About 90 minutes before today's game against Wichita State, I headed out on the court to see how Crystal Dangerfield was moving around in the warmups. While I was shooting a video, she was standing out of bounds and perfectly lofted the ball over the basket and watched as it dropped through the net. I thought to myself that she might have a hard time topping that play once the game got going. Was I wrong or what?

In the early stages of today's near record blowout of Wichita State, UConn was in the midst of a clinic of how to run transition offense when Dangerfield deftly delivered a behind the back feed to Katie Lou Samuelson for one rather artistic scoring play.

"I saw that there was only one person back so I was like, 'why not,'" Dangerfield said. "I think something like that, it throws the other team off so they had to call that timeout."

The basket was part of a performance when the Huskies outscored Wichita State 52-0 in points off turnovers. I went back through the archives and as long as UConn included points off turnovers in its game notes, I couldn't find a game with that many points off turnovers dating back to the 2004-05 season. UConn also recorded season highs with 70 points in the paint and 25 fast-break points. You figured the Huskies would get out in transition early and often after managing a season-low two fast-break points the last time out against UCF. Still, this was an eye opening effort.

UConn fell two points shy of the program record for points in a game in the 124-43 win and the margin of victory was also the second highest total at UConn. It looked like the Huskies would let a single game record for field goal percentage.

"I don't know that is came out of the other day, maybe it did, maybe we just needed to recharge our batteries but the combination of our defense creating a lot of opportunities when we didn't have Crystal the other day we were reluctant to really stretch our defense out, we didn't want to do even more so it was one less body," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "Today I think we felt a little more comfortable extending ourselves defensively and it paid off and we made shots.

"There wasn't much of a drop off. We started a certain way and we sustained it pretty much the whole game which is not always easy to do when you have a big lead like that. Once you get a big lead, it affects them obviously and I am sure everybody on the other team is hoping we start missing. We kept making them and players we were bringing off the bench added a lot so it kept intensifying."

Napheesa Collier led the offensive onslaught with 26 points and had four of the Huskies' 21 steals. Katie Lou Samuelson became the eighth UConn player to make 250 career 3-pointers. She hit five of them en route to 22 points and nine assists. Gabby Williams flirted with another triple double with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 21 minutes. Kia Nurse had 14 points moving by Moriah Jefferson and Cathy Bochain to move into 21st place on UConn's career scoring list. Azura' Stevens made all seven of her shots as she had 16 points in 14 minutes.

However, all eyes were on Dangerfield who missed the last two games as the UConn medical staff felt she would benefit from resting to get the issues with shin splints under control.

"It is always frustrating sitting out but now I am just focusing on having fun," Dangerfield said. "This game was really fun.

"I do feel a difference but at the same time, it is going to be what it is going to be because once you go out there and run around, it is always going to come back. It is not like it is pounding every single time but I feel it but I am taking care of it."

Dangerfield finished with nine points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals in 19 minutes as she was on a restricted minutes count something that doesn't figure to be the case when the Huskies play Louisville on Monday night.

"You can't underestimate the impact she has on your team because what she can do with the ball in her hands, she can go wherever she wants with it and she is very creative," Auriemma said. "She is like a great soccer player that sees things one or two passes ahead. She is really smart and she can go places that nobody else on our team can. The difference was evident right away, she set the tone as did that whole group in that first quarter and it carried over from there."

I would imagine the pressure of playing point guard at UConn would be similar to being the next great linebacker when Penn State was known as "Linebacker U" or being the quarterback to come to Miami after the Hurricanes had a run of Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar and Vinny Testaverde (along with Kyle Vandeweghe for a run after Kelly was injured).

All the current UConn point guard Crystal Dangerfield has to do is look around at the banners hanging for the All-Americans inside the on-campus practice facility to be reminded of the great guards who preceded her. There are six players who saw time at point guard who are among those in the Huskies of Honor and looking back, Dangerfield's numbers through the first 10 games of her sophomore season compare favorably with those put up by Sue Bird, Bria Hartley, Moriah Jefferson, Renee Montgomery, Jen Rizzotti and Diana Taurasi.

Dangerfield has the best assist/turnover ratio and only Taurasi has more 3-pointers and a better 3-point shooting percentage through the first 10 games of her sophomore season.

                                TOTALS                                                       PCT.
Player             G MIN FG    3PT       FT   PTS R A   S  B (TO) FG   3PT FT   A/TO   
Bird               10 295 35-81  20-42 15-16 105-44-55-14-0 (25) 43.2 47.6 93.8 2.20
Dangerfield   10 329 46-97  25-49   9-13 126-28-52-17-0 (21) 47.4 51.0 69.2 2.48Hartley          10 302 59-111 18-43 13-17 149-32-39-15-1 (29) 53.2 41.9 76.5 1.34
Jefferson       10 278 47-80   6-21  12-16 112-26-46-26-1 (19) 58.8 28.6 75.0 2.42
Montgomery 10 286 55-112  8-33 27-33 145-24-47-26-2 (28) 49.1 24.2 81.8 1.68
Rizzotti         10 277 32-59  13-30 16-20  93-40-43-17-1 (24) 54.2 43.3 80.0 1.79
Taurasi          10 281 54-96  33-59  7-10 148-46-54-7-17 (23) 56.3 55.9 70.0 2.34

HISTORY ON THE LINE
UConn has made at least 10 3-pointers in each of its last three games. I went back to the 1994-95 season and couldn't find a run with more than three games with 10 or more 3-pointers. Also, if the Huskies do make 10 treys, they would have 45 over the last four games. Once again dating back to the 1994-95 season, it would be tied for the fourth most in program history.

Here's the breakdown
50: South Florida (16), Albany (13), Syracuse (12), UCLA (9) 3-6-2016 to 3-25-2016
48: UCF (7), South Florida (16), Albany (13), Syracuse (12) 3-5-2016 to 3-20-2016
47: UC Davis (18), Stanford (11), Creighton (11), College of Charleston (7) 11-14-2014 to 11-28-2014
45: South Florida (14), Temple (7), Cincinnati (12), SMU (12) 1-26-2014 to 2-4-2014
45: Oakland (12), Hartford (12), Stanford (6), Oakland (15) 12-19-2012 to 12-31-2012
44: Syracuse (18), North Carolina (6), Cincinnati (8), Louisville (12) 1-17-09 to 1-26-2009
43: Notre Dame (8), DePaul (11), Oklahoma (11), Duquesne (13) 12-3-2017 to 12-22-2017
 

Katie Lou Samuelson had 23 points, all in the first three quarters, five assists and two steals to lead the UConn women's basketball team to a 88-66 win over the Netherlands National Team on Tuesday in Rome in the second of four exhibtion games on its tour of Italy.

Kia Nurse, who joined the team after leading Canada to the FIBA AmeriCup title in Argentina, added 18 points and four rebounds. Napheesa Collier had her second consecutive double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals while Azura Stevens contributed 10 points (going 4 for 4 from the floor), six rebounds and two steals.

