BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Skylar Collins knows how challenging it can be to play the Connecticut women’s basketball team.
As a senior at Texas A&M in 2012, Collins and the Aggies traveled to Hartford, Connecticut, as the reigning national champions. But the Jimmy V Classic game at the XL Center between the No. 2 Huskies and the No. 8 Aggies quickly turned into a forgettable affair. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Tiffany Hayes had 14 points to lead six players in double figures in UConn’s 81-51 victory.
Collins, who is in her third season as director of scouting/video coordinator at Mississippi State, will have another chance at UConn at 10:30 a.m. Saturday when No. 5 seed MSU (28-7) plays No. 1 seed UConn (34-0) in the Sweet 16 at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
“We let it get out of hand and we didn’t respond appropriately, so it definitely was one of those games where we need to get this over with,” Collins said. “We just kind of fell apart going into the second half. It wasn’t one of my fondest memories of games.”
MSU coach Vic Schaefer also recalls the game. Then the associate head coach to Gary Blair at Texas A&M, Schaefer said the Aggies thought they would be able to be who they were and have success, especially on defense, against the Huskies.
Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way.
“If I don’t remember it correctly, it was a layup fest,” Schaefer said. “It was bad.”
UConn turned 20 Texas A&M miscues into a 27-7 edge in points off turnovers. Even though UConn only had a 10-2 edge in fast-break points, it dominated the game en route to a 33-5 season and a loss to Notre Dame in the national semifinals.
Collins had one point in six minutes in the loss. She said the Aggies knew they were going to face a big challenge, just like the Bulldogs will face their biggest test of the season playing a team that is riding a 71-game winning streak. She said hasn’t talked to any of the Bulldogs about Texas A&M’s matchup against UConn in 2012, but she knows Schaefer and the other coaches are preaching about the importance of mental toughness and focus.
“We have been more focused on looking at what we do well and what we can do to play against them,” Collins said. “UConn is a great team. They are going to have their runs, but we need to have our runs as well and play our game and take advantage of them because they are not invincible. They are not super human. They are basketball players just like we are, so we (have been) trying to bring them down and not put them on a pedestal. If we go out and execute, we will give ourselves a chance to be in this game.”
Collins said it will be crucial for the Bulldogs to follow a similar strategy that her Texas A&M teams used in that they believed they were the “top dog” and that they played with confidence and a swagger. She said that confidence will serve the Bulldogs well Saturday.
“As long as our team this year has that attitude and they come out and are not like, ‘Oh my gosh, it is UConn,’ but as long as the 15 girls in that circle believe they can win, then they can win. As long as all 15 of them are headed toward that goal, then they can’t be stooped, except by themselves.”
Collins isn’t the only one on MSU’s staff who has experience dealing with UConn. Dionnah Jackson was a freshman at Oklahoma when the Sooners advanced to the 2002 national game against the Huskies.
Jackson had six points in 28 minutes in an 82-70 loss in San Antonio, Texas. While the Sooners lost by double digits, they trailed 73-67 with 2 minutes, 22 seconds remaining after a jump shot by Stacey Dales. Unfortunately for the Sooners, Diana Taurasi hit a jumper over Jackson and was fouled by Dales. She converted the three-point play with 1:31 to help UConn secure its third national championship.
Jackson, who is in her first season as an assistant coach at MSU, talked with longtime UConn women’s basketball beat writer Carl Adamec, who writes for the Manchester Journal Inquirer.
“It was a long time ago,” Jackson said with a laugh. “But I remember the atmosphere. It was so great to be in that atmosphere. A lot of things go on at the Final Four behind the scenes I had no idea about. That whole atmosphere was an experience and we embraced it. It was Oklahoma’s first Final Four, first national championship game, and we embraced it.”
Jackson told Adamec she has talked with MSU sophomore point guard Morgan William about the challenge she will face going against senior Moriah Jefferson and the one the team will have facing the three-time reigning national champions. She said she told William she has to have confidence and that she has to keep her emotions in check.
“Of course, you’re nervous. But nerves and being scared are two different things,” Jackson said. “You can be nervous because it’s that stage, and I was nervous in San Antonio. But you get into the flow of the game and you are who you are. We knew we had a good team at Oklahoma. We have a good team at Mississippi State. That’s what I try to relate to them.”
Adamec also asked Jackson about her defense on the jump shot Taurasi hit. She laughed and said she had Taurasi covered, but it was unfortunate Dales fouled her.
“Diana Taurasi was a great player. But you don’t get to the championship game without having great players yourself,” Jackson said. “We were really good, really good. We were always prepared. We were always focused. We always believed we could play with anyone on any day.”
Schaefer, Jackson, and Collins will do their best to make sure the Bulldogs have that belief Saturday. If they do, there’s no telling what could happen.
“I’ve got some really competitive kids, and they’re tough,” Schaefer said. “They have been in some really tough venues and environments, so I do have a lot of confidence in my basketball team.
“I think our kids understand. They have seen enough film. They have a really good idea how we’re going to be attacked. One of the things we do defensively is we impose our will on people. … I think the same can be said about UConn — both ends of the floor — so I think the challenge is to deal with that and try to minimize that as much as we can. … You never know how your team’s going to respond in this environment, especially with a young inexperienced group like I got. But I do know this, our kids are going to be prepared, they’re going to be ready to go, and I really believe they’re going to be excited, and they’re going to play well.”
Junior center Chinwe Okorie has watched plenty of film on UConn and heard the coaches talk about what the Bulldogs will face. She said UConn is “amazing” and that the Bulldogs respect them, but she added the Bulldogs can’t take the court with a glazed look on their face because bad things will happen.
“We need to be fearless,” Okorie said. “We have to come in and play like we play and not play like they will let us play. We have to box out, rebound the ball, and contest shots.
“There have been a lot of people talking that it is better if we just don’t play the game, but we’re basketball players and so are they. If you come ready to play, anything can happen.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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