Author Archives: ianbethune

Video: Stewie Paces UConn Women in 85-26 Thrashing of Houston

So what did the UConn Women’s Basketball team do to celebrate taking over as the No. 1 team in the AP Poll?

They did what they have been doing to American Athletic Conference opponents all season long. Whooping their butts.

Behind 26 points from Breanna Stewart, the UConn Huskies crushed the Houston Cougars 85-26 in front of just 7,445 at the XL Center in Hartford, CT on Tuesday night.

No 1/1 UConn moves to 25-1 (14-0 American) while Houston, who suffered it’s 12th straight defeat, falls to 6-20 (1-14 American).

Moriah Jefferson, Morgan Tuck and Gabby Williams all had 12 points a piece with Tuck and Williams grabbing nine and eight rebounds respectively.

Playing in their final games at the XL Center, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had just four points while Kiah Stokes had six points. Stokes also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds and had seven blocked shots.

Nobody on the Cougars hit double figures in defeat.

They were led by Mariah Mitchell who had nine points. Alecia Smith added five points while both Marche’ Amerson and Jessieka Palmer had four. Tyler Gilbert had a team-high seven rebounds.

The Huskies hit the road for the next two games before Senior Night on February 28. First stop is in the oil capital of for a matchup with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Houston Cougars @ UConn Huskies 2/17/15 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma.

photo credit: ©2015 Ian Bethune

UConn’s Moriah Jefferson Nabs Women’s National Player of the Week Honors

UConn PG Moriah Jefferson (4) blows past South Carolina G Tina Roy (23) for a layup in the first half at Gampel Pavilion on February 9, 2015.

From UConn:

ST. LOUIS – After earning both the American Athletic Conference and espnW Player of the Week accolades on Monday, University of Connecticut junior guard Moriah Jefferson picked up another national honor when she was selected as the Ann Meyers Drysdale Women’s National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association on Tuesday.

As The American’s Player of the Week, Jefferson was nominated for the weekly award, which was chosen by Mel Greenberg, the USBWA coordinator for women’s basketball, from a list of Division I conference players of the week.

Jefferson, who is averaging 11.7 points in 26.8 minutes per game this season, has been one of the Huskies’ most consistent scoring options in In total, she ranks first on the team in assists (115) and steals (61) and is one of seven Huskies shooting over 50.0 percent from the floor (56.2). She provided a spark in UConn’s 87-62 victory over No. 1 South Carolina on Feb. 9, notching 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with a game-high six assists.

Jefferson’s 4.6 assists and 2.4 steals game averages are top in the American Athletic Conference.

Last week, she was selected to the Wooden Award Late Season Top-20 List as well as the Naismith Trophy Midseason Top-30 list. Additionally, the guard is among 31 candidates on the 2015 Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List.

Since the 1987-88 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. At the Women’s NCAA Final Four in Denver, 2012, the organization announced going forward that the national and weekly player award has been named for Hall of Famer and former UCLA All-American Ann Meyers Drysdale. At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA. The winner of the 2015 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year will be announced and presented at the USBWA’s annual awards event in Tampa, site of the 2015 NCAA Women’s Final Four.

photo credit: ©2015 Ian Bethune

Video: UConn’s Moriah Jefferson Working Her Way To All-American Status

The UConn women’s basketball team is 24-1 on the season and one of the big reasons why their record is what it is is because of the improvement from point guard Moriah Jefferson.

Each year she has gotten better, especially having spent the first two years of her college career learning from Bria Hartley. But in the 2014-15, she has taken her game to a whole new level.

Through her first 25 games this season, she’s averaging 11.7 points, 4.6 assists and 2.4 steals (the latter two lead the team). She’s made 33 three-pointers this year, which matches her total from the 2013-14 season.

And with Jefferson getting better, so does the team.

With weapons like All-Americans Breanna Stewart and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis as well as Kia Nurse and Morgan Tuck among others, Jefferson’s job is easy. One could say that those players make Jefferson better and you could definitely argue it either way and be right.

