University of Connecticut Athletics
Women's Basketball Handle Indiana State in WNIT Quarterfinal
11/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The win improves the Huskies’ record to 2-0, while the Sycamores drop to 1-1.
The Huskies jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead as Strother and Mel Thomas (Cincinnati, Ohio) hit three-pointers before Indiana State rallied to knot the score at 8 with 15:42 to play in the first half. UConn scored the next six points, and then went on a 35-7 run over the next 10:40 to put the contest away. Strother scored 13 points in the decisive spurt, while Thomas had eight points and Houston chipped in with seven. Included in the big run, the Huskies held the Sycamores without a point for 4:13 as UConn scored 19 straight points. UConn led 51-20 at intermission.
Strother made six of 11 field goal attempts, including five of eight three-pointers. Her success from beyond the arc allowed her to move past Sue Bird and Jen Rizzotti into third place on the all-time Connecticut list with 211 treys. She also moved past former teammate Jessica Moore into 22nd place on the all-time school scoring list with 1,234 points. Joining Strother and Houston in double figures for the Huskies were Thomas and Brittany Hunter (Columbus, Ohio), who each scored 12 points. The contest marked the first collegiate start for Hunter. Freshman Renee Montgomery (St. Albans, W.V.) had a solid outing running the point for the Huskies, dishing out nine assists against just three turnovers.
The Husky defense harassed the Sycamores into just 26% (14 of 53) shooting and into committing 20 turnovers. UConn also enjoyed a 49-27 rebounding advantage, paced by senior forward Barbara Turner (Cleveland, Ohio), who snagged a game-high nine.
The Sycamores were paced by Melanie Boeglin, who scored 13 points of five of seven shooting.
The win sends the Huskies into the semifinals of the 2005 Preseason WNIT, where UConn will entertain former league foe Boston College at Gampel Pavilion on Thursday, November 17th. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be televised by CPTV.
Game Notes
ü Sophomore Brittany Hunter made her first collegiate start for UConn.
ü Ann Strother’s five 3-point field goals moved her past Sue Bird and Jen Rizzotti into third place on the UConn Career Scoring List at 211.
ü Strother’s 19 points moved her past Jessica Moore into 22nd place on the UConn Career Scoring list at 1,234.
ü UConn improves to 10-0 all-time in Preseason WNIT games following its quarterfinal win over Indiana State.
ü Mel Thomas’ 12 points marked the second straight game she has posted double-figure points and the eighth time in her career.
ü UConn’s meeting vs. Indiana State was the first between the schools in the sport of Women’s Basketball
ü With tonight’s win, UConn improves to 60-1 at Gampel Pavilion in its last 61 games.
ü Following tonight’s win, UConn improves to 149-3 in its last 152 games vs. unranked opponents and have won 172 consecutive games vs. non-ranked opponents at home.
ü Tonight’s attendance of 9.285 marked the first non-sellout crowd at Gampel Pavilion since December 2, 1997 vs. Villanova, a span of 71 straight regular season games.
Post Game Quotes
University of Connecticut
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On Ann Strother:
“Ann has been what you would hope someone who is one of the better players in the league and one of the better players in the country takes that kind of initiative and plays like that. Ann was a great scorer in high school, and when she came here I think she was kind of content to be something other than that. She needs to get back to being that. She goes on those binges where she makes everything.”
Were you pleased with the defense today?
“Yes. What we are starting to find out is that we are not a real great half-court defensive team like we were last year where we played more position defense. I think with this team it is evolving to where we can extend and play more three-quarter court and pressure a little more and trap a little more and get more people involved. They seem to like it, and they seem to thrive off of it. If we can get better at that that could be a huge advantage for us if we have eight or nine players that we can rotate in and out.”
On using the bench:
“You either play five guys because they are really good or you figure out a way to get a lot of people involved. I have always thought that you either sub because guys are playing poorly or you sub because you want to change the game and get better. I have always liked that, and we have always done that ever since I have been here. Our best teams have always been able to bring people off the bench that could change the game except the 2002 team that went 39-0. Most of the teams that we have had have players coming off the bench that change the game. Today Brittany (Hunter) started. Tomorrow it could be Barbara (Turner). I don’t know. I do know that Ketia (Swanier) coming off the bench, Kalana (Greene) hopefully, Charde (Houston) coming off the bench. Right now, the way it is situated, gives me exactly what I am looking for.”
On Ketia Swanier:
“One of the signs that a point guard of Ketia’s stature is maturing is that when they get older they start to understand how to defend when their man does not have the ball. Young players know how to play defense when their guy has the ball. As they get a little more mature they understand that as soon as the guy passes the ball now the real defense starts. Now you can really get in there and make some plays because they are not looking for you. You can step in to a passing lane or go strip somebody. Ketia now seems to have a pretty good feel for that sort of thing, and I think that is the next step for a good guard.”
