UConn rolls into the title game
Mohegan — A week ago, UConn coach Geno Auriemma joked during a postgame press conference that he gave sophomore guard Kia Nurse a pep talk at halftime … in Canadian.
“Allegedly,” Nurse said Sunday with a laugh, referencing the incident.
“After that second half (in the regular-season finale against South Florida), I'm coming out and just having more confidence in myself. Definitely right now, it's kind of just rolling. I'm feeling confident in what I'm doing. I'm trying to make plays on and off the ball.”
Nurse, after scoring in double figures just once in the last 13 games before that, has now put together three straight games of double digits. The latest came in Sunday's American Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament semifinal game at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Nurse had 12 points, three assists and two steals, hitting two 3-point field goals, as top-seeded UConn blasted No. 5 Tulane 82-35 to reach the championship game Monday night against No. 2 South Florida (7 p.m., ESPN2).
Katie Lou Samuelson (17 points, 6-for-7 shooting) and Morgan Tuck (15) were the Huskies' top two scorers for the second straight game, as UConn (31-0) picked up its 68th straight victory and came one step closer to its third straight AAC championship. South Florida (23-8) topped No. 3 Temple 64-46 in the other semifinal.
Nurse finished the South Florida game last Monday night with 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. She followed that with 13 points (2 3-pointers) in Saturday's tournament quarterfinal victory against East Carolina.
“The shots are coming from a lot of different spots on the floor,” Auriemma said of the team in general. “The more we can spread it around the better. (Opponents) are going to do certain things to stop (Breanna Stewart) or to stop Tuck or to stop Moriah Jefferson. We need the other players.”
The 6-foot Nurse, a native of Hamilton, Ontario who is a member of the Canadian National Team, said it's a “big thing” for her to be able to contribute. She remembers last year, when All-America sharpshooter Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was also on the team, that defenders would leave her open to double other players.
“I don't want to be in that position,” Nurse said.
When UConn last played Tulane, Feb. 27 at Gampel Pavilion, it was Senior Day for the Huskies and associate coach Chris Dailey had just been inducted into the “Huskies of Honor,” as well. UConn missed its first 12 shots and trailed 11-2.
Sunday brought no such reprise.
The Huskies led 14-0 behind seven points from Nurse, 28-5 after the first quarter on a drive and a dish by Jefferson to Gabby Williams for a layup and 52-22 at halftime. That pretty much covered it.
Tuck and Samuelson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the second half and Stewart took a handoff from Tuck and flew to the rim for a layup to make it 58-17. Stewart (9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks) came out of the game for good with 5:17 to play in the third quarter, having played 19 minutes.
The Huskies, who have been tinkering with a zone defense which Auriemma called the worst zone defense in America just a week ago, made it look pretty good against Tulane, especially with the 6-foot-3 Samuelson on the top of it. UConn caused the Green Wave (21-11) to shoot 30.4 percent, 24.0 percent in the first half.
Courtnie Latham led Tulane with 11 points.
“Let's see how it looks (Monday night),” Auriemma said of the zone. “We've been kind of experimenting with certain combinations, what looks good, what doesn't.”
UConn is the top-ranked team in the country, South Florida is 20th.
The Bulls, featuring the league's leading scorer in Courtney Williams — “she gets the ball and goes where she wants to and scores,” Auriemma said — led 25-24 at halftime in last week's game against the Huskies.
UConn topped South Florida for last year's AAC title, as well, 84-70. The Huskies have not lost a league game in the three seasons they have been a member, winning all their AAC games but three by double figures.
v.fulkerson@theday.com
AAC TOURNAMENT
At Mohegan Sun Arena
Quarterfinals
Saturday's Results
No. 5 Tulane 70, No. 4 Memphis 64
No. 1 UConn 92, No. 8 East Carolina 51
No. 2 South Florida 73, No. 7 SMU 60
No. 3 Temple 78, No. 6 Tulsa 52
Semifinals
Sunday's Results
No. 1 UConn 82, No. 5 Tulane 35
No. 2 South Florida 64, No. 3 Temple 46
Championship
Monday's Game
No. 1 UConn vs. No. 2 South Florida, 7 p.m.
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