Watch and/or listen below as UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma, South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley, Stewart and Mosqueda-Lewis talk about the play of Jefferson (note: video was shot after UConn beat South Carolina on 2/9/15).

UConn Football’s Bryon Jones Among Mel Kiper’s Top 10 at CB

UConn CB Byron Jones (16) just misses blocking a Boise State field goal kicked by Dan Goodale (41) in the third quarter at Rentschler Field on September 13, 2014.

The NFL Combine gets underway on Tuesday and as we know, two members of the UConn Football team are in attendance, WR Geremy Davis and CB Byron Jones.

It’s also the time where the various pundits put out their top ten players at each position or mock drafts.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Mel Kiper put out his top ten list at all positions (ESPN Insider) and when you look at the top ten cornerbacks, you’ll see a familiar name from the UConn Huskies in Jones who comes in at No. 10.

Right now, Jones projects out to be drafted in the 7th round. This is most likely due to the fact that he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury which he had repaired immediately afterwards.

His physical will NFL scouts if he’s healed from that injury. If he is, Jones will have the chance to prove himself and hopefully improve his draft stock.

American Athletic Conference Weekly Men’s Basketball Honors – Feb. 16

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of the league’s weekly men’s basketball honors for the week ending Feb. 15.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Will Cummings • Sr. • G • Temple
Cummings helped Temple to a pair of wins last week as the Owls extended their winning streak to seven games with victories against Cincinnati and East Carolina. He averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.5 blocks in the two games. He scored 21 points with five assists, four steals and three rebounds in a 75-59 win against Cincinnati and had 17 points with seven rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals in a 66-53 win against East Carolina. Cummings leads the Owls in scoring at 13.7 points per game and has helped Temple to a 13-3 record in the Owls’ last 16 games.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
B.J. Tyson • Fr. • G • East Carolina
Tyson came off the bench to average 16.0 points and 3.5 rebounds and shoot .583 from the field (14-of-24) in a 1-1 week for the Pirates. He had 23 points with five rebounds in a 64-53 win against Memphis and added nine points in a 66-53 loss at Temple. Tyson is ranked second among American Athletic Conference freshmen in scoring at 12.6 ppg.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Kasey Wilson • Sr. • F • UCF
Averaged 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting .619 from the field in a 2-0 week.

Ryan Boatright • Sr. • G • UConn
Averaged 21.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists in a 1-1 week.

Shaq Goodwin • Jr. • F • Memphis
Averaged 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in a 1-1 week.

Markus Kennedy • Jr. • F • SMU
Averaged 15.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in a 2-0 week.

Jay Hook • Sr. • G • Tulane
Scored 16 points with eight rebounds in a 50-49 win at Cincinnati in the Green Wave’s only game of the week.

UConn’s Moriah Jefferson Selected as The American, espnW Player of the Week

From UConn:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – After helping lead the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team to wins over No. 1 South Carolina and conference foe Tulane over the past week, junior guard Moriah Jefferson was honored as both the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week and the espnW National Player of the week, as announced on Monday morning.

The Husky point guard averaged 16.0 points on 68.4 percent shooting in the Huskies’ 2-0 week, dishing out 11 assists against only one turnover. The Glenn Heights, Texas native was nearly unstoppable from beyond the arc, converting on 71.4 percent from three-point range.

Jefferson’s 4.6 assists and 2.4 steals game averages are top in the American Athletic Conference.

In total, UConn has earned five conference Player of the Week accolades and five Freshman of the Week nods.

Jefferson and the Huskies return to the court on Tuesday, Feb. 1 when they host Houston at the XL Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on SNY.

