Kentucky’s Kastine Evans, left, and Connecticut’s Kelly Faris, right, scramble for the ball during the second half of a regional final game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Bridgeport, Conn., Monday, April 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut is headed back to a familiar place – the Final Four.
Breanna Stewart scored 21 points and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added 17 to help top-seed UConn rout Kentucky 83-53 on Monday night and advance to a record sixth-straight national semifinal.
The Huskies will face either Notre Dame or Duke in the national semifinals on Sunday in New Orleans. The Irish and Blue Devils play Tuesday night. UConn (33-4) broke a tie with Stanford (2008-12), LSU (2004-08) and itself (2000-04) by reaching the Final Four again.
It was the second straight season that UConn beat Kentucky in the regional finals. The Huskies topped the Wildcats by 15 last year 105 miles to the north of Bridgeport in Kingston, R.I.
This game wasn’t as close. Kentucky stayed close for the first 10 minutes with their “40 minutes of dread” defense. Then UConn turned up its own defensive intensity.
The Huskies trailed 23-22 with just 9 minutes left in the first half. That’s when Stewart – honored as the outstanding player of the Bridgeport Regional – and UConn’s “no-name” defense took over allowing three points the rest of the half. Kentucky missed 13 of its final 14 shots in the half with the only make coming when Jelleah Sidney banked in a 3-pointer from the wing.
While UConn was playing lockdown defense, Stewart was dominating on the offensive end. The 6-foot-4 star, who was the national high school player of the year last season, scored nine points and had a vicious two-handed block during that closing run.
After Sidney’s 3-pointer, Stewart calmly converted a three-point play on the other end. UConn led 48-26 at the half.
Kentucky couldn’t get within 20 in the second half.
The loudest cheer of the night from the sellout crowd of nearly 8,600 came when the video board showed highlights of Louisville’s upset victory over Baylor on Sunday night.
UConn’s only losses this season came to Baylor and three times to Notre Dame.
Stewart didn’t play well in most of those losses, but really has stepped her game up over the past few weeks. After struggling through the middle part of the season, the heralded first-year has averaged 16.4 points since the start of the Big East tournament.
It’s been an unusual season for UConn, which for the first time in 19 years didn’t win either the Big East regular season or tournament title. Now the Huskies are two wins away from an eighth national championship.
This was the 19th time in the past 23 seasons that UConn had reached the regional final. They have made the Final Four 14 times overall, including the last six.
None of the regional final games during this current run have been close with only Rutgers coming within 10 in 2008. UConn’s lead ballooned to 36 points in the second half of this game. When the final buzzer sounded Mosqueda-Lewis jumped into the arms of Stewart to celebrate.
Coach Geno Auriemma got a gritty effort out of junior center Stefanie Dolson, who has a stress fracture in her right ankle and an injured left foot as well. She wore a brace on her left leg and a compression sock on her right one. While she only scored two points, she had 11 rebounds and four assists.
The loss brought to a close a record year for the Wildcats (30-5). Kentucky had the most victories in school history. Not bad for a school rich in basketball tradition on the men’s side. Still coach Matthew Mitchell was left searching for the school’s first trip to the Final Four.
The Wildcats have made the NCAA tournament in each of the past four seasons and reached the regional finals in three of those years falling short each time.
Senior A’dia Mathies, the two-time SEC player of the year, had a quiet game scoring only 14 points with 11 of them coming in the second half. Kastine Evans, who hit the big 3-pointer to help beat Delaware in the regional semifinals had just two points on 1 of 9 shooting. Her older brother R.J., who played on the UConn’s men’s basketball team this season, sat behind the Wildcats bench in a Kentucky shirt.
The Huskies have won 43 of their past 44 NCAA games in the state of Connecticut, including going 9-1 in Bridgeport. The lone blemish came against Duke in 2006 in the regional final.
UCONN 83, KENTUCKY 53
KENTUCKY (30-6): O’Neill 5-12 2-3 13, Mathies 4-9 4-6 14, Stallworth 4-12 1-2 9, Walker 0-1 2-2 2, Evans 1-9 0-0 2, Thompson 1-5 0-0 2, Pinkett 0-1 0-0 0, Sidney 2-5 0-0 5, Goss 2-8 2-2 6, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, Bishop 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-62 11-15 53.
