The Longhorns (8-0) will take on the Huskies (4-2) for the 10th time Sunday and hope to finally get a W against the team from Stohrs. UCONN (0-9) and Montclair State (0-2) are the only teams that Texas WBB has ever faced more than once and not gotten into the Win column. Don't let the 4-2 record mislead you, the Huskies dropped those games to #5 NC State (81-92) and #2 UCLA (67-78).
Like last year's game up North, UCONN will be missing a key player. Junior SG Azzi Fudd suffered an ACL injury during the game against the Wolfpack. Fudd, almost single-handedly, kept the Rori-less Longhorns from getting the road win scoring 32 points (13/21, 4/7 from 3, 2/2 FT) in the 83-76 UCONN win.
On the other hand, G Paige Bueckers is playing this year. Bueckers missed all last season with an injury but leads the Huskies in points (20.7) and 3-pt % (11/25, 44.0%). PF Aaliyah Edwards will also be a focal point - she's a strong, athletic 4 averaging 14.3 ppg. UCONN has some length and Geno is, uncharacteristically, playing his bench. I can't remember ever seeing UCONN with 9 players (excluding Fudd) averaging more than 10 minutes a game.
I expect Vic to keep Rori on PG Nika Muhl to disrupt the Huskies' offensive flow and rely on Shaylee and others to try to minimize the damage Bueckers can do.
The Longhorns are averaging 91.75 points per game against a pretty weak non-conference slate up to this point with 10 players averaging 7.0 points or more, led by Taylor Jones (17.4). Jones also leads the teams in rebounds (7.5) and blocks (1.75). Through 8 games, Rori has been very good at finding her teammates (60 assists) and minimizing turnovers (8).
I expect another close game and that makes me a bit nervous because an area the Longhorns continue to struggle is FT shooting. They've actually shown some improvement in recent games, bringing it up to 62.7% after opening the 1st 6 games hitting around 55%. UCONN is much more productive from the charity stripe (74.2%).
@mln59 @thar0902 @wb3032 @BrownHorn @icdb17
Like last year's game up North, UCONN will be missing a key player. Junior SG Azzi Fudd suffered an ACL injury during the game against the Wolfpack. Fudd, almost single-handedly, kept the Rori-less Longhorns from getting the road win scoring 32 points (13/21, 4/7 from 3, 2/2 FT) in the 83-76 UCONN win.
On the other hand, G Paige Bueckers is playing this year. Bueckers missed all last season with an injury but leads the Huskies in points (20.7) and 3-pt % (11/25, 44.0%). PF Aaliyah Edwards will also be a focal point - she's a strong, athletic 4 averaging 14.3 ppg. UCONN has some length and Geno is, uncharacteristically, playing his bench. I can't remember ever seeing UCONN with 9 players (excluding Fudd) averaging more than 10 minutes a game.
I expect Vic to keep Rori on PG Nika Muhl to disrupt the Huskies' offensive flow and rely on Shaylee and others to try to minimize the damage Bueckers can do.
The Longhorns are averaging 91.75 points per game against a pretty weak non-conference slate up to this point with 10 players averaging 7.0 points or more, led by Taylor Jones (17.4). Jones also leads the teams in rebounds (7.5) and blocks (1.75). Through 8 games, Rori has been very good at finding her teammates (60 assists) and minimizing turnovers (8).
I expect another close game and that makes me a bit nervous because an area the Longhorns continue to struggle is FT shooting. They've actually shown some improvement in recent games, bringing it up to 62.7% after opening the 1st 6 games hitting around 55%. UCONN is much more productive from the charity stripe (74.2%).
@mln59 @thar0902 @wb3032 @BrownHorn @icdb17
