Albany Region Round of 16 Game Breakdowns
#1 Connecticut vs. #5 Texas (Albany, New York)
Now that Connecticut is away from Storrs and the competition is getting tougher, this is really the first chance Connecticut has to lose a game…if everything goes terribly wrong. So far the Huskies have crushed St. Francis Brooklyn and Rutgers on their way to the Sweet Sixteen. Morgan Tuck has been the star in the first two rounds, scoring 26 against the Terriers and 16 against the Scarlet Knights. The Longhorns road to the Sweet Sixteen was much more treacherous. Texas beat Western Kentucky in the first round 66-64 and knocked off California in Berkeley 73-70. Center Imani McGee-Stafford was the star of those two games, scoring 24 and grabbing 15 rebounds against WKU and adding 20 and 11 against Cal.
McGee-Stafford is going to have her hands full against the UConn frontcourt. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Breanna Stewart and Kiah Stokes are extremely difficult to deal with on both ends of the floor. McGee-Stafford and Kelsey Lang are solid shot blockers, but containing the Connecticut frontcourt, as well as Moriah Jefferson and Kia Nurse when they slash to the basket, is no easy task. The Longhorns will need to play a great game defensively and knock down shots. Against Cal they were just 1-of-8 from three-point land and that is not going to beat Connecticut. Players like Brady Sanders, Brooke McCarty and Ariel Atkins must consistently knock down shots in order to loosen up the Connecticut defense and give Texas a chance to pull off the upset.
#3 Louisville vs. #7 Dayton (Albany, New York)
Louisville had no trouble with BYU, beating the Cougars 86-53. Forward Myisha Hines-Allen led the Cardinals with 19 points, despite playing just 20 minutes. Jude Schimmel was the hero in Louisville’s second round victory over South Florida, scoring 13 points and adding six rebounds and five assists. Dayton has been one of the great stories of the 2015 NCAA Tournament so far. The Flyers looked very good against a tough Iowa State team in the first round. Ally Malott scored 18 and grabbed a dozen rebounds, while fellow superstar Andrea Hoover scored a team high 20 points. In their 99-94 upset win over #2 Kentucky in the second round, Malott scored 28 points and reserve guard Amber Deane added 23.
Sometimes finding a way to contain either Malott or Hoover is a good way to beat Dayton. However, Kentucky did just that and still lost. Hoover was held to just five points on 1-of-4 shooting, but the Flyers still scored 99 points. Kentucky committed just five turnovers, compared to Dayton’s 24. The Wildcats did everything right, except knock down shots. For Louisville, the story is going to be pretty much the same. If they can knock down shots, they can beat Dayton. But the Flyers come into Albany full of confidence. They just beat a very good Kentucky team in Lexington and they can certainly beat Louisville on a neutral floor.
