The day before UConn hosted Syracuse in a rematch of the 2016 national championship game I caught up with Kia Nurse to address the Huskies' impressive passing ability which could very well result in them setting the NCAA women's Division I record for assists in a season. It was during that interview when I mentioned the team's impressive finishing ability.
She took particular glee in being asked about her teammates' finishing ability. Well, in Monday night's 30-point win over Syracuse it was Nurse doing much of the finishing with 29 points thanks in large part to her tying the NCAA Division I women's tournament record by making nine 3-pointers.
With Nurse leading three players in double figures, the Huskies finished the third quarter with a staggering ratio of 30 assists on 31 baskets.
"I think in this tournament, we are going to need to share the ball and play completely as a team with everyone contributing as much as we can rather than trying to go 1 on 1," UConn sophomore Katie Lou Samuelson said. "We want to make sure we use every single person to try to find that open shot every time."
The Huskies assists on 26 consecutive baskets at one point and even without handing out an assist in the fourth quarter, they had 30 assists. According to the research I did earlier this season, the 64 assists in back to back games are the most in program history.
Here's the chart I put together with the previous or next game listed depending on which one had the larger number of assists
34 vs. Western Michigan (95-46) Nov. 23, 2003 NEXT GAME: 19
34 vs. Quinnipiac (117-20) Dec. 27, 1998 PREVIOUS GAME 20
33 vs. Georgetown (107-45) Jan. 2, 2001 PREVIOUS GAME 20
32 vs. Tulsa (96-50) Feb. 5, 2017 NEXT GAME: 31
32 vs. Charleston (103-39) Nov. 11, 2012 NEXT GAME: 27
32 vs. Dartmouth (95-47) Mar. 20, 2005 NEXT GAME: 14
32 at Providence (95-68) Feb. 2, 1997 NEXT GAME: 16
32 vs. Northeastern (96-34) Dec. 29, 1995 NEXT GAME 16
32 vs. Iona (101-42) Dec. 23, 1994 NEXT GAME 31
31 vs. South Florida (102-37) Jan. 10, 2017: PREVIOUS/NEXT GAME 25
31 vs. SMU (102-41) Feb. 4, 2014: PREVIOUS GAME 25
31 at Temple (93-56) Jan. 28, 2014: PREVIOUS/NEXT GAME: 25
31 vs. Florida State (83-71) Dec. 21, 2008 NEXT GAME 20
31 vs. St. John's (118-44) Feb. 23, 2001 PREVIOUS GAME 19
31 vs. Syracuse (100-74) Feb. 18, 2000 NEXT GAME 22
31 at Seton Hall (88-45) Dec. 8, 1999 NEXT GAME 28
31 vs. California (99-52) Dec. 28, 1994 NEXT GAME 32
30 vs. Oregon (114-68) Nov. 20, 2013 NEXT GAME: 26
30 vs. Holy Cross (117-37) Nov. 14, 2010 NEXT GAME 12
30 vs. Stony Brook (98-35) Nov. 11, 2007 NEXT GAME 29
30 vs. Buffalo (107-40) Nov. 19, 2004 NEXT GAME 16
30 vs. Hampton (116-45) Mar. 17, 2000 PREVIOUS GAME 17
30 vs. Georgetown (94-75) Feb. 5, 1995 NEXT GAME 22
One word to describe the first three quarters last night by UConn: CLINIC.
ReplyDeleteClinic on breaking the press. Clinic on finding the open player with the hot hand.
Gabby was a beast last night. Not just points, rebounds, assists, steals, tips, and blocks. But handling the basketball in transistion or against the press.
Gabby has stepped up her free throw shooting. 22 FTM 25 FTA in the last 6 games.
If Gabby can learn to shoot 3 point shots in the off season, her WNBA stock will soar even higher.
UConn's assists and points were impressive, even more so considering the Huskies bench only scored 8 points in the 4th quarter. 0 points in the last ~5 minutes.