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The UConn Daily Tournament Challenge
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The UConn Daily’s NCAA tournament pools are well underway!
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Collier, Samuelson Say Goodbye
The Story: We’re all aware that the women’s basketball team lost 81-76 to Notre Dame in the Final Four on Friday, so let’s move on and take the opportunity to say thank you and goodbye to Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson, who will likely leave UConn as the most overlooked greats the team has ever seen.
WHERE THEY FINISH: Both players, who are set to graduate, will leave UConn at the top of the charts in several statistical categories, including finishing in the top five all-time in scoring.
Collier finished with 2,401 points, good for third all-time behind Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart, and 1,219 rebounds, leaving her fourth behind Tina Charles, Moore and Rebecca Lobo. Her .613 field goal percentage is third all-time, behind Tamika Williams and Kara Wolters, and her 251 blocks will leave her seventh. She also set the record with 411 rebounds this season, and the 792 points she scored were the second-most of any player as Moore scored 868 in 2010-11.
Samuelson exits fifth all-time in scoring, with the 20 points she scored against Notre Dame giving her 2,342 for her career and leaving her four points from matching Charles in fourth. She made 382 3-pointers over her career and would likely have passed Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who made 398, were it not for a late-season back injury.
ASSESSING THEIR LEGACY: Collier and Samuelson will, unfortunately but fairly, be known for a trio of Final Four exits. They were knocked out by Mississippi State in 2017 on a buzzer-beater by Morgan William, watched as Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale made the winning shot with a second remaining in overtime last year and then squandered a nine-point lead with just under eight minutes left.
Still, they went 145-5 during their careers, made the Final Four all four seasons and won a national championship as freshmen, albeit as role players. Anyone, anywhere, would kill for the chance to win 97 percent of their games in college and win a ring along the way.
Since 2000, only one class — those that graduated in 2008 — have failed to claim at least one national championship. Crystal Dangerfield, your time is now.
WHAT DID COLLIER SAY? “[Playing at UConn] has meant so much for me. It’s changed me as a basketball player, as a person. It’s helped me grow and build good relationships by being here. And the coaching I have gotten from the staff has been amazing. I couldn’t have asked for anything else. I’m so grateful to everyone who has been part of this.”
WHAT DID SAMUELSON SAY? “These four years have been amazing. It’s pretty sad we’re not going to get to play again and that we weren’t able to pull it out for UConn nation.”
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “It’s not apparent sometimes while you’re teammates with Lou and Napheesa, it’s not apparent until after they’re gone how much they did for you, how much they contributed to your success, how much you’re going to miss their presence every single day, on the court, off the court, doesn’t matter. … The thing that stings the most in your locker room, if you’ve ever played, is you look around and there’s some people in the locker room that aren’t going to be back next year. That hurts way more than the loss. That hurts way more than the loss when you realize that two people that you’ve shared so much with are not going to be around any more.
“It’s especially true with these two because for such a young team that we have, such an inexperienced team in a lot of ways, those two really had a huge burden to carry all year long. You saw us at times today where we looked like the best team in the country. Then you saw us at times today where it was a real, real struggle for us. Those two, they bore the burden of that every single day, every single game. I can’t be more proud of kids than I am those two.”
Baylor Dethrones Notre Dame for Third Title
The Story: Baylor almost blew a 17-point lead but survived to beat Notre Dame 82-81 in the women’s title game after Arike Ogunbowale missed one of two free throws after driving for the tying layup in the closing seconds. It’s the Bears’ third national title under Kim Mulkey. Chloe Jackson scored 26 points on her way to most outstanding player honors.
A HARROWING INJURY: Baylor’s Lauren Cox left in the third quarter with a left knee injury. The Bears were up by 14 at the time and withstood a furious rally by the Fighting Irish in the fourth quarter. Cox, taken off in a wheelchair, returned to the bench in the fourth quarter to watch her team win. Cox’s injury is serious and it’s unknown when she will return to the floor for her senior year.
