In front of a sellout crowd at the Hartford Civic Center today, Candace Parker was just to much for UCONN today as she led the Lady Vols to a 70-64 victory. CP had 30 pts, 12 rebounds and 6 blocked shots for the Lady Vols. Sidney Spencer added 14 points and 9 rebounds to the cause as well.
For UCONN, they were led by Charde Houston’s 23 points and 7 rebounds. Charde had 16 of her points in the second half. No other Husky was in double figures. The Lady Huskies have now lost 3 in a row to Tennessee and actually have not beaten them since Diana Taurasi’s senior year back in 2004.
The game was game of runs. UCONN started out the run early well Tennessee took over the game in the first half. The lead by Tennessee at the half was the first time that UCONN had trailed in a game all season at the half. Candace Parker’s dunk in the second half took the life out of the crowd but surprisingly not the Huskies. This team today showed HEART. They were down by 18 points but battled back to tie the game. Unfortunately towards the end of the game, they just couldn’t get it done.
My observations of the game are this. UCONN needs to settle into a half court set and feel comfortable in it against pressure. Tennessee’s pressure defense disrupted the flow of UCONN’s offense. Mel Thomas needs to get more touches on the offensive end. She only took 5 shots in the game today. 5 shots. That is not going to win games for UCONN. They need to get her involved more offensively. If she’s on with her 3 pt shooting, it can change the flow of the game. Tennessee did do a good job of keeping her covered. But Geno is the master of getting people open with his schemes. It’s time for him to do it again. Candace Parker could be the best college basketball player since Diana Taurasi. She totally dominated the game today on both ends of the court. Personally, I don’t think Tennessee could have won the game without her. Her supporting cast did step up and help her out tonight. Shannon Bobbitt hit 3 three point shots which at the time were daggers in the first half. Sidney Spencer also stepped up her game tonight. No one on UCONN other than Charde Houston did this.
With the loss, UCONN falls to 12-1 and probably will only drop a spot or two in the rankings. Next up for UCONN is Seton Hall on Tuesday night at Gampel Pavilion. Game time is 7:30 PM and the game will be televised locally in CT on CPTV.
After the jump, you will see the notes I made as the game went on.
Technorati: Candace Parker, Pat Summitt, Tennessee Volunteers, UCONN Huskies, Geno Auriemma, Hartford Civic Center
Tennessee’s first shot was an air ball.
Kaili McLaren started the game instead of Tina Charles
Tennessee’s second possession was a turnover.
Nice hustle by Mel Thomas on an errant pass from UT to get a layup for McLaren
Candace Parker has 2 blocked shots so far and 1 shot
1st media time out-UCONN 6 Tenn 3
Nice backdoor pass from Montgomery to Greene for a UCONN basket
Good move by Candace Parker for a basket and was fouled.
Mel Thomas is actually on the bench in the first half as she was replaced by Ketia Swanier
Tina Charles is 1 of 4 from the foul line
2nd media time out-Tenn 12 UCONN 11
UCONN is struggling offensively right now having trouble with UT’s defensive pressure
CP is unstoppable down in the paint even being double teamed
McLaren broke the drought for UCONN with a offensive rebound put back
nice pass from Montgomery to Houston for a UCONN layup
Tina Charles just got stuffed by CP for a jump ball.
Nice move by Charles to tie the game at 17 then Spencer from UT nailed a 3 to take the lead back
3rd media timeout: Tenn 20 UCONN 17
Geno Auriemma just picked up a technical foul for arguing a call
Nice fast break by Tenn after a Mel Thomas turnover
Mel Thomas hit her 1st 3 of the game
Brittany Hunter is seeing her first action in 3 games. She had been out with a troublesome knee
UCONN is having trouble pulling down the defensive rebound.
Both teams have no offensive rhythm right now
Two Mel Thomas free throws get UCONN back to within 2 then Bobbit from UT nails a 3
Candace Parker layup puts UT up 7 and UCONN calls a 30 sec timeout
Bobbit 3 pointer in transition puts UT up 10
Last media timeout of the half: Tenn 34 UCONN 28
Nice block by CP on Charde Houston
UCONN needs to get some on Bobbit. She just hit her third 3 pointer of the half
Tenn is dominating the offensive glass as they just got 3 in a row
Halftime score: Tenn 41 UCONN 29
This is the first time UCONN has trailed in at the half all season
1st shot of half for Tenn gets stuck in the rim
1st offensive possession in the half for uconn resulted in a kalana greene charging foul
WOW. Candace Parker just dunked the ball on a fast break. Yes she dunked the ball.
Then she blocked a shot and led a fast break for Tenn layup to put Tenn up 18 points
UCONN finally scores 2 and half minutes into the 2nd half
Brittany Hunter just stopped CP on the offensive end.
UCONN has gone on a 6-0 run to get it within 11 pts
Brittany Hunter just bowled over CP for a layup
1st media timeout of the 2nd half: Tenn 50 UCONN 39
CP just blocked another shot.
UCONN fast break layup by Swainier gets them within 7
Houston now has 8 pts this half and 15 in the game.
UCONN is in the middle of an 18-5 run right now to trail by 5
2nd media timeout of the 2nd half: Tenn 52 UCONN 47
A Hornbuckle basket quiets the UCONN crowd for a minute
UCONN has two freshman on the floor right now (McLaren, Charles)
Bobbit has been held scoreless this half
McLaren layup has UCONN within 3 pts
CP fall away shots gets UT back up 5
Tenn turnover leads to a basket by Houston to get the lead back to 3 and Tenn calls a timeout.
The run right now is 24-9 for UCONN
3rd media timeout: Tenn 56 UCONN 53
Houston has taken over the game for UCONN as she scores another layup to get UCONN within 2
Candace Parker has been fouled the last two trips down the floor on shots and made 2 of 4
Bobbit just threw up an airball after a Swainer turnover
Stupid turnover by Renee Montgomery not knowing where Swainer was for an over and back call
Mel Thomas 3 pointer ties the game at 58
CP turnaround gets UT the lead back
Nice move by Brittany Hunter for a layup and she was fouled. She missed the FT so the game is tied at 60
Spencer hit a 3 pointer off a screen from the 5’2 Bobbit
Last media timeout of the 2nd half score: UT 63 UCONN 60
The UCONN are wearing all white sneakers from Nike. The Air 25. They are the first women’s team to debut a sneaker for Nike.
A Brittany Hunter offensive foul turns the ball back over to UT
finger roll layup by CP with no time left on the shot clock gets UT up 5
Houston answers with a layup of her own to get UCONN back within 3
UCONN stole the ball from UT then turned it right back over
CP hits 2 FT’s to put UT up 5
Houston layup gets UCONN within 3. The shot clock is now off.
Spencer hits 1 of 2 FT’s for UT to get the lead to 4
Swainier can’t get a good shot off and UT gets the rebound. Hornbuckle gets fouled and makes both FT’s
Final Score: UT 70 UCONN 64
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