Latest UConn women’s basketball statement came Thursday night when they took to the road and overwhelmed defending national champion South Carolina, 83-58, before a disappointed full house

Undefeated, top-ranked Huskies roll to 21-0 and continue to serve notice of their quest for a 12th NCA championship via this romp over the Gamecocks

By Arnie Leshin 

Before and after his top-ranked, undefeated University of Connecticut met up with South Carolina in Columbia before the largest women’s crowd of the season Thursday night, Geno Auriemma appeared to be in the same mood.

A die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan, he huddled with senior Kia Nurse, whose uncle, Donovan McNabb, quarterbacked Philly, and after a one, two, three, rang out with the Eagles’ fight song. In back of them, junior Katie Lou Samuelson, made a face, signaling she’d already heard too much of it.

Nothing changed after UConn overwhelmed the nation’s No. 7 team and defending national champions, 83-58, before an announced packed house of 13, 267 at Colonial Arena.

Except the Gamecock fans didn’t have much to cheer about. They watched with frustration as their record against the Huskies dropped to 0-6. They had only a taste of a game in the opening quarter that had a pair of ties and their team was down “only” 24-16.

But it didn’t last long. The second quarter began with a 13-0 UConn run that brought two timeouts by South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, another Philadelphia native rooting for the Eagles. Soon, she could only think of watching Sunday’s Super Bowl, especially when she had to watch the Huskies 19-2 second quarter run.

Too fast, too strong, too talented was the visiting team that won for the 21st time. It displayed all of its weapons, tossing in 3s, making its way to the basket with ease, racing down court to score off of turnovers, and put four players in double figures.

“It’s remarkable how we played tonight,” Auriemma said. “We did what we had to do against a very good team playing before its crowd. We looked confident and in control since the start.”

From the last deadlock at 4-4, the Huskies picked up a 3 from Nurse, the nation’s leading 3-point scorer, a second 3 from the member of the Canadian National Team that defeated the United States in the Pan American Games championship, next Samuelson’s 3 upped the margin to 13-4.

But it didn’t stop there. Senior Gabby Williams tossed in a short jumper and sophomore point guard Crystal Dangerfield added yet another 3 and it was 22-12.

It was over before halftime, when UConn left the court with a 53-24 advantage. After that, the Gamecock faithful could only cheer for the limited offense and defense displayed by their team that dropped to 18-4 and next takes to the road to meet up with also-unbeaten and 2nd ranked Mississippi State (23-0) Monday night.

And the Huskies head home where their own packed house will see them take on Cincinnati (13-9) Sunday. They left Columbia with their 48th straight road victory.

Dangerfield was playing with a sore foot, scored only three points, and sat for most of the second half. But she still engineered the offense, kept it rolling. Then there was 6-6 junior transfer Azura Stevens coming off the bench in the second quarter, but quickly picked up two fouls and took a seat until the second half.

It was intended for Stevens to put forth some offense and defend South Carolina’s 6-7 All-America senior A’Ja Wilson. But Wilson became her team’s lone weapon with 14 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks, although her 4-for-18 shooting was because of Stevens’ teammates on defense.

So without Dangerfield and Stevens doing much scoring, UConn had plenty of that with the 6-foot Nurse leading the way with the game-high 23 points, the 6-3 Samuelson scoring 20, the 6-2 senior Napheesa Collier adding 19, and the 6-1 Williams tossing in 14.

Not only that, but the shooting was right on target. Nurse was good on 5-for-10 from the 3, Collier and Williams were each 6-for-8 from the floor, and the team converted 12-of-13 free throws. Collier added 14 rebounds and five assist, Samuelson brought down eight off the boards, and the balanced 3-point shot-making was 11-for-27 from the Huskies.

And Auriemma, usually finding some negatives from his team even when it wins, was all smiles.

“If you really know about basketball,” he said, “you’re going to say, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.”

That’s high praise from the longtime coach who has won a record 11 NCAA titles, has already reached 1,000 wins, and now becomes an overwhelming favorite to ring up another championship.

One thing in common between Auriemma and Staley. Both grew up in the Philadelphia area and share a love of the football Eagles. Samuelson is from California, which is probably why she announced that she had heard the Eagles’ fight song way too much.

But not Auriemma, He was interviewed later by ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and spoke about his beloved Eagles facing the New England Patriots and what a win would mean for the city of Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, his program continues to dominate and make the rest of the country miserable.