Just so we’re clear, the sky is not falling.
UConn will embarrass most of its opponents en route to an AAC championship, a 1 seed, a Final Four and probably another National Championship.
The Huskies’ 88-86 overtime loss at Stanford last night is not going to change that.
What does need to change, and likely will change, is how the Huskies handle a close game against a quality opponent.
Sure, one could expect a team that hasn’t played a close game in nearly two years to be a little rusty in late-game situations. But what we saw last night was uncharacteristic of a Geno Auriemma-coached team. The defensive breakdowns were frequent. The lack of a coherent offensive plan in the final minutes was disturbing. The Huskies needed a leader to step up and calm things down, and that leader never emerged.
With UConn up by 10 in the final minutes, the Cardinal started chipping away, and Amber Orrange scored seven points in the final 26 seconds to force overtime.
USA Today Sports)
First, she made a layup to bring Stanford within one. She blew by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who had come over to help when Moriah Jefferson ran into a screen. Color commentator Doris Burke criticized KML for not committing as soon as Jefferson needed help, and she was right. But as soon as she was beaten, Breanna Stewart should have stepped in to contest. Unfortunately, she had already moved in the opposite direction to cover a shooter on the wing. By the time she recovered, it was far too late.
A gimme layup made it a one-point game.
After KML hit two free throws to put UConn back up three, the Huskies allowed another layup. This one came when Orrange took the ball the length of the court, one-on-one with Jefferson. Saniya Chong had a chance to help, but instead cleared the lane by chasing Thompson back outside, and Orrange went right over Jefferson.
Orrange’s three to tie it just seconds before the buzzer? Wide open after Jefferson and Tuck converged to cover Bonnie Samuelson. No one else was even on that side of the court.
In overtime, the Cardinal took the lead for good on a jumper from (who else?) Orrange with 1:41 to play. Free throws from Samuelson put them up three and UConn had the ball with 20 seconds to go.
The Huskies didn’t need to go for the triple if they moved quickly. But UConn couldn’t get a good look. Jefferson narrowly avoided a five-second call, then Chong ended up with the ball with less than 10 seconds left. She had a chance for an (albeit long) three, but passed on the opportunity for a layup with three seconds to go.
Once the clock got below 10 seconds, UConn needed a three. To Stanford’s credit, the Cardinal did not make it easy. But Chong should have taken the shot from the top of the key when she had a chance, or thrown it back out to KML, who found herself free on the wing.
Down a point with no timeouts left, the Huskies were able to foul quickly to send Stanford to the line with two seconds left.
Two made free throws later, UConn had one more chance, and the Huskies let it slip in the most frustrating way possible.
Though UConn must have had some sort of length-of-the-court-with-a-few-seconds-left plan in place, no one even knew who was supposed to inbound the ball. Stewart went to grab it, then relented, causing the official to put the ball on the floor and begin the five-second count. KML finally went and took the ball to find Kiah Stokes. Stokes then threw it 15 feet back to KML, who took a few dribbles and didn’t even get a shot off before time expired.
There appeared to be no plan. No awareness. A loss in the least UConn way possible.
The good news is that Geno should have no problem drawing up a plan for the next few practices. We know what they need to work on and they will get better.
This was just frustrating as hell to watch.
