STORRS, Conn. — The second-round rematch of last year’s national championship game between top-seed UConn and Syracuse tonight may very well feature the best backcourt in the nation.
Which team has it depends on which team you ask.
Syracuse is not shy about touting the talent of senior guards Brittany Sykes and Alexis Peterson. The duo has averaged a combined 42 points and 10.5 assists this season for the Orange. Sykes had 28 points and Peterson 25 during Saturday’s first-round win over Iowa State. The Orange also have freshman sharpshooter Gabby Cooper in their three-guard set. She put up 24 points in Saturday’s 85-65 win, hitting a school-record eight 3-pointers.
“We bring our best every night and uphold that title of America’s best backcourt and we want to do the same thing (tonight),” said Sykes. “So when we go out there, we’re going to do what we need to and do what we’ve been doing all season.”
But UConn also has a pretty good trio.
Point guard Saniya Chong averages 8.2 points and has an assist to turnover ratio of almost 4 to 1. Katie Lou Samuelson puts up an average of 21 points from her wing spot and Kia Nurse averages 12.2 points. She had 24 in the Huskies’ opening round 116-55 win over Albany.
“For not having the best backcourt in the country, we’ve had a pretty good year,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma quipped.
After 108 consecutive wins and 25 straight in the NCAA Tournament, Chong said the Huskies (33-0) take exception to a 22-10 team laying claim to the “best backcourt” title.
“We’re going to go out, work really hard and basically we’ll prove it on the court,” she said.
“We’ve been scouting them,” she added. “We’re going to take away what they do best and then we’ll go from there.”
That’s what the Huskies did last April, holding Sykes to just 12 points and Peterson to 11 in an 82-51 win in the title game.
“Hopefully, this time we can come out and play a little bit better and play a little bit better at the guard position and make it a different game,” said Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman.