


HARTFORD -- UConn is not the biggest women's basketball team in the country. Far from it, actually. Its de facto center, Napheesa Collier, is 6-foot-1. Stretch 4 Megan Walker is the same height. The Huskies' tallest starter is Katie Lou Samuelson at 6-foot-3, but she doesn't have the strength to be a prototypical post player.
It's certainly a big weakness, and if UConn hopes to claim its 12th national title this season, the Huskies might need some luck of the draw. Head coach Geno Auriemma admitted as much.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) There is not much UConn All-American Katie Lou Samuelson can't do, and that apparently that includes coaching the Huskies.
Samuelson scored a season-high 32 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists as No. 3 UConn routed Memphis 102-45 on Wednesday to remain unbeaten in six seasons of American Athletic Conference play.
She also asked coach Geno Auriemma if she could run the huddle during a fourth-quarter timeout with UConn's second unit on the floor.
Tags: Katie Lou Samuelson

STORRS -- Plenty has been made over this year's UConn women's basketball team possibly not being weaker than some in the past. But one advantage this year's squad has over last season's? Health.
As the 2017-18 season wore on, more and more Huskies found themselves limited with injuries. Katie Lou Samuelson hurt her left ankle in the home opener, and played with the injury all year before having an operation in the offseason. Crystal Dangerfield dealt with shin splints for much of the second half of the season that frequently kept her out of practice. Migraine issues hampered Gabby Williams. Batouly Camara never seemed to recover from a preseason knee injury. Mikayla Coombs sat out the NCAA Tournament because of a pulmonary embolism.
It's a long list of injuries, one that looks even longer when compared to this season's bill of health.

Naphessa Collier had 18 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals to help No. 4 UConn rout UCF 78-41 on Sunday.
She led five Huskies in double figures, including Christyn Williams who had all 12 of her points in the second half.

If losing star guard Jalen Adams for 4-6 weeks wasn't enough, head coach Dan Hurley has also been unable to deploy G Alterique Gilbert, who missed his fifth game in a row in Thursday night's loss to No. 9-ranked Houston.
Gilbert has been out nearly three weeks now with a sore left shoulder that came after a collision during the Huskies' win over Wichita State on Jan. 26. And, of course, it had to be the same shoulder that Gilbert has had surgery on twice in his freshman and sophomore seasons at UConn.
So, naturally, that type of injury would cause a player -- along with coaches and staff -- to be extra careful about rushing back onto the court. And while Gilbert has been sitting stagnant on the pine, he had to watch Adams, who is a senior, go down when the team needed him most.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Houston guard DeJon Jarreau believes he's gotten his basketball career back on track and expects to be a factor as the Cougars make a run at a conference title and perhaps something bigger.
The sophomore transfer from Massachusetts had 18 points and seven assists to help No. 9 Houston beat UConn 71-63 on Thursday night for its ninth straight victory.
Armoni Brooks added 12 points for the Cougars (24-1, 11-1 American Athletic Conference). They opened the second half with a 17-4 run to take control.

Worn out from all the chatter -- the "nonsense," as Geno Auriemma puts it -- surrounding his UConn women's basketball team, Auriemma says a random meeting with actor Jon Voight at Dulles airport gave Auriemma perspective.
Auriemma appreciated the brief, cordial exchange he had with the man who portrays Mickey Donovan on Showtime's "Ray Donovan," a chat that has Auriemma more upbeat with his 22-2 team entering the final stage of the regular season.

HARTFORD -- Christyn Williams looked like she was going to be different than most freshman. Not only did she step into a starting role with UConn women's basketball from day one, Williams thrived early in her career, scoring in double-figures in 10 of her first 14 games, including a breakout 28-point performance against Notre Dame. Williams seemed like she was going to be above the typical struggles that plague many of the Huskies' freshmen.
Then Williams ran head-first into the dreaded "freshman wall".

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Napheesa Collier and UConn used a strong second half to turn their final nonconference game into a rout.
Collier had 31 points, 16 rebounds and six assists, and the fourth-ranked Huskies beat 11th-ranked South Carolina 97-79 on Monday night.
Katie Lou Samuelson added 29 points for the Huskies (22-2), who blew open a close game with a huge third quarter in which they outscored the Gamecocks 29-12. Samuelson scored 14 points in the game-changing period. Collier added eight as the two seniors continued to carry UConn.

Kyvon Davenport scored 26 points, Tyler Harris and Jeremiah Martin added 12 each and Memphis held off a late push to defeat UConn 78-71 on Sunday.
Tyler Polley led the Huskies (13-11, 4-7 American Athletic Conference) with 20 points, while Sidney Wilson finished with 16. Christian Vital and Tarin Smith added 13 apiece for UConn, which lost its second straight and third in the last four.
The Huskies were playing their first game since leading-scorer Jalen Adams (17 points per game) suffered a left knee injury that will keep him out of action for 4-6 weeks.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) Napheesa Collier tied a season-high with 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds on Saturday, leading No. 5 UConn to a 109-74 rout of Temple.
Collier, who had 30 points in a win over the Owls last month, recorded her 12th double-double of the season and 36th of her career. She hit 12 of her 16 shots, dished out six assists and blocked three shots.
Crystal Dangerfield added 22 points and nine assists for UConn (21-2, 10-0 American), which tuned up for Monday's meeting with No. 12 South Carolina by shooting 63 percent and breaking the 100-point barrier for a second straight game. >> Read more

UConn men's basketball star guard Jalen Adams will be out 4-6 weeks with a Grade-2+ MCL sprain, the school announced on Friday.
If Adams can recover in four weeks, that would mean he could return for the final week of the regular season. Should it take six weeks, he wouldn't be back until after the American Athletic Conference tournament.
Adams injured the knee in Tuesday's loss to Temple when an opposing player dove into his left leg chasing a loose ball. Adams needed to be helped off the court.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Despite falling to its lowest ranking the AP Poll since 2007 this week, the No. 5 UConn women's basketball team insisted ahead of its game vs. the East Carolina Pirates that it didn't look or care about its ranking. But Wednesday night at XL Center, the Huskies played like they had something to prove.
UConn reached triple digits for the first time this season, smoking ECU 118-55, thanks to a total effort from its squad and Katie Lou Samuelson's game-high 31 points.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) All-American Katie Lou Samuelson broke out of her shooting slump, scoring a season-high 31 points to lead No. 5 UConn over East Carolina 118-55 on Wednesday night.
Napheesa Collier hit all 10 of her shots and added 21 points for the Huskies (20-2, 9-0 American Athletic Conference), who reached 20 wins for the 26th straight season.
Christyn Williams scored 15 points, Megan Walker 14, and Crystal Dangerfield had 12 points and 12 assists...

UConn men's basketball fell to Temple 81-63 on Wednesday night, but the Huskies may have gotten an even bigger loss when senior guard Jalen Adams left the game with a knee injury, later diagnosed to be a sprained MCL. He will undergo an MRI tomorrow to determine the severity of the injury.
The knock happened when Temple's J.P. Moorman dove into Adams' left leg going after a loose ball. Adams needed to be helped off the floor and did not return.
With only a month left in the regular season, Adams will likely miss much of the remaining schedule since even mild MCL sprains take weeks to heal. From there, UConn will need to hope he can return before the start of the AAC Tournament on March 14.

This was a night the Huskies men's basketball team may wish to forget.
Not only did UConn fall on the road to the Temple Owls 81-63, but they may have lost star guard Jalen Adams for some time after he suffered an apparent leg injury in the first half.
Going after a loose ball, Adams leg got caught under an Owls player, and he was in serious pain on the hardwood. He needed help off the floor, as he limped his way to the locker room. He finished the night with two points.

Josh Carlton had his best night in a Connecticut uniform, scoring 20 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to lead the Huskies to a 76-52 win over East Carolina Sunday.
Christian Vital added 18 points and seven boards for UConn (13-9, 4-5 American Athletic Conference), which outrebounded ECU 44-25.
K.J. Davis had 13 points to lead East Carolina (9-12, 2-7), which shot just 33 percent from the floor.

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma is not letting his team off the hook on this one.
Following a 65-55 win over Cincinnati on Saturday, the head coach of the No. 2 ranked women's team was not pleased with how his team played in victory, particularly with the offense.
SNY's Justine Ward asked Auriemma how he thought the offense looked in the second half.

CINCINNATI (AP) Napheesa Collier scored 20 points to reach 2,000 in her career, and No. 2 UConn struggled as it moved past its loss at Louisville, holding on to beat Cincinnati 65-55 on Saturday.
Collier became the fifth Husky to have 2,000 career points along with 1,000 rebounds, reaching the mark with a layup late in the third quarter . She got her 1,000th rebound during a loss on Thursday at No. 3 Louisville.
The Huskies (19-2, 8-0 American Athletic) called a timeout after Nikira Goings' 3-pointer cut their lead to 59-51 with 4:54 to go. Collier had a steal and a three-point play to keep Cincinnati at arm's length.