UCONN (33-4): Doty 1-1 0-0 3, Mosqueda-Lewis 6-11 2-3 17, Stewart 8-14 5-6 21, Dolson 1-4 0-0 2, Faris 3-4 6-6 12, Tuck 1-3 4-4 6, Jefferson 5-7 0-0 10, Hartley 3-10 4-4 10, Buck 0-1 0-0 0, Stokes 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-56 21-23 83.
Halftime_UConn 48-26. 3-Point Goals_Kentucky 4-16 (Mathies 2-3, Sidney 1-3, O’Neill 1-4, Stallworth 0-1, Thompson 0-1, Goss 0-2, Evans 0-2), UConn 4-11 (Mosqueda-Lewis 3-6, Doty 1-1, Tuck 0-1, Stewart 0-1, Hartley 0-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Kentucky 33 (Stallworth 8), UConn 41 (Dolson 11). Assists_Kentucky 9 (Evans 3), UConn 12 (Dolson 4). Total Fouls_Kentucky 20, UConn 18. A_8,594.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
Photos by Victoria Graff, and property of Schurz Communications, Inc., and vaughtsviews.com. All rights reserved; images may not be reprinted in print or online without permission of the owners. Reprinted images must be attributed to vaughtsviews.com and linked to the original site.
A’dia Mathies scores two of her 16 points in the win over Delaware Saturday. (Victoria Graff photo)
DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) – The Kentucky Wildcats and their “40 minutes of dread” were too much for Elena Delle Donne and Delaware.
Jennifer O’Neill scored 19 points and A’dia Mathies added 16 to help Kentucky hold off the Blue Hens 69-62 on Saturday in the Bridgeport regional semifinals, bringing to an end the stellar career of Delle Donne.
It’s the second straight season that Kentucky (30-5) has advanced to the regional final. The Wildcats, who already have a school record for victories, lost to Connecticut last season by 15 points.
Delle Donne had 33 points for Delaware (32-4) and finished her career as the fifth all-time leading scorer in NCAA history with 3,039 points. She passed former stars Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw and Maya Moore on Saturday.
She finished well short of Jackie Stiles’ all-time scoring mark of 3,393 set at Southwest Missouri State from 1998-2001.
There’s little doubt that Delle Donne would have broken it had she not missed 22 games in her career. The 6-foot-5 star who is averaging 26.6 points in her career sat out six games this season with a reoccurrence of the symptoms of Lyme disease that forced her to miss a dozen games two years ago.
She did all she could to take Delaware to the regional final. Trailing by 14 early in the second half, the Blue Hens cut their deficit to 62-60 with 2:47 left on a jumper by Delle Donne that touched nearly every part of the rim before dropping in. That shot moved her past Moore and sent the sellout crowd into a frenzy.
But Kastine Evans calmly responded with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 65-60. Jaquetta May had three chances at putbacks on the other end, but couldn’t convert.
Delle Donne exited with 10 seconds left and had a long embrace with coach Tina Martin.
The second-seeded Wildcats will play the winner of Connecticut and Maryland on Monday with a trip to New Orleans and the Final Four on the line.
Delle Donne had little help in the first half as her teammates struggled from the field. The senior forward did pretty much everything she could to help keep the Blue Hens in the game. She scored 13 straight points as Delaware only trailed 17-15 midway through the first half. Then Kentucky took over scoring the next 10 points. Bria Goss got the run started with a jumper and capped it with a layup that made it 27-17.
The teams then traded baskets the rest of the half with O’Neill hitting a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to make it 41-27.
It was the third straight NCAA game that the Blue Hens trailed at the half. They were able to rally against West Virginia and North Carolina at home and tried their best to pull off another, but the Blue Hens fell just short.
Lauren Carra had a big second half and finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds to provide a second offensive threat for the Blue Hens.
Delaware, which had never made it past the second round before this season, played its first two games at home in front of a loud raucous crowd that included Vice President Joe Biden.
While Biden didn’t make it up to the game Saturday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie did. He graduated from Delaware where he met his wife Mary Pat. Christie was wearing a yellow Delaware fleece and took pictures and signed ticket stubs for fans.
