In a night in which the top-ranked Huskies were shocked by No. 6 Stanford, perhaps the most unexpected moment came at the final whistle, when senior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis took the inbounds pass with 2.6 seconds on the clock and UConn trailing 88-86, made her way to midcourt ... and somehow failed to get off a shot as time expired, even though she was uncovered.
That capped a tough evening for Mosqueda-Lewis, who finished with 12 points on 3 of 11 shooting, and with her first three-point field goal coming midway through the second half.
"When somebody does a really good job on somebody defensively it’s really two-pronged,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said after the game, via the Connecticut News. “Defensively, they were really good and they kept switching people off of her. And then offensively I don’t think Kaleena really got the movement that we needed to get her open.’’
Stanford's Karlie Samuelson was responsible for slowing Mosqueda-Lewis and her effort wasn't lost on teammates.
“Karlie did a great job,’’ Stanford's Bonnie Samuelson said. “She worked really hard all game. We did a really good job preparing for Kaleena. We know she’s a phenomenal shooter. This week our team was working really hard on the scouting report. And props to Karlie, she worked her butt off and did a really good job on her.’’
Meanwhile, Auriemma remains at a loss for why Mosqueda-Lewis never attempted at shot at the buzzer.
"We had something set up if we’re down two or if we’re down three,’’ he said. “And I can’t explain it.’’
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On the bright side, sophomore Saniya Chong finished with 20 points and was one of the few players Auriemma praised after the game.
"I think I needed to step up,’’ Chong said. “Everything in general -- passing, defense, my offense -- to help the team and contribute as much as I can.’’