Gabby Williams had seven points, six assists and five assists as UConn led 82-42 after three quarters en route to sweeping two games against the Dutch National Team. Megan Walker added six points and four rebounds, Crystal Dangerfield had four points and six assists and Molly Bent had four points.

UConn will play the Italian All-Stars on Friday in Vicenza and will wrap up play on Sunday againat Celje in Trieste.

Samuelson is averaging 17 points in the first two games. Collier is contributing 14 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3 assists. Williams (11 PPG), Stevens (10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds) are also averaing more than 10 points per game. Walker has a pair of six-point games and a total of 10 rebounds in the two games while Dangerfield has nine assists.

Crystal Dangerfield had never made it to Italy before this summer. It's safe she is making up for lost time as she is preparing for her second trip there since the middle of July.

"I will get my dual citizenship," Dangerfield said with a laugh.

Before joining her UConn teammates as they leave for Italy on Saturday night for a tour including four exhibition games, she was the captain of the U.S. team which won a silver medal at the FIBA Women's World Cup last month.

Dangerfield was 8 for 19 in the first two games of the tournament but was just 16 of 63 the rest of the way including missed 14 of 20 shots in a loss to Russia in the gold medal game.

Some of Dangerfield's shooting woes coincided with her injuring her ankle during the tournament. She wasn't ready to use that as a excuse, however.

"The injury happened in training camp, I had an Achilles (issue) and they would work on it and it would feel better," said Dangerfield, who averaged 9 points, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals in the seven tournament games. "I rolled my ankle so there were times when I wasn't able to practice so maybe that impacted (her shot)."

While Dangerfield's shot came and went, her leadership never wavered throughout the tournament.

"Crystal has grown up a lot," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "She has made about a 180 from last year which is what you hope from freshman to sophomore year. Unfortunately it didn't translate into a gold medal over there, the team they lost to has a couple of pros on their team that are just really, really good players. The U.S. team probably could have won that game  but Crystal played great.

"It was a good role for her, she was really good over there and she has carried it over here, she was good in practice."

Dangerfield was the only returning player from the 2015 U.S. team that beat Russia to win the gold medal and she embraced the role of being a leader. Now she is finding that experience is paying dividends during practices at UConn.

"When I came back here, Shea (Ralph, Dangerfield's position coach at UConn) told me I'm being more vocal," Dangerfield said. "Being able to lead players who are younger than I am, it helps with four freshmen coming in.

"I feel like I am playing harder than I was last year and that comes from just

wanting to be competitive, not wanting last year to repeat."
Naturally, the U19 tournament did not have the ending Dangerfield was hoping for.
Russia's 6-foot-4 forwards Raisa Musina and Maria Vadeeva combined for 59 points, 29 rebounds, nine assists and three blocked shots in Russia's 86-82 victory.

"The end result was really difficult, I knew going in it was going to be difficult because I remember those two from two years ago and they played just like they played there," Dangerfield said. "We went into halftime with a four-point lead, I was like, 'OK, 20 more minutes." It started to slip away in the third quarter. We tried to make a run in the fourth but they were able to hold on and we weren't able to (pull it out)."

UConn freshman Megan Walker was one of the top reserves for the U.S. squad as she averaged 7.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 16.7 minutes per game.

Walker shot just 12.5 percent from 3-point range and 30 percent from the foul line after being a 30 percent 3-point shooter and making 74 percent of her free throws during her high school career.

"Megan struggled a little but as most high school kids do when they are playing against pros," Auriemma said. "I don't even think she played in the second half of the championship game. It was a reminder to her that I don't think anybody cares that you were the national player of the year."

Walker had 15 points in the tournament opener against Mali and 11 against Japan in the semifinals. She also had games with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals showing her tremendous potential.

"The thing the coaching staff said to me was (to focus on) defense, they told me how to operate within their system so I think defensively I've learned a lot," Walker said.

She also learned how to play alongside of Dangerfield.

"Crystal is a great player and I got comfortable with her at the 1 (point guard)," Walker said. "It was really good getting that experience playing with her before the season started. It will help a lot already having that bond and playing with somebody you are familiar with.

"It was a tough loss, we fought to the end. All we can do is go home and work harder."
Walker found herself matched up on taller opponents quite often during the tournament.

"I guarded No. 4 (Musina) one time," Walker said. "I am 6-1 and I was tall on the AAU circuit. Now I am kind of average height so I learned how to guard the guards who are shorter than me, posts and wings that are taller than me so you have to adjust and know their weaknesses and their strengths."

Now Walker and fellow freshmen Mikayla Coombs, Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Lexi Gordon are getting a crash course on UConn women's basketball and the lofty standards players are held to even during the most basic drill.

"The biggest challenge will be learning that level of intensity and trying to match it every day," Walker said.

The team heads to Italy on Saturday. The first two exhibition games will be played on Monday and Tuesday. The travel party will also visit various spots in Rome. The next two days will be spent sightseeing with the preliminary itinerary including a trip to the Palio di Siena horse race before heading to Florence before playing the final two games on Aug. 18 and 20. A tour of Venice is on the agenda for the final part of the tour before heading home on Aug. 25.

"It is not you go there and every day is either a practice or a game," Auriemma said. "This is more of we have a lecturer coming to see them, explain to them what the significance is of all the things we are going to see, given them an idea of this is what we are going to, this is what is particularly unique, this is what's there.

"I enjoy going over for whatever reason. Doing the same things they do in this country, that is not the point of this. I like when we go over and show them some things that this is the only place in the world where you can see this."

Megan Walker averaging 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists for U.S.

UConn incoming freshman Megan Walker had 11 points and four rebounds while Crystal Dangerfield finished with three points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals as the six-time defending champion United States squad defeated Japan 73-66 in the FIBA U19 World Cup semifinals.

Walker beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer and also had an offensive rebound and putback with 26 seconds remaining in the first half as the U.S. took a 47-33 lead into the locker room at halftime.

University of Oregon star Ruthy Hebard had 18 of her game-high 24 points in the first half. She finished with 14 rebounds. Texas A&M incoming freshman Chennedy Carter had 19 points and seven rebounds while South Carolina's Tyasha Harris had 10 points and six assists.

The U.S. will play Russia in Sunday's championship game as Russia rolled to a 65-41 win over Canada in the other semifinals behind 22 points and 16 rebounds from captain Raisa Musina. The game will start at 3 p.m. The semifinal game was available on ESPN3 so hopefully the story is the same for the gold-medal game.

Also, a pair of New Haven Register 2016-17 All-State selections led Puerto Rico to its first win of the tournament.

