is good preparation for that time.”
West Virginia hung with UConn for 25 minutes, and Auriemma was impressed. “Despite the score,” he said, “this was the most aggressive and most determined team we have played.”
Greene agreed: “They are aggressive, they love to overplay, they love to get in your face,” she said. “They hustle after every loose ball, 50/50 balls, they go after them. They are a hard working team. They are one of the more hard working teams I have seen this season.”
“For 25 minutes we played them close,” Mike Carey summarized. “Now we have to add the last fifteen minutes.”
Once again, UConn proved that they are the hardest working team on the court. But West Virginia belongs in that small group that might, with a lot of good fortune, beat UConn on the right day.
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