SU forgot to mention the UConn women’s game Friday night.  Very interesting match up vs. Notre Dame who had lost 4 players to ACL injuries during the season.  It was nip and tuck and UConn lost on a buzzer beater in the semis for the 2nd year in a row.  A few comments:

• Geno Auriemma, for all his greatness, is only 11-7 in NCAA semifinal games.  SU says this shows just how hard it is to get there and make it through to the finals.  That is still a great record.  But no guarantees.
• Auriemma is committed to his seniors and upper classmen players.  He really only goes 6 players deep.  On Friday night, Samuelson had 4 fouls for the last 7-8 minutes of the game and Notre Dame really exploited that.  She basically stopped playing defense and escorted her man to the basket on a series of drives to avoid getting that 5th foul.  If this were a men’s NCAA tournament game, that player is on the bench for a few minutes.  SU says that was a tactical mistake.  Sure, you want her outside shooting and scoring (for which she got none in those minutes) but you need to substitute offense-defense or just sit her for a few minutes.  That was a key to the game.
• While SU loves to watch UConn, it’s actually good for the women’s game that they lose once in a while.  They had a great team this year but in a close game, they blinked.  Notre Dame played zone for much of the game and UConn did not really respond well to that.  That was surprising.  They struggled to run their offense.