Former New London High School star India Pagan had 26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, a steal and two blocked shots while Capital Prep graduate Angelique Rodriguez had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists in a 77-71 win over Korea. Puerto Rico will play Mali with the winner finishing in 13th place. Rodriguez, an incoming freshman at Pittsburgh, is averaging a team-leading 14.5 points per game while connecting on 20 of Puerto Rico's 42 3-pointers. Pagan, headed to Stony Brook, is averaging 8.7 points and a team-beat 6.8 rebounds per game.

UConn's Megan Walker and Crystal Dangerfield were among four players to score in double figures as the six-time defending champion United States squad opened play in the FIBA U19 World Cup with a 95-58 win over Mali.

Walker, an incoming freshman, came off the bench to score 15 points and added three rebounds, one assist and one steal. Dangerfield, the team captain and starting point guard, had 10 points, two rebounds and three assists.

Texas rising sophomore Alecia Sutton had 19 points, four rebounds and three assists while Texas A&M incoming freshman Chennedy Carter finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Next up is a game against China on Sunday beginning at noon before wrapping up pool play against host Italy on Monday at 2:45 p.m.

Also, Walker is one of the finalists for USA Today's Girls high school athlete of the year. Voting runs through Wednesday and Walker is currently trailing hockey player Grace Zumwinkle in the voting.

In several months time Crystal Dangerfield will be throwing passes to talented freshmen Mikayla Coombs and Megan Walker in practices and games at UConn. However, she doesn't need to wait that long to get used to sharing the court with her soon to be college teammates.

Dangerfield, the only player in the U.S. U-19 training camp who was a member of the team to win the  2015 FIBA U19 World Championship, has relishing the chance to develop chemistry with Coombs and Walker.

"Mikayla, she is out here playing defense, getting steals, getting her hands on the ball, knocking down 3s and playing really well," Dangerfield said. "Megan, she is doing her thing. Smooth is all I can say about her, she is hitting those shots and running the floor really well."

Two years ago Dangerfield has the chance to play with Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson. All three of the future Huskies made the U19 team but Samuelson relinquished her spot to tend to some family business. Collier was the leading rebounder and No. 1 scorer on the gold-medal winning team while Dangerfield was second on the squad with 14 steals and third with 19 assists in seven games.

"It definitely helps," Dangerfield said. "Playing with Napheesa, during the year a pick and roll with her, it is (as simple as) breathing almost, it is easy. Just being able to play with both of them, they have been on my team (in 5 on 5 drills) and being able to build the chemistry before we get on the campus at the end of the month so when we get in there, we will keep building on it."

The 12-member team will be announced tomorrow. UConn Class of 2018 commit Charli Collier and Class of 2018 recruiting target Christyn Williams are also among the 33 players vying for spots on the team.

One of the few luxuries this UConn does not have is depth. In the toughest games, the Huskies have relied on a seven-player rotation with Crystal Dangerfield and Natalie Butler seeing quality minutes off the bench.

Well, the number of options has been cut with the news that Dangerfield will miss the next couple of weeks to rest her foot. Dangerfield has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in her left foot. She will not practice or play in the next two weeks and will be reevaluated at that time.

Dangerfield leads all reserves with 322 minutes played and 86 points scored. UConn is not in danger of losing as the Huskies continue play in the American Athletic Conference but these next couple of weeks could have been valuable for Dangerfield as she continues to adapt to the college game and expectations placed on her by the UConn coaching staff.

I spoke to Dangerfield after Monday's practice mostly because she was squaring off against her former high school teammate Jazz Bond in last night's game but she also addressed what she was hoping to get accomplished moving forward.

"Right now it is not the physical part, it is about being able to come into practice and pay attention to the scout then going into the games and executing," Dangerfield said.

Time will tell if the time away sets Dangerfield back when she gets back on the court. At Monday's practice fellow freshman Molly Bent was seeing more time with the starters than at any practice I have attended. Now she's going to have a larger role moving forward.

Bent competes really hard but UConn coach Geno Auriemma said her issue comes when she tries to play too fast.
"(Bent) makes just enough shots to make you think she can help you and just enough plays and then she is 100 miles an hour and completely self destructs when she is out there," Auriemma said after Monday's practice. "Somewhere we have to find that middle ground where she can make a little bit of an impact and not get into that self destruct mode where and she is struggling to get anything done. If we can get her to slow down, that would help us a lot."

Bent has played in 13 of the 15 games and in a limited amount of work (9.8 minutes per game) she leads the team by making 60 percent of her 3-pointers and has a positive assist/turnover ratio.

Beginning on Saturday when UConn plays at SMU with a chance to set a new NCAA all-division basketball record with its 91st win in a row, Bent's minutes figure to increase.

"Things like this can happen at any time in the season so it is good that we are preparing for it," UConn junior forward Gabby Williams said.

The thing I noticed at Monday's practice is that Bent was reluctant to look at the basket. She is hardly the first freshman to have this issue but it is something she is going to have to work through because if she is out there with the starters, she will definitely be left open from the perimeter.

"Molly, she can do a lot," UConn senior guard Saniya Chong said. "She can put the ball in the basket, her shot is pretty good. She is very hesitant. Hey, I've been there and still go through that sometimes but she is learning. She has us and the coaches to help her out."

LIGHTING IT UP
Just as I did as UConn prepared to play its 10th game, I looked at how the offensive starts of Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier stack up heading into last night's game, the 15th of the season.

I have a binder that former UConn sports information director Randy Press put together that has every box score beginning in the 1997-98 season and going to the 2007-08 campaign. The game by game stats since 2008 are easy to locate on UConn's official site but occasionally you will see stats referring to the last 20 seasons and this is why. I hope that I have time to go through the box scores during the Kerry Bascom and Rebecca Lobo eras at UConn to provide more comprehensive updates as UConn plays its 20th game but in the meantime, here's some interesting stuff about Collier and Samuelson.

Dating back to the aforementioned 1997-98 season, here's a list of the most points scored by a UConn player through the first 15 games of a season.

359 Maya Moore 2010-11
304 Nykesha Sales 1997-98
301 Katie Lou Samuelson 2016-17
289 Napheesa Collier 2016-17 288 Diana Taurasi 2003-04
285 Maya Moore 2009-10
275 Maya Moore 2008-09
271 Breanna Stewart 2013-14
Here are the highest scoring tandems. Note: A duo would need to combine for 33 points per game to make this list and the only ones who did that from Auriemma's first season in 1985-86 to the 1996-97 campaign are Kerry Bascom/Wendy Davis in '88-89, Bascom/Davis in '90-91, Kara Wolters/Nykesha Sales in '95-96 and Wolters/Sales in '96-97

593 Maya Moore (359)/Tiffany Hayes (234) 2010-11
590 Katie Lou Samuelson (301)/Napheesa Collier (289) 2016-17
562 Maya Moore (359)/Bria Hartley (203)
549 Maya Moore (285)/Tina Charles (264) 2009-10
532 Maya Moore (275)/Tina Charles (257) 2008-09
512 Svetlana Abrosimova (269)/Shea Ralph (243) 1998-99
508 Nykesha Sales (304)/Svetlana Abrosimova (204) 1997-98
505 Katie Lou Samuelson (301)/Kia Nurse (204) 2016-17

Finally, the most 3-pointers during that span
50 Katie Lou Samuelson 2016-1745 Diana Taurasi 2001-02
43 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 2014-15
42 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 2012-13
42 Diana Taurasi 2003-04
41 Ann Strother 2005-06
40 Ann Strother 2004-05
39 Mel Thomas 2005-06
38 Renee Montgomery 2008-09
37 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 2011-12
36 Mel Thomas 2006-07
32 Bria Hartley 32 2010-11
32 Mel Thomas 32 2007-08
32 Kia Nurse 2016-17

3 HUSKIES ON WOODEN AWARD WATCH LIST
UConn's Collier, Samuelson and Kia Nurse were among 25 players named to Wooden Award midseason watch list.