UConn women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma and his former star player Jamelle Elliott share a lunch together to reminisce about their 1995 title.
Elliott played for Auriemma from 1992-96 as the Huskies forward. The head coach and star athlete discuss rigorous workouts, national championships and more.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Asia Durr's first basket was just a matter of time and the right look. When it came from long range, two more soon followed to spark No. 3 Louisville past No. 2 UConn.
Most important for the Cardinals, they didn't let up on the Huskies. That sparked a long-sought victory against the dominant team in women's college basketball, and a long, loud celebration between Louisville players and their fans.
Durr scored 14 of her 24 points in the second quarter, Dana Evans added 20 points and Louisville held UConn to 38 percent shooting in a 78-69 victory Thursday night.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) B.J. Taylor led the way with 21 points Thursday night, but it was UCF's relentless effort that won the day, including a clutch 3-point bucket from Aubrey Dawkins with 1:37 left that resulted in a 73-67 victory over UConn.
Colin Smith added 11 points and reserve Ceasar DeJesus scored 11 as the Knights' bench outscored their counterparts 23-4.
UCF (16-4, 6-2 American Athletic Conference) had a stranglehold on the opponents' basket for most of the game until UConn began heating up. The Huskies nailed 6 of 12 from 3-point range and shot 53 percent from the field in the second half.

UConn men's basketball PG Alterique Gilbert will miss tonight's game against UCF due to left shoulder soreness, the school announced.
The injury occured last game versus Wichita State when Gilbert ran into a screen. He went down on the floor and stayed down before going to the bench and the locker room with team trainer James Doran. Gilbert did return to the bench later with an ice pack on his shoulder.
Without Gilbert, Tarin Smith is expected to slide into the starting lineup. After Gilbert left the game against Wichita State, Christian Vital brought the ball up most often, though Jalen Adams, Smith and Vital will likely split those duties against UCF. Since Gilbert hasn't practiced all week, the Huskies should be prepared to handle the absence.

Napheesa Collier led a balanced attack with 23 points, and No. 3 UConn routed UCF 93-57 on Sunday to move into sole possession of first place in the American Athletic Conference.
Collier, Megan Walker (21 points), Crystal Dangerfield (17) and Katie Lou Samuelson (15) were all in double figures before halftime for the Huskies (18-1, 7-0).

STORRS, Conn. (AP) - Christian Vital scored 21 points and Jalen Adams added 19 points and 12 rebounds as UConn beat Wichita State 80-60 on Saturday night in the American Athletic Conference.
Tyler Polley added 12 points and Josh Carlton 11 and four blocks for the Huskies (12-8, 3-4 American), who have won two straight games for the first time since mid-December.

STORRS - Geno Auriemma isn't all that concerned about March right now. Not that it's not important. When you've won as often as UConn women's basketball has, the overall success of a season is determined by what happens in March, but Auriemma has bigger things to worry about right now.
"There's too many things we have to work on short-term to think about where we're going to be long-term," he said.
This is different from the past five seasons where the UConn team that showed up for the preseason was pretty much the same once March came around. There weren't a whole lot of questions that still needed to be answered at this point in the season...
Tags: Crystal Dangerfield, Katie Lou Samuelson, Napheesa Collier

During UConn's win over SMU on Wednesday, SNY's Justine Ward talked to Dr. Robert Arciero about youth sports and preventing injuries, presented by UConn Health.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- No. 3 UConn has been working in practice on its pressure defense, hoping to force a few more turnovers and get a few more baskets in transition.
That practice paid off Wednesday night.
Napheesa Collier scored 22 points and Katie Lou Samuelson added 21 to lead the Huskies to a 79-39 rout of SMU, the team's 107th straight victory over an American Athletic Conference opponent.
Tags: Katie Lou Samuelson

STORRS, Conn. (AP) Jalen Adams scored a season-high 31 points and UConn beat Tulane 87-71 on Saturday in the American Athletic Conference.
Josh Carlton and Christian Vital each added 18 points for the Huskies (11-8, 2-4), who snapped a two-game losing skid. Vital reached 1,000 points for his career with a 3-point shot in the first half.
Caleb Daniels had 21 points for Tulane (4-13, 0-5) which has lost seven straight and eight of nine. Samir Sehic and Blake Paul each added 13 points for the Green Wave.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Napheesa Collier had a season-high 30 points and 12 rebounds and Crystal Dangerfield set a career high with 26 points to lead No. 2 UConn to an 88-67 victory over Temple on Saturday.
The game originally was scheduled for Sunday but pushed up a day due to the forecasted winter storm for the Northeast.
The Huskies (16-1, 5-0 American) have won five in a row since their lone loss, 68-57 at Baylor on Jan. 3. UConn remained undefeated in league play since joining the American Athletic Conference, improving to 106-0.
Tags: Katie Lou Samuelson