IRISH END WITH A LOSS: Notre Dame came back from a double-digit deficit against UConn on Friday but couldn’t close the deal after doing so again against Baylor. Ogunbowale, who has made a career out of hitting big-time shots, including knocking UConn out of the Final Four last year, couldn’t hit both free throws to tie the score late. She finished with 31 points on 11-of-27 shooting. The Irish were trying to repeat as champions for the first time.
JACKSON STARS: Jackson’s driving layup broke an 80-80 tie as she somehow managed to rally Baylor after the loss of Cox to a knee injury. Jackson hit two big shots for the Bears in the final 40 seconds to seal the title victory.
BAYLOR MAKES HISTORY: Baylor joins UConn (11) and Tennessee (eight) as the only schools to win three or more national titles since the NCAA began sponsoring a women’s basketball championship. Mulkey has built a national power at Baylor and had to deal with a lot of tragedy on and off the floor.
WHAT A YEAR: Can we just take the opportunity to say that this was a fantastic season for women’s basketball? Even though the winner was clearly the best team in the country, there was so much parity at the top, a number of superstars emerged and the most interesting games were compelling. Even the Final Four was full of drama, with the three games settled by a combined margin of 11 points.
Defense on Tap as Virginia Takes on Texas Tech
The Story: There will be a first-time champion this year as Virginia and Texas Tech will vie for the men’s national title tonight in Minneapolis. The Cavaliers are one-point favorites.
VIRGINIA TEAM OF DESTINY? Can Virginia advance any more by the skin of its teeth? The Cavaliers, who have exorcized their demons of losing to a No. 16 seed, defeated Purdue in overtime in the Elite Eight after needing a final-second miracle to force overtime, then had a foul call with 0.6 seconds left on Saturday to beat Auburn 63-62. Was it a foul on Saturday? We think so, but the Cavs are about two seconds away from losing each of their last two games. Sometimes it’s destiny.
TEXAS TECH A REVELATION: Texas Tech has dismantled everyone it has played and took out a very good Michigan State on Saturday, 61-51. The Red Raiders have defeated four of their five opponents by 10 or more points with only Gonzaga within distance with six points. Jarrett Culber has proven to be one of the best players in America and the Red Raiders do it with defense as they have held their opponents to 55.8 points per game in the NCAA tournament.
EXPECT UGLY: We don’t want to ruin your enthusiasm, but this might be the ugliest and hard-nosed title game we have ever seen. At least it might rival Butler and UConn’s 53-41 slugfest, which we think was beautiful only because of the result. These might be the two best defensive teams in the country and we have a feeling the first team to 50 wins. Our prediction? Pain.
Morning Reads
READY FOR THE FUTURE: Even though he has only ever played quarterback, David Pindell is open to moving to wide receiver in order to cut it in the NFL. (Hartford Courant)
BUECKERS TALKS UCONN: The No. 1-ranked high school junior, women’s basketball recruit Paige Bueckers, spoke about why she picked the Huskies. (Hartford Courant)
WILLIAMS ENDS SEASON STRONG: Freshman Christyn Williams ended her freshman year with 19 points in a loss to Notre Dame on Saturday and averaged 11.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
TOUGH WEEKEND: It was a tough weekend for the baseball team, which lost two of three games to Cincinnati this weekend — including a 10-4 loss yesterday in front of more than 2,000 fans at Dunkin’ Donuts Park. The Huskies are 19-12 and 5-4 in the AAC. (Hartford Courant)
TWO OF THREE: Despite losing 3-2 to Memphis yesterday, the softball team took a weekend series against Memphis, winning 11-3 on Friday and 6-5 on Saturday. (UConnHuskies.com)
ANOTHER RALLY, ANOTHER LOSS: The women’s lacrosse team has made a habit of late rallies, but it again fell short as it lost 17-13 at Temple on Saturday despite being tied 10-10 with 15 minutes left. (UConnHuskies.com)
