Swish Appeal: All Posts by Meghan CaffreyBasketball is basketball.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49391/swish-fave.png2017-05-12T16:44:47-04:00https://www.swishappeal.com/authors/meghan-caffrey/rss2017-05-12T16:44:47-04:002017-05-12T16:44:47-04:00Faris, January waived by Connecticut
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<figcaption>Chris Poss - Swish Appeal</figcaption>
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<p>Kelly Faris and Jessica January waived by Connecticut Sun</p> <p id="R6R9dc">After 4 seasons in Connecticut, the Sun announced today that it will <a href="http://sun.wnba.com/news/faris-waived-sun/">waive Kelly Faris and Jessica January</a>, who they selected with the 28th overall pick in the WNBA Draft. </p>
<p id="vufyu0">Sun general manager and head coach Curt Miller spoke on Faris, who averaged 2.1 points and 1.6 rebounds per game during her time with the Sun. </p>
<blockquote><p id="4ECIIy">“I truly appreciate her professionalism and approach to this great game. We wish her nothing but success in the future.”</p></blockquote>
https://www.swishappeal.com/2017/5/12/15632488/connecticut-waives-2-players-wnbaMeghan Caffrey2017-02-14T02:20:48-05:002017-02-14T02:20:48-05:00Huskies’ spectacular streak continues
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<figcaption>David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>March Madness is around the corner and Monday’s (Feb. 13) game between No. 1 UConn and No. 6 South Carolina, was said to be the last test for the Huskies before the tournament. The Gamecocks put up a valiant effort, however, once again UConn prevailed victorious in another aced test.</p> <p id="u8ts8N"><strong>Storrs, CT —</strong> Some things are just meant to be. And the 100<sup>th</sup> win in a row for the UConn women’s basketball team is exactly that for Geno Auriemma. </p>
<p id="Yumydq">“Forget global warming, that’s the biggest phenomenon I’ve seen,” proclaimed Auriemma in trying to downplay this monumental moment. </p>
<p id="PSBllE">Gampel Pavilion was packed to the rafters tonight as the UConn women’s basketball team made history on their home court. The Huskies won their 100<sup>th</sup> consecutive game with a 66-55 victory over South Carolina. </p>
<p id="CfRSiH">“Given where we started and where a lot of people expected us to be and who everyone else had coming back, for them to do it, I think it is very appropriate,” said Auriemma. “They probably feel better about it than last year’s teams would have. A big win like this against a really good team in an amazing environment.”</p>
<aside id="biZni7"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"OPINION: UConn’s 100th win only means great things for the sport.","url":"http://www.swishappeal.com/2017/2/13/14606192/history-what-uconns-100th-straight-win-means"}]}'></div></aside><p id="uMUoWc">Gabby Williams was unstoppable, notching a career-high 26 points in tonight’s contest. Auriemma reflected on Williams performance comparing her to Maya Moore, stating she turned it on and channeled her inner Moore “…exactly when she needed it, the way it needed to be done.”</p>
<p id="8J9kTN">“Yeah Gab did a little bit of everything out there today,” said Kia Nurse. “She was all over the place; she was absolutely incredible. Just absolutely proud of her and she carried this team to a win.”</p>
<p id="64zQdW">Napheesa Collier also tacked on double-digit scoring for the Huskies with 18 points.</p>
<p id="QO62dU">For 18 minutes of the first half, it was nip and tuck, as South Carolina stayed up to pace with UConn, remaining within a point of the Huskies. But the UConn women are opportunistic, and were patiently waiting for the perfect moment to make a run on the Gamecocks. </p>
<p id="myOYB0">With just over a minute left in the first half, the Huskies saw an opportunity and knocked down three in a row, starting with Collier draining her only trey of the night from beyond the arc to take the lead, 31-29. Williams, who finished on top for the Huskies, added a jumper. And it was Collier again who put the exclamation mark on the half, with a breakaway layup at the buzzer, ending the half up 35-29. </p>
<p id="z8HLnt">Despite that 7-0 run to end the first, though, the Huskies weren’t able to establish a flow on offense and were “searching for something,” according to Auriemma. </p>