The governor’s trip to the game was a lot longer than planned. Trenton was supposed to host the regional until the NCAA moved it in November citing a new law that allowed gambling on college sports in New Jersey. The late switch didn’t seem to impact ticket sales, as Saturday’s session was sold out with nearly 8,600 fans expected to attend each session.
The two teams had only played once before, with Delaware winning 86-70 in 2006.
KENTUCKY 69, DELAWARE 62
DELAWARE (32-4): Delle Donne 11-23 11-11 33, Parker 3-9 0-0 6, Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Richards 0-0 0-0 0, Carra 3-5 3-4 10, May 1-6 0-0 2, Buchanan 0-0 0-0 0, Lucas 3-9 5-5 11, Leon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 19-20 62.
KENTUCKY (30-5): Walker 3-8 2-3 8, Stallworth 2-5 0-0 4, O’Neill 6-14 3-6 19, Mathies 5-13 5-7 16, Evans 3-9 0-0 8, Thompson 1-2 2-2 4, Pinkett 0-1 0-0 0, Sidney 1-1 0-0 2, Goss 2-6 0-1 4, Henderson 1-1 0-0 2, Bishop 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-62 12-19 69.
Halftime_Kentucky 41-27. 3-Point Goals_Delaware 1-6 (Carra 1-1, Lucas 0-1, Delle Donne 0-4), Kentucky 7-24 (O’Neill 4-9, Evans 2-5, Mathies 1-6, Pinkett 0-1, Bishop 0-1, Goss 0-2). Fouled Out_Carra, Lucas. Rebounds_Delaware 40 (Carra 10), Kentucky 35 (Walker 11). Assists_Delaware 7 (Lucas 3), Kentucky 9 (O’Neill 4). Total Fouls_Delaware 21, Kentucky 18. A_NA.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
Photos by Victoria Graff, and property of Schurz Communications, Inc., and vaughtsviews.com. All rights reserved; images may not be reprinted in print or online without permission of the owners. Reprinted images must be attributed to vaughtsviews.com and linked to the original site.
Kentucky’s Jennifer O’Neill (0) drives past Navy’s Audrey Bauer (20) and Erin Meador, right, during the second half of a first-round game in the women’s NCAA college basketball tournament on Sunday, March 24, 2013, in New York. Kentucky won the game 61-41. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
DOUG FEINBERG, AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – After a two-week layoff, it took Kentucky awhile to get going. Once the second-seeded Wildcats did, Navy was done.
DeNesha Stallworth scored 18 points and Jennifer O’Neill added nine of her 12 points in the second half to lead the second-seeded Wildcats to a 61-41 win over the 15th-seeded Midshipmen on Sunday in the opening round of the NCAA women’s tournament.
“We were a little rusty not playing in a couple weeks,” Stallworth said. “We played hard and stayed focus and not let the start bring us down.”
The Wildcats (28-5) trailed by one at the half before O’Neill, who grew up in New York, took over. She hit a quick 3-pointer to start a 12-2 run. She had seven points, a steal and an assist during the burst.
Kentucky had been off for 14 days since losing in the SEC tournament title game and looked rusty early on. Two-time SEC player of the year A’dia Mathies didn’t have a field goal for the first time in her career.
“I’m not worried she’s a great player,” Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said.
Kentucky, which was coming off a loss in the SEC title games to Texas A&M, has made the NCAA tournament four straight seasons and matched its best seeding. Each time Kentucky has struggled in the first round. The Wildcats had won by six, four (in overtime) and six in the previous three seasons in their NCAA opener.
“You can’t start examining margin of victory or how you play,” Mitchell said. “This time of year you need to be happy to win and move forward and get focused on whoever we have next.”
The Wildcats will play the winner of No. 7 Dayton vs. 10th-seeded St. John’s on Tuesday night in the second round of the Bridgeport regional.
On Sunday, for 30 minutes Navy hung with Kentucky. The Mids (21-12) led most of the first half buoyed by strong 3-point shooting. They hit five 3s in the first half and led 26-25 at the break.
Then O’Neill got the Wildcats going, much to the delight of the huge cheering section that came to support her.
“Coming in to the locker room at halftime, (assistant coach) Insell was talking to me about not being passive and set the tempo,” O’Neill said. “The second half that’s what I tried to do.”
Stallworth capped the game-changing run with a three-point play that made it 37-28 with 16:50 left.