It's a pretty strong list of players but still, not seeing Gabby Williams listed among the top 25 players is definitely questionable. For the sake of full disclosure, I'm on Wooden Award panel that came up with the top 25 players and I did put four UConn players on my ballot including Williams.

Over the last couple of seasons, the highlight of UConn's conference schedule have been the matchups with South Florida.

While the Bulls have never beaten the Huskies, they have made things somewhat interesting. The individual matchups featuring UConn's Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck and USF's Courtney Williams have been worth the price of admission.

The four of them were taken in the first round of the 2016 WNBA Draft but there is a new "game within the game" worthy of keeping an eye on in the form of former Blackman High School teammates Crystal Dangerfield and Jazz Bond.

Dangerfield leads off of UConn's reserves in minutes played (302) and points scored (81) while Bond is averaging 2.5 points and 7.6 minutes per game as a freshman at USF.

"I know she is doing well down there and to see a familiar face will be really nice," Dangerfield said after Monday's practice.

Blackman went 119-12 in their four seasons together winning a pair of Tennessee state titles but the on-court partnership started when Dangerfield and Bond were just seven years old.

"She is a steady person, she never got too emotional about things and (it was good) just to have somebody to talk to," Dangerfield said.

"It is weird, I know our high school coach is looking forward to it for sure but just knowing that we are living our dreams and just wanting the best for each other."

During Dangerfield's and Bond's sophomore and junior seasons the Lady Blaze lost a total of three games, one came to a Mater Dei team led by UConn's Katie Lou Samuelson and another to an Incarnate Word Academy squad featuring UConn's Napheesa Collier. So what were Dangerfield's best memories of sharing the court with Bond in high school?

"I think it was our second state championship, she played really big in that game (with six points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots in a 58-54 overtime win against Oakland)," Dangerfield said. "There were times where she was not a big (scorer) but our teammates needed her, she had a really big game. She had some key defensive rebounds, a few blocks and she hit a big shot."

BENT TO SEE EXPANDED ROLE?
When the media was allowed into watch the last part of today's practice the first thing I was struck by was how much more time freshman Molly Bent was seeing with the starters. Naturally, when we spoke to UConn coach Geno Auriemma after practice it was one of the first subjects I brought up.

"We need to find another guard, find somebody else that can give us some meaningful minutes," Auriemma said. "I don't want to be in the situation where Kia (Nurse) and Lou (Samuelson) are playing more minutes than I would like for them to play so between Saniya (Chong), Crystal and Molly, we have to get some good stuff out of those guys coming up."

Bent has played a total of 112 minutes while appearing in 12 of the Huskies' first 14 games. She did not play against Maryland but in the last three contests she appeared in, Bent averaged 15.3 minutes per game.

Other than South Florida, which moved up to No. 20 in the Associated Press poll, South Carolina is the only other ranked team the Huskies will face between now and the end of the regular season so it is the right time for players like Dangerfield and Bent to put the freshman jitters behind them and start trusting their instincts.

Freshman Crystal Dangerfield set to make another start in place of Saniya Chong

There was no sign of senior guard Saniya Chong at the portion of today's practice open to the media so it wasn't too hard to figure out her status for tomorrow night's game against Ohio State.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma confirmed that Chong won't play tomorrow and her status is up in the air for Wednesday's game at Nebraska.

"She is doing some of the stuff you have to do, it is just taking a really long time," Auriemma said. "She is not going to be ready for tomorrow night obviously and probably not Wednesday either so perhaps the time we get back from the holidays, hopefully she will be ready to go."

Freshman Crystal Dangerfield should make her second consecutive game as Chong is slated to miss another game due to concussion-like symptoms after she was hit in the head in the second half on a Dec. 7 win at Notre Dame.

That leaves UConn with an even thinner bench than normal. Neither Molly Bent nor Kyla Irwin played against Notre Dame and got in for just the final 1:29 against Kansas State so it will be interesting to see how early they are called upon against a deep Ohio State team.

"It is a big problem and you saw some of the problems when we played K-State, we just don't have a lot to go to but we are going to have to figure it out," Auriemma said. "We had a conversation with some of those young guys that we have to figure out a way to get you involved. I think they want to be involved but if you watch them every day you just kind of shake your head so you might have to just close your eyes, throw them out there and see what happens."

The timing couldn't be worse for Chong to be injured. Unlike Kansas State, a team which preferred to run the clock down and didn't put very much pressure on the UConn guards, Ohio State likes to extend defensive pressure and figures to do even more of that with the Huskies being shorthanded.

"If you remember last year Pheesa and Lou didn't get a lot of playing time at Ohio State, they weren't quite ready for something like that," Auriemma said. "Now they aren't that much different than they were last year to be honest with you, they've added some pretty good pieces with  Sierra Calhoun, Tory McCoy and (Stephanie) Mavunga an they have gotten a lot, they have (Linnae) Harper playing so they have a lot of bodies that they can put out there, obvoiusly they want to go up and down and want to create as much of a high scoring game as they can. Controlling the tempo is going to be really important. Not that we want to walk it up and play 50-45 game but our starters are going to log a lot of minutes tomorrow but we are going to need some help from our bench and that is a big concern."

This was certainly not the way Crystal Dangerfield wanted to make her first career start.
Since arriving on campus, the highly-touted freshman guard has been grateful for all the assistance she has received from senior Saniya Chong. However, after being hit in the head in Wednesday's win at Notre Dame, Chong was suffering from concussion-like symptoms resulting in her being left at home when the Huskies made the trip to play at Kansas State on Sunday.
Dangerfield played 37 minutes and six points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals in the 73-58 victory.
"It is my first college (experience)," Dangerfield said after playing 61 combined minutes in wins over Notre Dame and Kansas State. "Mentally for me just trying to pick out the things I need to work on and listen to my coaches, listen to my teammates and just coming out 9-0 is huge for us and I am happy about it.
"Just being able to adjust to certain things, continue to adjust to them, see if things are technical and I need to go into the gym to work on them or if they are mental and just go back to it," Dangerfield said.
Dangerfield, who erupted for 19 points against Baylor in her second collegiate game, is in the midst of growing pains every freshman who has played for UConn coach Geno Auriemma have experienced.
One teaching moment came when Dangerfield was over aggressive in leaving Kansas State's top 3-point shooter Kindred Wesemann to help on defense only to give up a wide-open 3-pointer to the K-State senior.

