by: Scott Mamosser
Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse have only one loss during their four-year college careers. And they are pretty tired of being reminded of it. Already the owners of two national titles, Williams and Nurse will have a chance to end their careers at the University of Connecticut with a third, after dispatching South Carolina, 94-65, in the regional final at Albany, N.Y., on Monday.
The win sent the Huskies to an 11th-consecutive Final Four and a chance for redemption after Morgan William’s last-second shot in the national semifinals a year ago ended basketball’s longest win streak.
“We don’t expect anything, we look at the game ahead of us and practice one game at a time,” Williams said. “We’re not entitled for anything, we have to earn it. I think we didn’t want to look too far ahead. Redemption, we have something to prove, not only to the rest of the world but for ourselves, as well.”
It’s safe to say that UConn has produced some fairly prolific WNBA players, and this year’s senior class is expected to add to the pot.
With the win on Monday, Williams and Nurse collected their 148th career win for the Huskies, passing Tiffany Hayes (Class of 2012) for the fourth-most in NCAA history. If they cut down the nets in Columbus, Ohio, next week, they would equal Maya Moore’s 150 and be just shy of Saniya Chong’s 152 and the 151 won by the legendary four-championship 2016 class.
Williams, the 5-foot-11 forward, is fifth in steals and seventh in rebounds on the Huskies’ career records list. She averaged 10.8 points and 7.4 rebounds this season, and scored 23 in the region-clinching win over the Gamecocks. ESPN analyst Kara Lawson described her as the “best defensive player in the nation,” continuously pounding in the paint with centers who are half a foot taller than she is.
“It’s not in my comfort zone to guard people who are bigger than me, but it’s helped me get better,” said Williams, who is from Sparks, Nev. “Playing A’ja (Wilson, the South Carolina center who is 6-foot-5) these last couple of years has helped me get better. I feel more comfortable playing people on the perimeter, but I think being able to do this these last two years is going to help me at the next level.”
Despite Williams’ defensive presence, Nurse was named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and scored 13.7 points per game. Playing against the best players in the world will be nothing new for Nurse. The Hamilton, Ontario, native played for Team Canada at both the 2014 FIBA World Championships in Turkey and the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“It’s been a long journey throughout the whole season with ups and downs, good days and bad days, but I am so proud of this team,” Nurse said. “Times go fast, so if you’re a freshman, love your life, love every piece of it, but it’s been the greatest four years of my life.”
The Huskies will return to action in the national semifinals on Friday against a Notre Dame team it beat in December.