<p id="Wi6uXS">They came out in the second half with the game plan to only run two offensive plays for the entire half -- it worked. The Huskies widen the gap to as many as 16 points with just under four and a half minutes left to play in the fourth. </p>
<p id="MTpRoo">After allowing South Carolina to shoot 50% in the first and 45.5% in the second, UConn turned a page defensively in the second half, holding the Gamecocks to shoot only 25% in the third and 27.8% in the final frame. They forced South Carolina to turn the ball over a total of 17 times, and grabbed 19 points off turnovers. </p>
<p id="Q3x9Xu">"I just thought that for 18 minutes of the first half favored our game plan,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. “And then we had those turnovers, and they went and scored, and it really hurt us, it deflated us....we had lazy passes, and they made us pay for it."</p>
<p id="B1dHNU">The Huskies finished the night going 26-63 (41.3%) and a perfect 100% from the free throw line. </p>
<p id="PNqGED">“There were a lot of good players sitting in the stands tonight,” said Auriemma. “When I turned around and looked at the bench one time, I almost called a couple of them down. There were a lot of wins up in the stands tonight and a lot of championships.”</p>
<p id="op8ylN">South Carolina was the last hard opponent UConn will face before the NCAA tournament. The Huskies have four more games remaining in the regular season, and are looking for win #101 on the road Saturday at Tulane. </p>
<p id="bUFzgm">As for the Gamecocks, they will look to bounce back Thursday when they host the Vanderbilt Commodores. </p>
https://www.swishappeal.com/2017/2/14/14606576/century-mark-uconn-wins-100th-straightMeghan Caffrey2017-01-21T01:15:32-05:002017-01-21T01:15:32-05:00What happened to St. John’s?
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<figcaption>David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>As the old saying goes, “an ugly win is still a win.” Tonight, that is exactly how Coach Jim Flanery felt on the victory his team got over St. John’s.</p> <p id="yPupdC"><strong>Q</strong><strong>ueens, NY —</strong> Ten months. That’s how long the Creighton Bluejays have been waiting to seek revenge against the St. John’s Red Storm, who beat them at the end of the road in the Big East Championship last year.</p>
<p id="XXNU5M">And they did just that, as Creighton beat St. John’s on the Red Storm’s home court tonight, 55-43. </p>
<p id="zxa015">The Bluejays and the Red Storm have had many battles over their first three seasons as Big East opponents, splitting their regular season series and St. John’s taking a 3-0 advantage in the postseason. And their competition is one Coach Jim Flanery respects: “It’s weird that if you would’ve told me when we got into the Big East that St. John’s would <em>maybe</em> be our rival -- I would not have necessarily believed that.”</p>
<p id="DbUnBr">Crystal Simmons saw her only points of the night when she drained two consecutive treys to give the lead back to the Red Storm early in the second quarter after trailing 14-9 in the first. That would be the last lead they would see, though, as Creighton held St. John’s for seven minutes without scoring for the remainder of the half. During that stretch, the Bluejays add 13 points to their total. </p>
<p id="kFmBCn">Alisha Kebbe finally put a stop to Creighton’s defensive hold with a quick layup under the basket. Maya Singleton, put up one more to try to help her team who went 7-29 in the first half, and an aggravated Red Storm headed into the locker room down, 28-19. </p>
<p id="15rak6">St. John’s came into the second half looking for some sort of offensive spark. They were able to take control of the third quarter, outscoring Creighton 13-10. But the Bluejays had already established control of this game earlier which they were not letting go of. </p>
<p id="Wwpxix">Lauren Works, who led the Bluejays in scoring on the night with 12 points, knocked down a three-pointer to stretch the gap to 10 points. With a jumper from Audrey Faber, the second Bluejay to notch double-digit figures with 10, gave Creighton their largest lead of the game by 14 points with just under a minute and a half left to play. </p>