"The first time we went zone in the game, the kid has the ball and passes it," Auriemma said, "The kid (Dangerfield) runs 30 feet away from her, she makes a 3 and she is like 'oh yeah.' So what we did in the second half is we didn't help off of her as much, as a matter of fact, we didn't help off of her hardly at all so by limiting  how many times she touched it, when she did get it, she wasn't kind of (ready to shoot)."
Dangerfield heard it from Auriemma after her defensive lapse and played better defense on Wesemann in the second half.
"Just knowing that I have to stay on her and know where she is," Dangerfield said. "They harp on me about my defense so I just wanted to be able to guard her."
It's been a grueling stretch for UConn with five games at five different arenas and in three different states in a two-week span. Even some of the veteran players showed signs of mental fatigue so it could be an even more daunting task for a young player like Dangerfield.
"At some points it was but now I think I will be used to it, after the finals we are back at it," Dangerfield said.
The team will practice sparingly during final exam week. The hope is that when the Huskies reconvene and begin preparations to host nationally-ranked Ohio State that Chong will be able to return to the court.
"Saniya, she took an inadvertent elbow to just about her eye and I knew she was pretty shook up during the game," Auriemma said, "It didn't really present itself until we got home so our medical stuff felt it would be best if we left her back and hopefully she will be able to play in the Ohio State game on the 19th, more important I hope she is OK because this is finals week starting so it is a big week for our players."

If Dangerfield maintains her current pace and the Huskies were to reach the American Athletic Conference and NCAA tournament title games, she would break Renee Montgomery's program record for assists by a freshman. While Chong figures to return to the starting lineup when she is cleared to return, Dangerfield will have plenty of other opportunities to start during her time at UConn.

"She did well," Napheesa Collier said "It is always kind of scary starting your first game especially as a freshman so I give her props."

COLLIER HONORED AGAIN
Collier was named the American Athletic Conference's Player of the Week for the second straight time.

Collier averaged 21 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 70.8 percent from the floor and 88.9 percent from the foul line in wins over Notre Dame and Kansas State.

ESPINOZA-HUNTER, WALKER EARN WBCA HONORS
UConn signees Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Megan Walker were among nine players to earn WBCA Player of the Week honors.

Espinoza-Hunter is averaging a staggering 43.6 points per game for Ossining (N.Y.) High School after scoring a season-high 51 points in Sunday's win over Our Lady of Lourdes while Walker already had three 30-point games for Monacan (Va.) High School.

The final statistics only told a part of the story in Crystal Dangerfield's unforgettable first regular season home game for UConn but the numbers were rather impressive.

Dating back to the 1994-95 season only Kia Nurse (22 points vs. Creighton in 2014), Maya Moore (21 points vs. Stony Brook in 2007), Breanna Stewart (21 points vs. Charleston in 2012) and Shea Ralph (20 points vs. Idaho State in 1996) had more points for a UConn player in its first home game than Dangerfield's 19.

No disrespect to those Creighton, Stony Brook, Charleston and Idaho State teams but there was not nearly the same amount of pressure to perform for the Huskies' latest freshman phenom than there was in last night's game against second-ranked Baylor.

It wasn't just that Dangerfield made 8 of 14 shots from the field but it is that she looked for her own shot which is something I did not see from her against Florida State or in either preseason game when it looked like she shot the ball because she thought she was supposed to. There were the two early 3-pointers, the floater over the outstretched arms of her former USA Basketball teammate Lauren Cox who is nearly a foot taller than Dangerfield and of course the jumper with 1:10 to play that pretty much iced the game that signaled the arrival of the first UConn player from the state of Tennessee in Geno Auriemma's Hall of Fame tenure.

"We don't expect our freshmen to do that," UConn junior forward Gabby Williams said. "We kind of think our (starters) we have expectations, our freshmen whatever we can get from them is amazing. The fact that she was looking for her shot, the only makes it hard for the other team. I think she has the expectations for herself now but anything that we can get from her is amazing."

I don't recall who the pass was to (and it did not result in one of her five assists) but one of the plays that stood out to me was when she dribbled towards the top of the key and blindly delivered a bounce pass to a teammate. Those were the kinds of plays I saw from her when I was out in Colorado watching Dangerfield during the junior national team trials back in 2014. There was another time when she pushed the ball up the floor resulting in an easy two points for Williams. She won't always be hitting her jumpers but she can always run the team with the same confidence she showed against Baylor.

"I just wanted to redeem myself from Monday night and show that my teammates can rely on me and not let them down especially in a big game like this," Dangerfield said.

"I have played in enough big games, played for USA Basketball and been on a national level with my high school team so it didn't faze me."

Geno Auriemma had plenty of things to say about Dangerfield's performance as well including proclaiming that Dangerfield is further along through two games than All-American Moriah Jefferson was at the same point. It wasn't that long ago that Dangerfield was the last of the three freshmen to enter the game when UConn hosted Indiana (Pa.) in its preseason opener. It was Auriemma's way to telling Dangerfield that there is plenty of work yet to be done. It appears as if she got the message.

"With Crystal, since day one it has been show me what you have, show me why you came to Connecticut." Auriemma said. "It took a while and we are still not there yet. We have a long way to go. I said when she was being recruited to Connecticut that we had a kid who I think can be as good as anybody playing right now. I don't want to say that she is as good as any point guard we have ever had, that is saying too much  too soon but I think any other freshman in the country right now, she is as good a guard as there is in the country coming in. Where she goes from here, I think it is going to be a lot of fun to watch."

In a perfect world I would have liked to have spoken to Baylor star Nina Davis about Dangerfield since she has been a mentor to her dating back to their time together with the powerhouse Tennessee Flight AAU program but deadlines made that quite impossible. I did, however, talk to somebody who has seen this from Crystal before.

"She has been working hard to get back on the floor," said Chris Dangerfield, Crystal's father. "I guess she had four months without playing basketball (due to hip surgery) and really has been working hard.

"All she wants to do is help the team in any way that she can. She loves to win. The crowd, she wanted to do her part of help the team going and not let them down. She is tough, she has been playing this game since she was 5 years old so that is what she loves to do. She has seen a lot of big lights in her life. I am surprised that it happened this soon but I happy it happened for the team. It was her dream to come do this and I am happy it is starting to happen."


