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Louisville and UConn didn’t waste any time taking care of business against their Champions Classic opponents.
No. 16 Louisville got things started by beating No. 17 Tennessee 89-65. The Cardinals had a balanced attack with six different players in double figures. Tajianna Roberts led the charge, scoring a team-high 18 points. Imari Berry also had a strong showing with a 15-point and 13-rebound double-double.
For the Lady Volunteers, Zee Spearman led the way with 18 points and 12 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to slow down Louisville’s attack.
While the game got out of hand, Tennessee stayed in it during the first half. But Louisville went on a 9-2 run to end the third quarter and gain full control of the game. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Vols couldn’t buy a basket. The Cardinals started the period with 11-unanswered points, and once Tennessee finally scored, the deficit had ballooned to 20 points—and that was the ballgame.
UConn overwhelms Iowa to remain undefeated
There was hope that No. 11 Iowa could test the undefeated defending champions.
That optimism evaporated before the first quarter was even done. The No. 1-ranked Huskies jumped out to an 11-3 lead, and after 10 minutes of play, UConn was ahead 22-11. The game ended with UConn winning 90-64.
Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong were unstoppable in this contest. Fudd had 27 points, and Strong had 23 points and a game-high six steals. UConn had a whopping 17 steals in this game, part of a defense that swarmed and overwhelmed Iowa.
Iowa got a solid game from Hannah Stuelke. She had 17 points and was an efficient 8-for 11 from the field. Chit-Chat Wright also played well, ended the afternoon with 16 points while shooting 50 percent from deep. However, Ava Heiden managed to shoot just 4-for-11, finishing with eight points and six rebounds.
A positive for the Hawkeyes is that they did win the rebounding battle 34-25. However, given how the game went, perhaps that silver lining is hard for Iowa to celebrate.
The Huskies and Cardinals were the class of the Champions Classic
UConn is just a buzzsaw right now. They are so skilled, disciplined and dominant that they are beginning to look like a historically great team. Whenever possible, watch their games because this might be a special UConn team even by their standards.
Louisville showed just how quickly they can take over a game. Their contest was tight most of the way, but once they shut Tennessee down, things got ugly quickly. Teams have to play a full game against them, or they will experience what happened to the Lady Vols.
Overall, we didn’t get competitive games, but we did see two teams dominate, and it’s still early. Tennessee and Iowa can learn from this and get better.
