Post by bulkey on Mar 30, 2024 7:40:40 GMT -5
Too soon? Well, blame it on Dan Connolly's newsletter (paywall, so abbreviated here).
Yet UConn couldn’t be in a more different spot itself. While the Huskies had to fight for tough wins over Jackson State and Syracuse in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, they believe they’re only just getting started.
That wasn’t the case last March.
“We had a similar game last year in the Baylor game. Very similar,” Geno Auriemma said after the win over Syracuse. “I sensed that we were coming to the end.”
The signs were there. The Huskies slogged through a miserable month of February, figured it out briefly during the Big East Tournament but then started to show some cracks during that round of 32 victory. UConn won by 19 but that was largely thanks to a fourth quarter explosion from Azzi Fudd. The Huskies were down six after the first period and tied in the third quarter.
Then in the lead up to the contest against Ohio State, UConn struggled. Fudd admitted over the summer that she didn’t practice well in the days prior while Nika Mühl revealed she wasn’t in a good spot, either.
“Before the Ohio State game, I had one of the worst shoot-arounds ever,” Mühl said on Friday.
.....
“We had a huge struggle with Baylor and we just didn't have anything left,” Auriemma said. “We ran into the wrong team at the wrong time.”
“Coach just knew we were gonna blow up in one moment, one game and unfortunately, it was that one,” Mühl added.
....
There’s no comparison between this March and last.
“It doesn't feel the same,” Auriemma said. “I think our practices and everything that we've done leading up to this feels a little bit different than it did last season,.
....
“[Auriemma] told me I should re-watch that game before the game and that's exactly what I'm gonna do,” she said. “I'm gonna do it. I need to do it. I feel like I just need to remember that feeling so I make sure I don't experience it again.”
Yet UConn couldn’t be in a more different spot itself. While the Huskies had to fight for tough wins over Jackson State and Syracuse in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, they believe they’re only just getting started.
That wasn’t the case last March.
“We had a similar game last year in the Baylor game. Very similar,” Geno Auriemma said after the win over Syracuse. “I sensed that we were coming to the end.”
The signs were there. The Huskies slogged through a miserable month of February, figured it out briefly during the Big East Tournament but then started to show some cracks during that round of 32 victory. UConn won by 19 but that was largely thanks to a fourth quarter explosion from Azzi Fudd. The Huskies were down six after the first period and tied in the third quarter.
Then in the lead up to the contest against Ohio State, UConn struggled. Fudd admitted over the summer that she didn’t practice well in the days prior while Nika Mühl revealed she wasn’t in a good spot, either.
“Before the Ohio State game, I had one of the worst shoot-arounds ever,” Mühl said on Friday.
.....
“We had a huge struggle with Baylor and we just didn't have anything left,” Auriemma said. “We ran into the wrong team at the wrong time.”
“Coach just knew we were gonna blow up in one moment, one game and unfortunately, it was that one,” Mühl added.
....
There’s no comparison between this March and last.
“It doesn't feel the same,” Auriemma said. “I think our practices and everything that we've done leading up to this feels a little bit different than it did last season,.
....
“[Auriemma] told me I should re-watch that game before the game and that's exactly what I'm gonna do,” she said. “I'm gonna do it. I need to do it. I feel like I just need to remember that feeling so I make sure I don't experience it again.”