Here's a look at how some of UConn's elite guards fared in their first regular-season home game at UConn

Jen Rizzotti (Fairfield 1992) 13 points
Nykesha Sales (Morgan State 1994) 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals
Shea Ralph (Idaho State 1996) 20 points
Sue Bird (Washington 1998) 2 points, 3 assists
Diana Taurasi (Georgia 2000) 8 points, 5 turnovers
Renee Montgomery (Marist 2005) 0 points, 3 assists
Bria Hartley (Holy Cross 2010) 18 points, 4 assists
Moriah Jefferson (Charleston 2012) 4 points, 5 assists
Kia Nurse (Creighton 2014) 22 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

FUTURE HUSKIES' TEAMS MAKE THE GRADE
USA Today released its preseason top 25 poll (even though some teams have already started playing).

UConn signee Andra Espinoza-Hunter's Ossining (N.Y.) team comes in at No. 7 while Megan Walker's Monacan (Va.) squad is ranked 18th.

Paul VI out of Fairfax, Virginia is the No. 1 ranked team. According to Monacan's schedule, there is a scrimmage against Paul VI tomorrow. Too bad it's not a little closer and I didn't have something like the UConn/Boston College football game to cover because I am sure that would be one entertaining scrimmage.

Other than the inaugural squad in 1988 there has been a future UConn women's basketball player on every U-18 national team. That streak will continue as incoming freshman guard Crystal Dangerfield was one of 12 players named to the squad competing in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship from July 13-17 in Chile.

UConn recruiting target Megan Walker also was named to the squad as her Sidney Cooks and Amber Ramirez, who will team with Walker and Cal incoming freshman Jaelyn Brown on the team representing the U.S. at the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship which begin on Wednesday in Kazakhstan.

Rebecca Lobo was the player with UConn ties to play for the U18 team, helping the U.S. to the silver medal in between her freshman and sophomore seasons at Connecticut. Four years later Stacy Hansmeyer was a member of second-place U.S. team. In 2000 Ashley Battle and Diana Taurasi helped the U.S. win the first of seven straight gold medals in the event. Charde Houston in 2004, Tina Charles and Maya Moore in 2006, Kelly Faris in 2007, Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley in 2010, Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck in 2012 and Napheesa Collier in 2014 as won gold medals at the FIBA Americas 18 event.

Dangerfield averaged 6.4 points in the United States' seven games during a gold-medal run during the FIBA U19 World Championship. She was second on the team with 19 assists (with just four turnovers) and tied for second on the team with 14 steals.

Dangerfield and Baylor incoming freshman Lauren Cox are the only players from the U19 team to take part in the U18 trials and not surprisingly, they both made the U18 team.

Walker, a rising senior at Monacan High School in North Chesterfield, Virginia, was only able to have one complete day at the trials because she is a part of the U.S. team playing in the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships but that didn't stop her from making the U18 team.

Jeannie Boehm, Chennedy Carter, Tyasha Harris, Ruthy Hebard, Valerie Higgins, Evina Westbrook and Rellah Boothe are other players on the team. Boothe is the only player to be named a finalist for the U17 team and as be selected to the U18 team.

There are seven players who will be incoming college freshman as Dangerfield and Cox are joined by Boehm (Harvard). Harris (South Carolina), Hebard (Oregon), Higgins (USC) and Ramirez (TCU) while Walker, Boothe, Carter, Cooks and Westbrook are heading into their senior year of high school and all five are uncommitted so I'd expect to see some Division I college coaches making the journey to see this team go for gold.

Here are quotes from Dangerfield courtesy of USA Basketball

How does it feel to be named to a third USA Basketball team?It feels great. And then seeing who else made the team, it’s going to be a really special summer.
Two years ago you didn’t make the 2014 USA U17 World Championship Team, so you’ve been on both sides. How were you feeling when the announcement was coming?
The wait brought me back to that point, but after they came out and said what they had to say, I was relaxed.
What does it mean for you to be able to represent your country like this?It means I came back hungry to win another gold medal.
Because you have experience, do you feel like you’re one of the leaders?I feel like it, yes. I feel like it’s just a presence-type thing. I think the others are going to ask us questions and go off our lead.
On the overall make-up of the team:Looking at it, this is a physical group. I think that’s going to help us, because international play is very physical. We’re very talented, and I’m ready to see how it goes.

The reality of it all is about to hit Crystal Dangerfield.

The high school All-American point guard has already graduated from Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She is currently in Colorado Springs trying out for the U.S. U-18 national team and on Tuesday morning she will board a flight for Connecticut.

"I am ready to start that chapter," Dangerfield said. "It is five weeks of workouts, two classes so I am ready to start working on team chemistry.

"It is surreal, a dream come true. I have been waiting for about six years now just to get up there and have UConn wore across my chest."

Dangerfield won't be playing with all of her college teammates in pickup games over the next five weeks. Rising sophomores Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson will be recovering from injury while Kia Nurse will spend some of her summer training with the Canadian national team.

She will get the chance to reunite with one of her teammates on last year's U.S. U-19 team as Azura' Stevens is transferring in from Duke.

"That is huge just having a versatile player like that, a great teammate and having the extra post presence,' Dangerfield said. "She creates matchup problems so that is something I am looking forward to next year and the year after."

It is not only Stevens' basketball skills she is impressed by.

"Just how welcoming she is, Dangerfield said. "Her personality is great. On the court she is a great leader, she is vocal, she is versatile, she can guard a post or on the perimeter.

"I was very (surprised). I wouldn't have expected her to leave (Duke) but I don't know how transfer situations go but to have her come to UConn is just really big."

Dangerfield was one of three players with remaining high school eligibility remaining on last year's team which won the FIBA U19 World Championship. All Dangerfield did was finish second on the team in assists (19) and steals (14). She averaged 6.4 points per game and had an impressive 19/4 assist/turnover ratio.

"Just the maturity level, the style of play it can transfer into some of the college games (she will play)," Dangerfield said. "The physicality and I feel even off the court (it helped). We had to travel so much and it was time for me to grow up and being around older girls helped."

The U-18 team will be announced Monday around 8:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. in Colorado).

UConn recruiting target Megan Walker is also trying out for the team but she has to leave Sunday morning because she is a part of the U.S. team playing in the FIBA 3z3 U18 World Championship. There will be more on Walker's hectic summer either later today or tomorrow. She did saw that she is intending to take official visits to her four finalists (UConn, Notre Dame, Virginia and Texas) in August and September with her decision coming in September. She is hoping to take her official visit to UConn in August and it would likely be in late August since UConn coach Geno Auriemma will be in Brazil coaching the U.S. Olympic team until Aug. 20.

The U-17 team is expected to be announced around 8 a.m. local time (10 a.m. here in Connecticut). The first cut was recently made to get down to 101 players. UConn commits Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Lexi Gordon as well as Class of 2017 recruiting target Mikalya Coombs, to the surprise of nobody, survived the initial cut.

UConn incoming freshman Crystal Dangerfield is one of five finalists for the McDonald's national high school player of the year.