<p id="7piXWf">Flanery admitted, “We weren’t very good on offense, but we were good enough.”</p>
<p id="ehKHVf">Good enough to dictate a 55-43 victory, moving the Bluejays to 7-1 in Big East conference play.</p>
<p id="uwT8Nh">Coach Joe Tartamella said it’s his Red Storm’s approach that he is frustrated with: “We changed momentum in the second half, but too many empty possessions. We missed a boatload of shots, and we couldn’t score. If we don’t fix that, we won’t win. You can’t win in this league scoring 43 points.” </p>
<p id="zvgsVc">Jade Walker, who is averaging 18.9 points a game in league play for St. John’s and ranked second in the conference, was held to just nine points by Creighton in tonight’s contest. </p>
<p id="jFosIP">Next up in St. John’s four-game home stand will be Providence on Jan. 22 who is experiencing their own six-game losing slump. The most recent coming from Seton Hall. Creighton will face Seton Hall on Jan. 22.</p>
https://www.swishappeal.com/2017/1/21/14343338/offensive-ineptitude-haunts-st-johns-creightonMeghan Caffrey2017-01-13T16:24:17-05:002017-01-13T16:24:17-05:00Wildcats take a bite out of Seton Hall
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<figcaption>David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Seton Hall has been struggling this season — a problem head coach Anthony Bozzella attributes to his team not having an identity.</p> <p id="DyWgOi"><strong>Villanova, PA — </strong>Anthony Bozzella and his Seton Hall Pirates found themselves down early against the Villanova Wildcats. As the closing minutes of fourth approached though, the Pirates had cut down their double-digit deficit to only seven points. Yet, all game the Wildcats were draining three’s and Kelly Jekot would hit another one for Villanova sparking a 9-0 run to pull away again from Seton Hall and ultimately take the victory, 69-52. </p>
<p id="wh1SsP">Although this is the fifth straight loss for the Pirates, Bozzella believes he’s seeing improvement in the intensity his team is bringing to the court. His roster, one of the youngest in the nation, includes nine freshman, and the Pirates are learning what it takes to compete in the Big East.</p>
<p id="wExMuh">“We’re tentative to start. We were worried about defending Villanova instead of trying to have Villanova defend us. And you can’t chase uphill the whole game,” explained Bozzella. </p>
<p id="iayeWo">Seton Hall’s early hesitance saw Villanova go on a stretch where they knocked down five consecutive treys, accounting for 15 of their 19 points scored in the first quarter. Sophomore Adrianna Hahn drained two of those, as she’s been shooting 42.4% from the three-point range this season. By the end of the game, she had led her team with a game-high 22 points – 21 of those points came from beyond the arc at 58.3%. </p>
<p id="rAzwTS">Two more Wildcats scored in double digit figures, as Alex Louin had 20 and Kelly Jekot put up 17.</p>
<p id="tmQyob">Coach Harry Perretta says that’s one thing that his offense tries to produce, “We’re not a big, physical team in size so we like to shoot the three if we can.” </p>
<p id="YUmRvN">The Wildcats have been shooting 30.8% this season, however were very hot in the opening stanza of the game knocking down a blistering 55.6% from deep. </p>
<p id="3KJ1dY">Villanova tried to continue the triple trend into the second, but ended up drastically cooling down only making 2-10. Even though the Wildcats struggled to connect from long range in the second period, their defensive intensity increased as they held Seton Hall under double digits to head into halftime with a 12-point advantage, 32-20. </p>
<p id="87QWLs">A new team emerged out of the locker room for Seton Hall, as they immediately cut into their deficit with two consecutive baskets in the paint from Lubirdia Gordon. Gordon would end the night with a team-high 20 points. With a rejuvenated mindset, the Pirates brought themselves right back into the game. They would end the third period on a 7-2 run to pull the game within nine, 47-38 entering the final quarter of play. </p>
<p id="QD6JUx">Seton Hall continued to fight and claw in the last 10 minutes of the game, inching closer to Villanova, however the Wildcats started hitting three’s again and the Pirates couldn’t get out of the hole they created back in the first period. </p>