STORRS, Conn. -- Sid Wilson is a game-time decision for UConn men's basketball's game against Tulane on Saturday, head coach Dan Hurley said after practice on Friday. The redshirt freshman forward has missed the last two days of practice with ankle and thumb injuries.
Wilson has seen action in 12 games this season, all off the bench, averaging 14.8 minutes per game. After missing the first six games of the year due to a suspension, Wilson has struggled to find a rhythm on offense, averaging just 3.1 points per game while only hitting 2-12 three-pointers. However, he has been strong defensively, blocking 13 shots and grabbing 2.8 rebounds per game. If Wilson can't go, Isaiah Whaley will likely see an increase in minutes, according to Hurley.

The University of Connecticut announced self-imposing penalties Friday for violations of NCAA rules under former men's basketball coach Kevin Ollie.
The sanctions include the loss of one scholarship for the 2019-20 season, from 13 permissible grants-in-aid to 12. The school said it also will enforce a one-week ban on unofficial visits, while reducing by one the number of official visits. UConn will enforce a one-week ban on recruiting communications and cut the number of recruiting days this year from 130 to 126. The school will also pay a $5,000 fine.

Nothing about playing at the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes' home arena, the Reynolds Center, stands out. Tulsa is never particularly good, with just one NCAA Tournament appearance -- in which they were one of the last four teams in -- since joining the American.
The crowd isn't usually that big when UConn men's basketball comes in, the largest being 6,092 (8,355 is the capacity) back in the 2014-15 season -- their first season in the conference. The past two years, there have been fewer than 4,000 in attendance.
But for some reason, UConn can't seem to buy a win in that arena, as Wednesday night's loss dropped the Huskies to 0-5 in the Reynolds' Center. But on top of the losses, strange things happen to UConn when they play in Tulsa...

TULSA, Okla. (AP) The coaches weren't around to see all of it, but reserve Jeriah Horne scored a career high 27 points and Tulsa defeated UConn 89-83 Wednesday night, snapping a two-game conference losing streak.
Both Tulsa coach Frank Haith and UConn coach Dan Hurley were ejected with 11:40 to play in the second half and Tulsa leading 61-47. Haith protested a foul call against his forward DaQuan Jeffries and Hurley began yelling at Haith. The two exchanged words and officials assessed both two technicals before play resumed.
Both coaches said they felt the officiating crew overreacted to what Haith called "a competitive discussion." Hurley said he wanted to let Haith know that his team hadn't been getting the call on similar fouls to the one whistled on Jeffries. He said that it escalated to the ejections was "embarrassing for me, for the university and the conference and shouldn't have happened. >> Read More

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Megan Walker has been playing well this past month.
On Wednesday night, she single-handedly outscored Tulane by a point in No. 2 UConn's 75-33 rout. Walker scored a career-best 34 points in the easy victory.
"I think since we got back from Christmas, Megan has had a different approach to the game," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "Her effort is different. Her intensity level is different. Just her whole mannerisms are different. It's obviously showed up in the way she's played in games. These are the kind of games where you just need one person to step up because everyone else is struggling to make any kind of shot. Today, it was her." Read More
Tags: Katie Lou Samuelson

NEW YORK -- Hours after a tough two-point loss at Cincinnati on Saturday night, UConn head coach Dan Hurley and assistant Kimani Young arrived at a high school event in The Bronx to survey the future of the program.
Jalen Gaffney and James Bouknight, two Class of 2019 guards who have signed with UConn, both played -- and played well -- at the Empire Invitational at Mount Saint Michael Academy.
Gaffney, a 6-foot-2 point guard, took home game MVP honors after going for 26 points and 4 assists as the Westtown (PA) School beat Brewster Academy (N.H.), 79-72, in a heavyweight battle of Northeast powerhouses.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) Katie Lou Samuelson scored 19 points to reach the 2,000-point milestone and No. 3 UConn overcame a sluggish start to beat South Florida 63-46 on Sunday.
Megan Walker added 14 points and Napheesa Collier had 12 for the Huskies (14-1, 3-0 American), who have never suffered a conference loss in the AAC.
Samuelson is the 10th UConn player to reach 2,000 points...
Tags: Katie Lou Samuelson

CINCINNATI (AP) The Bearcats rallied to get an overtime win for the second time in three days, a feat so rare that they hadn't done it in 52 years. And none of them was happy about it.
Jarron Cumberland scored 22 points, and Justin Jenifer hit a pivotal 3-pointer in overtime Saturday night as Cincinnati blew an 11-point lead in regulation before rallying to a 74-72 victory , the Bearcats' sixth in a row over UConn.
The Bearcats also went overtime for a 70-65 win at Tulsa on Thursday night. Cincinnati (14-3, 3-1 American Athletic) hadn't won back-to-back overtime games since the 1966-67 season. >> Read More