Dangerfield is joined by Baylor commits Natalie Chou and Lauren Cox, Notre Dame signee Jackie Young and Texas commit Joyner Holmes.

Dangerfield averaged 24.1 points per game as a senior leading Blackman High of Murfreesboro, Tenn. to a 27-4 record. I don't have the full stats for the season-ending loss to Riverdale in the Tennessee 4-AAA semifinals but entering that game, she was averaging 5.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game.

The UConn women's basketball program impressive run of McDonald's All-American Game selection continued when Crystal Dangerfield was selected to play in the game on March 30 at the United Center in Chicago.

Since a girls game was added to the McDonald's schedule in 2002, there has been at least one UConn women's incoming freshman playing in the game except for 2013. Dangerfield will play for the East team.

Dangerfield, a senior guard at Blackman High in Murfreesboro, Tenn., has four 30-point games for 17-2 Blackman as a senior. She is averaging 23.4 points per game and has 31 3-pointers and currently has 1,900 career points. Dangerfield has led Blackman to 58 straight wins against Tennessee opponents. Since her sophomore season the Lady Blaze have an 83-5 record with two of the losses coming in games against teams featuring current UConn freshmen.

As a sophomore Dangerfield's Blackman team's only loss came to the Napheesa Collier-led Incarnate Word Academy squad in the Naples Holiday Shootaround while last season one of Blackman's two losses came in the Nike Tournament of Champions to a Mater Dei team led by Katie Lou Samuelson.

UConn men's commit Alterique Gilbert will be playing in the boys' McDonald's game.

If I've learned nothing else in the years I have covered the UConn women's basketball team, it is Geno Auriemma driving home the point that there's a huge difference between shooting well and playing well.

Katie Lou Samuelson, like fellow former Mater Dei High School and UConn star Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, has what Auriemma has referred to as a "get out of jail free" card with their ability to hit 3-pointers.

As Auriemma did with Mosqueda-Lewis, who would graduate as the NCAA's all-time leader in 3-pointers made, he has been pushing Samuelson to bring more to the table than just the ability to hit shots from the perimeter. Making a couple of shots is not going to be enough to satisfy a demanding coach like Auriemma and it's hard to watch Samuelson play, especially in last night's win, and not think she has gotten the message.

While she still has some growing to do on the court, I thought Samuelson's effort against Memphis was the best of her young collegiate career.

Against South Florida Samuelson attempted five shots before she had any other statistic whether it was a rebound, assist, steal or blocked shot. Wen she failed to close out on a 3-point shooter when USF came roaring back, she got an earful from Auriemma who instructed all the players on the court at the time not to give up uncontested 3-pointers. When she got into the game against Memphis Samuelson quickly grabbed a defensive rebound and on the ensuing possession, battled hard for an offensive rebound. The shots would come later as Samuelson finished with a pair of 3-pointers en route to scoring 11 points but when it came to her compete level, I thought this was a really good showing for her.

"Just going in and getting that rebound kind of gave me a bounce in my step and made me ready for the rest of the game," Samuelson said. "Instead of having a slow start where I did nothing, I got in there, got an offensive rebound. Whenever I come off the bench, that is what I need to do. I need to do something that is going to get my game going and I am not just relying on that first 3 that I am going to hit. I have noticed different ways that I have been able to get points, mostly if I focus on getting other people shots too the other ones come easier."

Auriemma said it is not a coincidence that Samuelson's shots have started to fall with more regularity as she contributes to UConn's success in other ways.

"She has been getting more aggressive every day," Auriemma said. "Her practices are getting better, she is doing more things and it is not unusual that the more things that you start doing that the more your shot starts dropping. She is doing so many different things right now that her confidence level is way higher than it was a month ago."

Auriemma certainly drove the point home to Samuelson during a Dec. 30 game at Cincinnati when he did not summon the reigning national high school player of the year off the bench until there was 1:48 to play in the third quarter. He wanted Samuelson to compete harder in practices and not just for stretches in practice.

Samuelson had a pretty good idea that messages like that would be coming when she decided to commit to UConn.
"I kind of expected it to be one of the hardest things I've done but just the consistency that I need to put myself into and my hard work, it definitely has been harder than anything I've done. I am kind of getting better at doing what they ask me to do. Recently with how hard I have been trying to push myself, it has made things easier not only during games but in practice."

Auriemma mentioned after the Memphis game that he was encouraged that the three road games in three different states did not become merely a showcase for Breanna Stewart but other players and in particular younger players stepped up in different ways.

"It has helped us a lot," Samuelson said. "We have gotten different kinds of games and a lot of playing time in each of them. I think the variety we have been through has really helped us as players and prepared us for what is going to come later.

"I think we have definitely grown, having these three games that close, everybody's going to be tired, everybody wants to go home and we knew coming into this game that we had to take care of business. Just being able to rely on each other knowing that everyone is going through the same thing that you are, you really want to do that and go as hard as you can for your teammates."

DANGERFIELD ON NAISMITH TROPHY WATCH LIST
UConn incoming freshman Crystal Dangerfield is one of 25 girls' basketball players named to the midseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy.

Dangerfield, a senior guard at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn., is averaging 23.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.4 steals per game as a senior.

The national semifinalists will be announced on Feb. 10, the finalists on Feb. 24 while the winner will be announced on Mar. 10.

Another honor could be coming Dangerfield's way on Sunday as that is the day the 24 boys and girls players taking part in the McDonald's All-American Game will be announced. The squads will be revealed on the selection show airing on ESPNU from 10:30-11 p.m. It would be stunning turn of events for Dangerfield not be one of the 24 girls players selected to play in the Mar. 30 game at the United Center in Chicago.

Playing on a team with six college players, UConn incoming freshman Napheesa Collier was the U.S. star who led the gold medalists in rebounds, steals and minutes played as the U.S. won the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women for the sixth straight time.

While Collier did not have an eye opening of a stat line as she did in Saturday's semifinals, the 6-foot-1 forward had 10 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and six steals in a 78-70 win over host Russia in Sunday's championship game.

Collier had three double-doubles in seven games including ones in both the semifinals and final.

Collier's average of 9.3 rebounds per game not only led the team but was the third highest total for a U.S. player in the tournament as Alisha Jones pulled down 10.8 rebounds per game in the inaugural event in 1985, and current WNBA all-star Nneka Ogwumike averaged 9.9 rebounds per contest in the 2009 tournament.

Collier is the 13th current or future UConn player to represent the U.S. at the U19 tournament but the only ones to average more than 13.2 that Collier were eventual college national players of the year Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.
"This is going to help me a lot, because it has showed me how to play with college players and against them," Collier said. "It gives me a little bit of extra experience."
Collier earned a spot on the five-member all-tournament team alongside of tournament MVP A'ja Wilson, a former UConn recruiting target who is going into her sophomore season at South Carolina.

