Tennessee and UConn Women’s College Basketball Teams Win At The Inaugural Women’s Champions Classic

Short N Sweet Ent

Photo Credit: coach_taybx

On Saturday, December 7th, four elite women’s college basketball teams, (Iowa, Tennessee, Louisville, UConn) came together at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York to participate in the inaugural Women’s Champions Classic. Basketball fanatics poured into the stands to watch the top players in the league showcase their talents in an early season doubleheader. 

‘There has to be a component where all the best teams in the country want to play in the tournament early on against each other”, Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma said. 

Tennessee won Game 1 against Iowa 78-68. From the moment the first whistle blew the girls on both sides were extremely physical and played a tough and intense game. The score was very close but in the last 2 and half minutes of the game, the Tennessee players outplayed and outscored Iowa.

Lucy Olsen finished the game with 23 points and Addison O’Grady followed with 17. Hannah Stuelke had 8 points but defensively proved why she is a threat under the basket. After the game Olsen said, we know how special this moment was and we didn’t take anything for granted. I don’t know how much I’m going to love this place because we lost but it was a really cool experience and I’m glad to be a part of it”.

In the end, Tennessee took the win and the top-scoring players were Talaysia Cooper (23), Ruby Whitehorn (16), Samara Spencer (11), and Tess Darby (11). “I’m proud of being resilient during the game. We stayed out of our own heads and played our game. We were communicating with each other and not getting down on each other when we made a mistake and playing through it” said Cooper.

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Within the first few minutes of the second game between UConn and Louisville, the Huskie players turned up the heat, took an early lead, and never looked back.

Imari Berry from Louisville had 10 points but overall the team struggled with making offensive plays and defensively couldn’t keep up. Head Coach Jeff Walz, expressed his deepest appreciation for being invited to the tournament but was disappointed that his team did not rise to the occasion. He knew this was not their best game but putting that aside will focus on making changes for the next game.

On the Huskies side, freshman Sarah Strong had a dominating game with 21 points and led the team to victory. Azzi Fudd had 18 points and with Paige Bueckers only having 8 points, she showed tremendous leadership skills by keeping her teammate’s heads in the game from start to finish.

The season is just beginning and Women’s College Basketball is getting the recognition that they deserve. Both games were televised on Fox Sports and national attention speaks to the growth of Women’s Basketball. The influence and impact that they are making worldwide is phenomenal and we are seeing history being made each and every day. Paige Bueckers gave perfect advice to the young ball players that are coming up in the next generation. “I would say to enjoy the process and don’t get caught up in being result-focus that you forget to enjoy the process. Enjoy the highs and the lows and embrace everything that comes your way. You can get caught up with the outside noise and the pressure but remember why you play and be faith driven”.

Congratulations to both teams, Tennessee and UConn on getting the Win in their respective games and we wish all of the teams the best of luck for the rest of the season.    

Written By: Shauntay Hallett

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