“We knew they were going to come out strong,” said Jade Geif, who led Navy with nine points. “O’Neill was going to come out in her home state. She hit some key shots. The just were hitting and we weren’t.”
The Wildcats led 41-35 with 10 minutes left before they finally got some breathing room with an 8-0 run. Mathies, who missed all five of her shots and finished with five points, hit two free throws to start the spurt. Stallworth followed with consecutive layups to give the Wildcats their first double-digit lead of the game with 7:18 left.
Navy came no closer than nine the rest of the way.
The Wildcats played without backup center Samantha Drake who was suspended by coach Mitchell.
“We have a standard we want to uphold as Kentucky basketball players and she hasn’t been doing that,” he said. “It’s not one particular thing, it’s a series of things. We want her to try to strive to do her best and that’s not happening right now.”
The Midshipmen were making their third straight trip to the NCAA tournament after winning the Patriot League tournament. Navy lost to Maryland last season and DePaul the year before. With the Mids’ loss, 15 seeds remained winless in the NCAA tournament at 0-76.
“We expected more. It was the first time we’ve been up at half,” Navy coach Stefanie Pemper said. “We were close with DePaul and Maryland but we weren’t up. We’re frustrated how we ended the game.”
The Midshipmen were trying to buck a losing trend by the Patriot League, which has dropped its past 21 games in the tournament since Holy Cross knocked off Maryland in 1991. None of those losses have been close.
KENTUCKY 61, NAVY 41
NAVY (21-12): Bauer 2-10 0-0 6, Geif 4-11 1-4 9, Membreno 3-7 2-5 9, Stapleton 0-4 0-0 0, Pollinger 2-7 0-0 5, Bernal 1-1 1-2 3, Richmond 0-0 0-0 0, Terry 0-0 1-2 1, Morrison 3-7 0-0 8, Meador 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 5-13 41.
KENTUCKY (28-5): Walker 5-11 4-4 14, Stallworth 8-13 1-1 18, O’Neill 5-10 0-0 12, Mathies 0-5 5-6 5, Evans 1-6 0-0 2, Thompson 0-2 2-2 2, Pinkett 0-3 0-0 0, Sidney 0-2 0-0 0, Goss 2-5 0-0 4, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, Bishop 2-3 0-2 4. Totals 23-60 12-15 61.
Halftime_Navy 26-25. 3-Point Goals_Navy 6-22 (Morrison 2-5, Bauer 2-8, Membreno 1-1, Pollinger 1-5, Stapleton 0-3), Kentucky 3-11 (O’Neill 2-5, Stallworth 1-3, Sidney 0-1, Pinkett 0-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Navy 30 (Geif 6), Kentucky 43 (Stallworth 11). Assists_Navy 9 (Geif, Meador, Membreno 2), Kentucky 10 (O’Neill 4). Total Fouls_Navy 14, Kentucky 11. A_NA.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Kelsey Bone had 18 points and 15 rebounds, with most of her production coming in the second half, and Texas A&M beat Kentucky 75-67 on Sunday night to win the Southeastern Conference tournament championship in its first year in the league.
The Aggies, the No. 4 seed, were the surprise of the tournament by beating the top two seeds in the tournament. No. 19 Texas A&M (24-9) beat top-seeded Tennessee in the semifinals before beating No. 2 seed Kentucky (27-5) in the final. Kristi Bellock had 15 points and Courtney Walker had 14 for the Aggies.
Bone, selected the tournament MVP, was called for her second foul and went to the bench for the final 8:54 of the first half. She logged only eight minutes with four points in the half.
No. 7 Kentucky’s long wait for its second SEC title continues. The Wildcats won their only championship in 1982. A’dia Mathies led Kentucky with 19 points. Jennifer O’Neill had 17 but the Wildcats were hurt by poor shooting through most of the second half.
Texas A&M took the lead with an 11-0 run early in the second half and then stretched the advantage to 11 points with an 8-0 run midway through the half. Kentucky made only four of its first 23 shots (17.4 percent) in the second half. The Aggies led by 15 points at 63-48 before Kentucky tried to rally. Bria Goss sank a 3-pointer and O’Neill followed with a three-point play, pulling the Wildcats to within nine points.
Kentucky swept two regular-season games against Texas A&M, but the combined margin of victory in the two games was only seven points.
Even with the 6-foot-4 Bone sitting out most of the half, the Wildcats’ biggest lead in the half was two points. Kentucky, which trailed by six at 23-17 midway through the half, led 36-34 at halftime as O’Neill closed the half with two straight baskets. Stallworth scored to open the second half, stretching Kentucky’s lead to four points. The Aggies scored the next 11 points to take a 45-38 lead.
Kentucky’s DeNesha Stallworth, left, celebrates with teammate Azia Bishop in the final seconds of their NCAA college basketball game against Georgia in the Southeastern Conference tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2013, in Duluth, Ga. Kentucky won 60-38. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) – Jennifer O’Neill sank 3-pointers on each end of a 15-0 run early in the second half that gave Kentucky the lead, and the Wildcats rolled past Georgia 60-38 on Saturday night to earn a spot in the SEC tournament championship game.
DeNesh Stallworth had 18 points for No. 7 Kentucky (27-4), which will face No. 19 Texas A&M in Sunday night’s final. The Wildcats, who lost to Tennessee in the 2010 and 2011 championship games, will play for their first championship since 1982.
Jasmine Hassell led No. 12 Georgia (25-6) with 17 points. Georgia, which made only 22.2 percent of its shots (14 of 63), led 24-19 at halftime and stretched the lead to seven points before Kentucky took control with its 15-0 run.
The Wildcats closed with a 13-0 run as Georgia didn’t score in the final 6 minutes.
A’dia Mathies had 11 points as Kentucky’s second scorer in double figures. O’Neill had nine points.
The Lady Bulldogs struggled against Kentucky’s defense, which led the SEC in steals and blocked shots. Anne Marie Armstrong made only one of 13 shots, Tiaria Griffin was 1 of 10 and Jasmine James was 4 of 14 for nine points.
Each team had shooting problems in the first half. Georgia shot only 8 of 34 shots (23.5 percent) from the field. Kentucky was 7 of 27 (25.9 percent) as it had difficulty passing to Stallworth and Samarie Walker inside.
Hassell, who had 13 points in the first half, had the first points of the second half to stretch the Lady Bulldogs’ lead to seven points. Georgia didn’t score again for almost 6 minutes.
O’Neill had 3-pointers on each end of the 15-0 run that gave the Wildcats a 34-26 lead. Jasmine James’ shot off the glass for Georgia ended the long run.
Georgia coach Andy Landers called two timeouts during the run, but the Wildcats continued to add to their lead. Back-to-back baskets by Stallworth pushed the advantage to double figures for the first time at 41-29.
A layup by Stallworth pushed the lead to 20 points at 58-38.
No. 7 KENTUCKY 60, No. 12 GEORGIA 38
GEORGIA (25-6): Armstrong 1-13 0-0 2, Hassell 6-10 5-6 17, James 4-14 1-3 9, Griffin 1-10 0-0 2, Barbee 0-1 1-2 1, Miller 1-6 0-0 3, Hempe 0-3 0-0 0, Donald 1-1 0-0 2, Willis 0-0 0-1 0, Butler 0-0 2-2 2, Ford 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 14-63 9-14 38.
KENTUCKY (27-4): Walker 1-3 0-0 2, Stallworth 9-16 0-0 18, O’Neill 3-8 1-2 9, Mathies 5-11 0-1 11, Evans 2-4 0-0 6, Thompson 1-3 1-2 4, Pinkett 0-1 0-0 0, Sidney 0-0 0-0 0, Goss 1-4 5-5 7, Drake 0-0 0-0 0, Henderson 0-1 0-0 0, Bishop 1-5 1-2 3. Totals 23-56 8-12 60.
Halftime_Georgia 24-19. 3-Point Goals_Georgia 1-18 (Miller 1-4, James 0-2, Armstrong 0-6, Griffin 0-6), Kentucky 6-13 (Evans 2-3, O’Neill 2-3, Mathies 1-2, Thompson 1-2, Goss 0-1, Bishop 0-1, Pinkett 0-1). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Georgia 48 (Hassell 9), Kentucky 38 (Bishop 6). Assists_Georgia 2 (Armstrong, James 1), Kentucky 12 (O’Neill 4). Total Fouls_Georgia 14, Kentucky 15. A_6,630.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
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Photos by Victoria Graff, and property of Schurz Communications, Inc., and vaughtsviews.com. All rights reserved; images may not be reprinted in print or online without permission of the owners. Reprinted images must be attributed to vaughtsviews.com and linked to the original site.
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LSU guard Jeanne Kenney (5) chases down a loose ball in front of Kentucky guard Jennifer O’Neill, top, late in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Baton Rouge, La., Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. LSU upset Kentucky 77-72. (AP Photo/Bill Feig)
By ASHLEY SCOBY
The point guard: Just like the quarterback in football or the pitcher in baseball, whether for better or worse, it’s the position that is the de facto leader of a team. For the UK Hoops team this year, Jennifer O’Neill has taken on that role and developed into one of the biggest keys to the team’s success, according to coach Matthew Mitchell.
O’Neill has seen her fair share of struggles this year, as any athlete does: a 0 assist/7 turnover performance against Vanderbilt and a 3-13 shooting performance against Alabama, for example.
But Kentucky’s starting point guard has seen flashes of brilliance as well: a 21-point performance against Marist and a 17-point/6-assist night of production against Auburn.
It has been a roller coaster ride – O’Neill didn’t earn her starting position until a couple games into the season against Morehead State. She has been called out by her coach for not having enough energy in practice. When asked by a reporter about O’Neill not having “the best” assist/turnover ratio during a span of games, Mitchell responded with, “I would say it’s the worst.”
But as Kentucky heads into the SEC tournament this week, O’Neill has become the focal point of the team, and a key to how deep of a run they can make into March (or April).
“I thought when we’ve been really good, Jennifer O’Neill’s been a major factor in all those games,” Mitchell said. “Jennifer’s personality just off the court sometimes is a little subdued, and you might find that surprising as dynamic as she can be on the court. But anytime that there’s a drop in energy or focus from her, it really affects the personality of our backcourt. Jennifer’s really, in my mind, the key and the catalyst to our backcourt. When she is aggressive and energetic and focused, I think it’s one of the more dynamic backcourts in the country.”
In games where Kentucky has won by at least 10 points this season, O’Neill has averaged 2.67 assists and 2.22 turnovers. To contrast that, O’Neill has averaged 1.75 assists and 4.25 turnovers in the Cats’ four losses this season.
In the regular season finale at Memorial Coliseum Sunday, O’Neill was also instrumental in pushing the pace of the game into a frenzied affair that Tennessee struggled to keep up with. The Volunteers were forced into 31 turnovers, including 6 from co-SEC Player of the Year Meighan Simmons.
There was a point in the game where O’Neill, in a display of her offensive prowess, drove the length of the court to lay the ball in for a double-digit Kentucky lead. That kind of play is something her teammates are constantly anticipating, and one that catches opponents off-guard, especially when they’re tired.
“We work on that every day,” teammate Kastine Evans said. “Coach Mitchell always brings that up, like there’s going to be one time during the game where she’s going to go coast-to-coast…She always has that in the back of her mind. We want to push the tempo. We want to be quick and up and down, especially when fatigue is starting to hit.”
That quickness is something that has been in O’Neill’s favor all year, and something that will give her an advantage heading into postseason. Her defense, however, is also key.
“Her energy and focus in practice started moving away from concentrating on defense and being really solid there,” Mitchell said after the Texas A&M game, during a point in the season where O’Neill was struggling. “We’ll be addressing with her how important it is for her to start her game from a defensive mindset and it seems like it flows from there.”
Those meetings with her coach and those weeks of practice since Mitchell’s comments have helped O’Neill develop even further into the kind of player the team expects her to be. Whether it’s on the defensive or offensive side, O’Neill has taken on the role of point guard and is running with it at full speed.
What remains to be seen is whether that speed will take her team coast-to-coast into the SEC (or NCAA) finals.
Kentucky will play Friday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the Missouri-Vanderbilt game. The matchup will be for a spot in the semifinals on Saturday.
Photos by Victoria Graff, and property of Schurz Communications, Inc., and vaughtsviews.com. All rights reserved; images may not be reprinted in print or online without permission of the owners. Reprinted images must be attributed to vaughtsviews.com and linked to the original site.
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