STORRS, Conn. (AP) UConn still has a few active winning streaks.
Katie Lou Samuelson scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds on Wednesday night as the No. 3 Huskies routed Cincinnati 82-38 to remain unbeaten in league play since the formation of the American Athletic Conference.
Freshman Christyn Williams scored 15 of her 19 points in the first half and Crystal Dangerfield added 11 points and 10 assists. Napheesa Collier scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Huskies (13-1, 2-0 American), who spent a month on the road before being able to notch their 83rd straight home win. >> Read More

HOUSTON (AP) Following the first regular season loss in more than four years, UConn coach Geno Auriemma didn't know how his team was going to react.
The Huskies came out with energy en route to a convincing win on Sunday.
Katie Lou Samuelson had 19 points, Napheesa Collier added 18 points and the top-ranked UConn Huskies rebounded from a rare regular-season loss with an 81-61 win over Houston. >> Read More

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Aubrey Dawkins scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half to lead UCF to its sixth straight win, a 65-53 victory over UConn on Saturday.
B.J. Taylor added 12 points for the Knights (12-2, 2-0 American), who won on the Huskies home floor for the first time in program history.
Alterique Gilbert had 18 points and Christian Vital 15 for UConn (9-6, 0-2), which lost its third straight game.

WACO, Texas (AP) Geno Auriemma knew that top-ranked UConn couldn't keep winning every regular-season game it played, even though the Huskies had won 126 in a row.
That winning streak of more than four years ended with a 68-57 loss Thursday night at No. 8 Baylor, which won against a No. 1 team for the first time.
"What is disappointing for me, not that we lost. How long did you think you were going to win every game in the regular season, 10 years?," Auriemma said. "So I'm not surprised that we lost, but it was disappointing that we struggled so much on the offensive end."

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) UConn coach Dan Hurley saw the Huskies go from a big lead to another second-half meltdown.
Laquincy Rideau had 25 points, David Collins overcame foul trouble to add 17 key second-half points, and South Florida battled back from a double-digit deficit to beat UConn 76-68 Wednesday night in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
The Huskies (9-5) were looking to rebound after an 81-58 loss to defending national champion Villanova on Dec. 22. UConn led in that game 36-35 with 17 minutes left.

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) Geno Auriemma expects this UConn team to be regularly tested this season, and the top-ranked Huskies certainly had to earn their two road victories in a four-day span.
"This is how the majority of the world lives," UConn's coach said of playing tough games out of town. "It's not bad living in the real world."
Katie Lou Samuelson had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 1 UConn held off a late rally from 14th-ranked and previously unbeaten California in a 76-66 win Saturday.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) Christian Vital scored 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds as UConn shook off a slow start to beat Manhattan 61-46 on Saturday night.
Alterique Gilbert added 12 points and Josh Carlton had 11 for the Huskies (8-3).
Freshman Warren Williams had 10 points to lead the Jaspers (2-8), who have lost five straight since beating UNC Ashville on Nov. 18. >> Read more

UConn football head coach Randy Edsall shook up his coaching staff on Friday morning.
Edsall announced that defensive coordinator Billy Crocker, defensive backs caoch Curome Cox, director of football strength and conditioning Eric Klein and assistant strength and conditioning coach J.D. Mehlhorn will not be retained.
UConn is coming off a 1-11 season where they allowed a NCAA Division I record-breaking average of 50.42 points per game and 617.4 yards per game.

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Napheesa Collier had 23 points and a career-high 17 rebounds and No. 1 Connecticut overcame a 12-point, second-half deficit to beat Oklahoma 72-63 on Wednesday night.
Katie Lou Samuelson added 20 points and 11 rebounds to help the Huskies (10-0) win their 125th consecutive regular-season game and 57th straight nonconference regular-season game.
Taylor Robertson scored 23 points, and Shaina Pellington added 16 for Oklahoma (3-7). The Sooners led for 31 minutes.


HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Jalen Adams and Tarin Smith scored 20 points apiece to lead UConn over Drexel 97-65 Tuesday in nonconference play at the XL Center.
Adams shot 8 for 12 from the field, bouncing back from a season-low two points on Saturday against Manhattan. Smith hit all seven of his shots as UConn (10-3) had four players finish in double-figure scoring. Christian Vital finished with 17 points and six rebounds, while Alterique Gilbert scored 10.
It's the sixth time this season UConn has scored more than 90 points. >> Read more