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A blog on UConn women's basketball.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

UConn's offense steals the show

It's seen some impressive stuff from the UConn women's basketball team but can't recall too many 10-plus minute stretches as overwhelming as the one the Huskies had in today's win over Tulsa.

It was a 28-21 game when Tulsa's Kelsee Grovey hit a 3-pointer with 8:54 left in the first half.

The Huskies then hit the next four shots, had another run of six in a row. When Grovey hit another jumper with 17:44 left in the game, it ended a 34-2 UConn run.

"Our defensive pressure isn't very good," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "I think I do it because they don't like to do it but the kind of pressure we put on people by how quickly we score, that is a difficult kind of pressure to deal with."

UConn was 14 of 20 from the field with seven steals, three blocks and three turnovers while Tulsa was 1 of 9 with eight turnovers. Most of the offensive damage was done by Breanna Stewart (13 points of her season high 28 points to go with four rebounds, a steal and two blocks during the run) and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (eight of her 17 points during that stretch)/

"When just one of those guys is going it is a difficult thing but when both of them are going, it is fun to watch," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "Those two are pretty special, you are talking about two of the best players in the country. It is very difficult for a team to defend that."

An undersized Tulsa team often times tried to defend Stewart with a player standing less than 6 feet tall so UConn got Stewart the ball in the lane early and often. It was a little surprising how much room they gave Mosqueda-Lewis to shoot and most of her five 3-pointers were pretty wide open.

"Kaleena and myself, whether we are playing a two-man game or she is knocking down shots, when we get into a rhythm, it rubs off on your teammates and more people get more confident."

Mosqueda-Lewis' five 3-pointers moved her into a tie for 13th on the NCAA Division I career list. Her 357 3s ties her with former Penn State star Kelly Mazzante. She is also 25 points shy of 2,000. After the game she reflected on what it's like playing alongside Stewart when they both have it going on.
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"With the confidence we have in each other, if one person or both of us are hot, we can do a pick and roll, we can play inside/outside," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "I think we do a good job of feeding off of each other when both of us are doing really well."

UCONN COMMITS ADD TITLES TO GROWING COLLECTION
Eventually Crystal Dangerfield and Andra Espinoza-Hunter will be joining forces at UConn. In the meantime, they will continue to add to their collection of championships.

Dangerfield had 21 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals as Blackman High defeated Oakland 55-47 to win the Tennessee District 7-AAA title for the second year in a row. Dangerfield was named the 7-AAA regular season and tournament MVP. Next up is the region quarterfinal against Lincoln County on Monday.

Espinoza-Hunter had 19 points as Blair Academy won its fifth straight New Jersey Prep School Class A title with a 72-53 win over Peddie. Bre Cavanaugh, who has signed with California, led Blair with 29 points.

Blair Academy won the Mid-Atlantic Prep League title last week beating that same Peddie school.

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