<p id="hMqBBI">After today’s win, the Wildcats are hoping this home court momentum will roll over into their next game against St. John’s on Sunday.</p>
<p id="w7EWK4">“We’ve been struggling, and we just needed to win a game,” said Coach Perretta on the tough schedule that lays ahead of them, which includes four road games following their St. John’s game on Sunday.</p>
<p id="vA7qIH">As the Pirates move into the remainder of conference play, one thing Bozzella hopes to gain is a solid identity. “We don’t have one, and that’s what we said we wanted at the end of the year. We haven’t forged that, and that’s a big problem right now.” </p>
<p id="UvuOKd">Seton Hall will travel to Washington, DC to take on Georgetown on Sunday Jan. 5 where tip-off is set for 2 p.m ET, before they return home for four straight games.</p>
https://www.swishappeal.com/ncaa/2017/1/13/14260460/seton-hall-big-identity-problem-bozzellaMeghan Caffrey2017-01-08T20:39:18-05:002017-01-08T20:39:18-05:00Seton Hall gets no pass from DePaul
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<figcaption>David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>DePaul breezes by a Seton Hall team who Coach Bozzella believes his team is suffering from a lack of competition.</p> <p id="m3Vfp8"><strong>South Orange, NJ. –</strong> The Seton Hall Pirates came into today’s game looking to hand the DePaul Blue Demons their first loss since Dec. 15<sup>th</sup>. DePaul has won six consecutive games, four of those against conference opponents in that stretch. With today’s 96-65 victory over Seton Hall, they move to 13-4 and continue to be undefeated in Big East play. </p>
<p id="hmmTto">The Blue Demons set the stage early, putting up eight points before Seton Hall saw any of their own. But the Pirates did manage a rallying effort with back to back layups by Kaela Hilaire and JaQuan Jackson to get Seton Hall on the board and cut DePaul’s lead in half at 8-4. </p>
<p id="D5whjs">That’s as close as the Pirates would get, however, as the Blue Demons extended their lead to 25 points, 60-35, at the half. They would go on to see their biggest lead of the game, at 40 points, later on in the fourth quarter. </p>
<p id="zJRIIU">At intermission Seton Hall was shooting 64.3%, so shooting wasn’t their problem today. They finished at 41%, which is above their 38.7% average for this season. Jackson, Hilaire, and LaTecia Smith were all able to get in double-digit figures on the scoreboard for the Pirates. </p>
<p id="hWCap9">Intensity was missing today, according to Pirates head coach Anthony Bozzella.</p>
<p id="uufLuL">“For us, it was a lot more defense,” said Coach Bozzella, “we just didn’t compete hard enough. We have to learn to compete a lot better than this.” </p>
<p id="eMDiQL">DePaul finished shooting 43.2% beyond the arc, much of that credited to Jacqui Grant, who went 5-9 and Tanita Allen who sunk five of her seven treys. Their three-point shooting was definitely needed as the Blue Demons have been without their best three-point shooter in Ashton Millender, who’s been out since Dec. 10. </p>
<p id="TVIdVc">Coach Doug Bruno explained, “we are a basketball team that shoots threes for the purpose of opening up the floor.” </p>
<p id="4dwxuC">As their schedule gets deeper into Big East competition, according to Coach Bruno, the defending 2016 regular season Big East Conference Champions need to focus on one game at a time.</p>
<p id="f7GcWu">“Just approach this as if we’re teeing off to play golf. You play 18 holes you play one hole 18 times …we play one game, we play one game 18 times.”</p>
<p id="Tqvaue">Next up on the “course” for DePaul will be St. John, who beat out Marquette today 70-64. Seton Hall will take on that defeated Marquette squad on Tuesday as they are home again.</p>
<p id="0Zx5Gs">Coach Bozzella finished the night elucidating, “We haven’t competed for three consecutive games.” </p>
<p id="tD8A5p">He is hoping this 31-point loss to the Blue Demons is enough to get through to his players that they need to bring the program back from this “low,” because he believes that it is up to the players at this point. </p>
<p id="2Ip69k">“At some point, you have to get it.” </p>
https://www.swishappeal.com/ncaa/2017/1/8/14206000/seton-hall-coach-bozzella-annoyed-debacleMeghan Caffrey