Was Brittany (Hunter) nervous?
“She looked nervous. I think when you haven’t played in a long time you get anxious. That is the one good thing about Brittany. Brittany’s mistakes are usually mistakes of over-eagerness. She just wants to hurry up and make plays. That’s why she gets so many offensive rebounds. She will shoot the ball and know right away that it is not going in, then she’ll chase the ball and get an offensive rebound. She is hyper like that which is good. She scores points in bunches.”
On the game
“I think it was good because it had ups and downs. We never let the bad times out run the good times. I think last game was terrible. That’s the best way to describe it and we had to bounce back. We knew that was how we played. It wasn’t an effort thing we just didn’t do a lot of things right. Today we worked on a lot of different things and I think our defense was really good today.”
Are you still trying to find a flow in the game?
“I’m trying to be more consistent. In actuality, I’m not going to be consistent this year whether it be me just being nervous or my leg fatiguing.”
What is it like playing on a team where anyone can start at any given time?
“I don’t think that anyone realized that until the very first game we played. We realized that’s how a lot of the games are going to be. Everyone’s going to be in the 11 or 12 point range and maybe one person will break out, like Ann (Strother) today. I think it’s really good because it just shows us that if someone’s not on top of their game, like Will (Crockett) didn’t play exceptionally well today but everyone else made up for it.”
On the schedule
“I think it’s fun. I like the whole tournament idea. I like the fact that we can have practice and then shoot around the next day and have a game. I think it helps us better prepare for the rest of the season. Sometimes we’re going to have a hectic schedule and I think it’s good for the freshman to get used to that.”
Did the team overall seem better from start to finish?
“Definitely. We just came out with a different level of energy from the start and it made a world of difference.”
On the line-up
“I think, right now, we don’t really have a set five and we have a lot of people that can play a lot of minutes. It’s kind of interesting to see who’s going to start every night and who’s going to be out there. There’s a lot of talent right now.”
How do you feel about playing for a team that may have one of the best benches in the country?
“It’s great. To have the depth that we have this year is something that I don’t know if we’ve had since I’ve been here. It’s good to start off with five then have five new people come on and not really lose any of the tempo that you started with.”
On the differences in her play from last season to this season
“I think it’s mostly a change of attitude. I think I’ve grown up a little bit and matured a little more. I’m more confident. I know my role more. I knew my role last year but I think I do the things I’m good at, better this year."
On coming off the bench
“The first five get the tempo up and coming off the bench I just try to go out there and keep the tempo up or raise it another notch.”
For a freshman you play beyond your years and the team runs pretty smoothly, how does this make you feel?
“It’s definitely my teammates around me; Anne and them, they do so much without the ball that its for me to pass it to them because they’re wide open. It’s their cutting and being open that makes me be able to pass it to them.”
Has it been a big adjustment for you, have you had to pass more than you did in high school?
“Yes, but that’s an easy adjustment, its hard to try to score every possession. It’s easier just to pass it to somebody and they score. It’s been a hard adjustment college wise but the scoring part has been easy.”
Was Saturday’s game a help for you to be a more comfortable player tonight?
“I think every game is going to be a help along the way. I hope I learn from every game, from my mistakes. Saturday’s game was a help and I hope this game was a help for the next and it continues.”
The team seemed to have improved defensively; were there any adjustments made or a different style of defense?
“We extended our defense beyond half court and also we gave a little more effort than we did last game.”
How do you feel about the fact that anyone can start and anyone can come off the bench and get in the game?
“Its something that I really enjoy is knowing that he can throw any five out there and have the best sixth, seventh, and eight man in the country, and that’s something that’s really exciting for us. It’s something that we have over other teams.”
Geno asked you whether you would rather start or play more minutes and you said you would rather play more minutes, why is that?
“Starting doesn’t make a difference to me, its just about going out and keeping the game at the same pace. You can go out and start and play a few minutes and not play the rest of the half. It’s not about when you play it’s about what you do when you get out there.”
Indiana State
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“The game didn’t go exactly the way we planned. UConn is a very good team. One of my concerns coming in was not being able to get shots. With a team like that you’ve got to be able to get shots off. Unfortunately, we haven’t figured out that out defense fuels our offense. We have been playing like our offense fuels our defense, but I think we learned a lot today as a team.”
“Just about everything didn’t go right. We let Strother and Thomas get hot. We started turning the ball over and had a hard time getting anything going.”
“UConn was just big and there was a lack of confidence on our part. You have to respect who you play, but not fear them. We definitely had some players who looked scared to death out there.”
“It’s great to be here. It’s a great opportunity, I mean, if you can’t wear the jersey you might as well play against them.”