American Athletic Conference Weekly Women’s Basketball Honors – Feb. 16

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference has announced winners of the league’s weekly women’s basketball honors for games ending Feb. 15.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Moriah Jefferson * G * 5-7 * Jr. * UConn

Jefferson averaged 16.0 points on 68.4-percent shooting, including 71.4-percent from 3-point range, 4.5 rebounds and dished out 11 assists against only one turnover in a 2-0 week for No. 2/1 UConn that included wins over top ranked South Carolina and Tulane. The junior opened the week with 16 points, six assists and four rebounds in Monday’s win over the Gamecocks. She followed that with a 16-point, five-rebound, five-assist, four-steal performance in the Huskies’ victory over the Green Wave on Saturday.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Alliya Butts * G * 5-4 * Temple

Butts averaged 19.5 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game for Temple in a 1-1 week for the Owls. She led the team with 17 points and two steals at Tulsa on Feb. 10 and scored a game-high 22 points with a career-best six assists in Saturday’s win over Houston. The freshman also went a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe last week.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

Abria Trice * G/F * 6-1 * R-Sr. * East Carolina

Averaged 19.5 points per game and shot 60-percent from the field in an undefeated week with wins over Cincinnati and No. 25/25 USF

Courtney Williams * G * 5-8 * Jr. * USF

Recorded a season-high tying 34 points in a one-point loss at East Carolina, scored 26 of her 34 points in the second half vs. the Pirates

Ashley Clark * G * 5-11 * Jr. * Tulsa

Averaged 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in a 2-0 week for Tulsa, tallied sixth double-double of the year vs. Temple

Mooriah Rowser * G * 5-9 * R-So. * Memphis

Tied a career-high with 24 points and added a career-best five steals in a win at Houston, Memphis’ lone game last week

Zykira Lewis * G * 5-8 * So. * UCF

Scored a game-high 19 points in a win over Cincinnati, the first for UCF in program history; made seven 3-pointers last week

Photos-WBB: UConn Huskies vs Tulane Green Wave – 2/14/15

Here is a photo gallery from the UConn women’s basketball game versus the Tulane Green Wave on February 14, 2015 at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT. The UConn Huskies won the game 87-39.

To see full size picture or slide show, please click on image
(mobile/tablet users: to scroll through photos, you can swipe left or right; to remove caption, tap photo.)

Video: UConn Women Rout Tulane, 87-39

On a cold, snowy day in Storrs, CT, the UConn women’s basketball team was inside warming up Gampel Pavilion with some hot shooting.

In the end, the UConn Huskies came out on top with an easy 87-39 win over the Tulane Green Wave in front of 9,347 fans who braved the road conditions.

UConn, who will ascend to number one in both polls on Monday, improve to 24-1 (13-0 American). The Green Wave, who were clad in pink, fall to 19-6 (10-4 American).

The Huskies had a balanced scoring attack with six players in double figures.

Moriah Jefferson led the way with 16 points and five assists. Morgan Tuck added 14 points and eight rebounds while Kiah Nurse had 12 points. Breanna Stewart chipped in with 11 points as did Gabby Williams.

Saniya Chong rounded them out with 10 points.

Danielle Blagg paced the Green Wave with 10 points and six rebounds. Kolby Morgan had nine points while Adesuwa Ebomwonyi had eight.

You could have expected that the UConn women might not have come out throwing their best punch after such an emotional game on Monday night against South Carolina. But those who follow the team know that head coach Geno Auriemma won’t allow that.

No matter who the opponent is, the Huskies will come out and play the same way. Whether they put away the opponent in the first half or even in the second half, you should just know that they will give their best effort every time they set foot on the court.

Next up for the Huskies are the Houston Cougars who will come to the XL Center on Tuesday night. It will be the final time that Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Kiah Stokes play there in their careers. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Tulane Green Wave @ UConn Huskies 2/14/15 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.

Video: UConn’s Spencer Naas Has Knack For Game-Winning Goals

When UConn men’s hockey forward Spencer Naas scored the only goal of the game against the Merrimack College Warriors earlier in the week, it was the fifth time this season that he has scored the game-winning goal.

He’s scored 12 goals this season which means that almost 50% of his goals have been game-winners. His 12 goals as a freshman also ranks him third in the country.

Those 12 goals lead the UConn Huskies and he is second on the team in points with 15 behind leader Shawn Pauly who has 17. And Naas also leads the team in +/- with +5.

Watch and/or listen below as UConn head coach Mike Cavanaugh and Naas talk about Naas’ ability to score goals.

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A New England Sports Blog