The U.S. relied on its dominant frontcourt to win its sixth straight title as Wilson had 30 points amd eight rebounds, Duke's Azura Stevens had 18 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals and Illinois' Chatrice White came off the bench to add 10 points and five rebounds in addition to Collier's contributions.

"I had a great opportunity to work with A’ja and Napheesa last summer, so I think they were familiar with our style of play and how we like to play," U.S. and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. "It was great to have their veteran leadership coming into a tournament like this and also playing well throughout, just setting the tone and setting the example of how we need to play and how we need to approach it to win in a tight situation like tonight in the gold medal game."
UConn commit Crystal Dangerfield finished with four points and five assists and she played most of the fourth quarter ahead of older guards on the roster.

Collier led the U.S. team in rebounding with 65 in the seven games, steals (17) and minutes played  (24.1 per game). She was also seventh in the tournament in rebounding  while Dangerfield had a remarkable 19/4 assist/turnover ratio (the best of any player in the tournament), was second on the team with 14 steals and averaged 7.5 points per game. UConn recruiting target Lauren Cox led all U.S. players with an average of 18.3 rebounds per 40 minutes.

One of the more impressive aspects of the run to the gold medal is that eight U.S. players averaged at least 10 points per game in last year's FIBA U17 World Championship for Women and FIBA Americas U18 Championship and the only ones to play in the tournament were Wilson and Collier.

Speaking of UConn, the Register has put together a slideshow of photos from yesterday's WNBA All-Star Game with the work of the Associated Press/ Jessica Hill featuring plenty of shots of former Huskies.

Another championship is within reach for UConn's Moriah Jefferson and Breanna Stewart.

Jefferson and Stewart led to UConn to national titles in each of their first three seasons and also won gold medals at the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship and 2013 FIBA U19 Championship.

However, if not for some late-game brilliance from former UConn recruiting target Linnae Harper, that streak would have come to an end in the Pan Am Games semifinals on Sunday.

Cuba led by 14 points and took a one-point lead after Jefferson lost the ball near midcourt resulting in Ineidis Casanova's layup. Harper, a rising junior guard at Kentucky, hit two free throws with seven seconds left to play and then a steal in the closing seconds as the U.S. held on for a 65-64 victory. The win puts the U.S. in the gold-medal game on Monday at 8:45 p.m. where Jefferson and Stewart will see a familiar face as UConn's Kia Nurse's Canada team rolled past Brazil 91-63 in the other semifinal.

Harper had eight of her team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter and also had four steals.

In an interview with ESPN after the game Stewart said that Harper "won us the game."

Maryland's Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added 15 points, four rebounds and four steals. South Carolina's Alaina Coates added 10 points and 15 rebounds while Jefferson had 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Stewart finished with 10 points. Down the stretch Stewart was not an offensive factor as she missed her final three shots (all from 3-point range) and did not score in the final 8:53 leading to players like Harper and Coates stepping into the forefront.

Nurse who averaged 8.7 points in Canada's three pool play games, had nine points and three rebounds in the semifinal. Meriden's Damika Martinez is also playing in the Pan Am Games although her Puerto Rico team finished 1-2 in group play and was relegated to playing in the fifth-place game. Playing without leading scorer Carla Cortijo, who was injured late in the loss to the U.S., Puerto Rico lost 77-56 to Argentina to finish sixth. Martinez had nine points and three rebounds in the loss and finished with 25 points and nine rebounds in the four games.

Toronto is not the only location where UConn products are going after a gold medal.

UConn incoming freshman Napheesa Collier had 17 points and six rebounds and UConn commit Crystal Dangerfield had seven points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and had her second straight game without a turnover as the U.S. defeated China 88-62 to improve to 2-0 in pool play at the FIBA U19 Championship for Women in Russia.

South Carolina's A'ja Wilson had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Duke's Azura Stevens added 16 points and Florida State's Shakayla Thomas finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and two steals. The U.S. wraps up group play against winless Egypt on Monday although the U.S. has already clinched the Group B title.

The UConn women's basketball finds itself in the spotlight even in the middle of July.

A memorable day featuring current and future Huskies began when incoming freshman Napheesa Collier had 13 points, a game-high 14 rebounds including eight on the offensive end to go with five assists and three steals as the United States squad opened play in the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women with a hard-earned 73-57 win over Spain, a team that finished fourth or higher in the last four U-19 events.
UConn commit Crystal Dangerfield came off the bench for eight points, three assists and two steals. More importantly, Collier and Dangerfield did not commit a turnover while combining to play 43:57. Louisville's Mariya Moore and UConn recruiting target Lauren Cox joined Collier and Dangerfield as the only U.S. players to play at least 10 minutes and not commit a turnover.
Next up was Kia Nurse trying to help Canada clinch the top seed in Group B at the Pan Am Games.
Canada, coming off a sixth-place finish, had already secured a spot in the semifinals before meeting up with Cuba in a showdown of 2-0 teams.
Nurse finished with seven points and four rebounds in a 71-68 victory but her greatest contribution came on defense. In the third quarter Nurse, the youngest player on the Canadian team, has given the defensive assignment on Cuba's top scorer Yamara Amargo.

The 30-year-old Amargo, who averaged 17.5 points in Cuba's first two games, had four points in the first 1:13 of the third quarter giving her 10 in the game. However, with Nurse shadowing Cuba's top offensive threat most of the way in the final two quarters, she managed just two points for the remainder of the game.

The win not only gives Canada a chance for its first Pan Am medal since winning the silver medal in 1999 but enabled them to draw Brazil instead of the U.S. in today's semifinals.

The U.S. clinched the top spot in Group A with a 93-77 win over Puerto Rico in a game much closer than the final score might indicate. Puerto Rico was within a point with 9:27 left to play and was only down five points with 6:48 remaining before scoring eight straight points to start a game-clinching 14-1 run.
UConn's Breanna Stewart had a team-high 24 points to go with 12 rebounds, two assists and four steals while Moriah Jefferson chipped in with 14 points, three rebounds and six assists. South Carolina's Alaina Coates, who had 23 points and 13 rebounds, was the only other U.S. player to score in double figures.

Puerto Rico, the defending champions, needed to beat the U.S. to have a chance at qualifying for the semifinals. Aided by former Texas star Carla Cortijo scoring 24 points while former South Florida standout Jazmine Sepulveda and Ali Gibson, a former star at Oregon State for U.S. assistant coach Scott Rueck, were each 3 of 4 from 3-point range. Meriden's Damika Martinez chipped in with seven points and three rebounds.

It will be another busy day of basketball beginning at 1:15 p.m. when the U.S. plays China at 1:15 p.m. in a game that can be seen on FIBA's youtube site.
The U.S. and Cuba will meet in the Pan Am semifinals at 1:30 p.m. with Canada and Brazil playing in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Both of those games can be seen on ESPN3 with the U.S. game likely to be shown on ESPN2 as well.