The other side of UConn basketball
INDIANAPOLIS — Kia Nurse laughs when she thinks about the time she and Gabby Williams had a dance party by themselves.
The two best friends were bored one day so they moved all the furniture in their apartment and created a dance floor. They didn’t invite any of their Connecticut women’s basketball teammates. It was just the two of them, dancing for an hour and a half or so.
Then they got busted by Breanna Stewart.
“Stewie came in and she was like, ‘What’s going on in here?’” Nurse said. “We were like, ‘Uh, dance party.’”
There’s a misconception when it comes to Geno Auriemma’s UConn basketball team. For all the prestige, notoriety and national championships that go along with their reputation, the women who play there aren’t serious all the time.
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Just as there is more to this team than Stewart the superstar, there is more to the players than meets the eye. So what are they really like?
“We are so much fun,” Nurse said. “I mean, I’m biased, but we are so much fun. Everybody thinks it’s like all basketball at Connecticut. Like you walk around and eat, sleep, breathe basketball. You do in a sense, but when it’s time to not think about basketball, we’re playing Rock Band, doing puzzles, adult coloring books.”
As UConn prepares to play in Sunday’s national semifinal against Oregon State (6 p.m., ESPN), the players are obviously focused and ready to potentially make history by winning a fourth consecutive national championship and NCAA-record 11th.
But there is free time here in Indianapolis, and this team is taking advantage of it.
Morgan Tuck says they like to watch “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” together. Although Nurse says she’s not caught up so she has to watch separately. Moriah Jefferson, named Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Defensive Player of the Year, says most the team is pretty “crazy” and “goofy” and likes to Snapchat silly things to each other. Nurse and Williams — who Tuck has declared the funniest players on the team — send GIFs, memes and Vines back and forth.
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Then there are the freshmen, Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier. Samuelson has earned a starting spot and been averaging 14.8 points a game over the last nine games. Collier comes off the bench and leads the team in free throw percentage. Auriemma said earlier this week the Huskies wouldn’t be as successful heading into the weekend without them.
But because of UConn’s big three of Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck -- all named to the WBCA All-America team Saturday and all with three national championships on their resumes – the freshmen have somewhat flown under the radar.
But they’re just as integrated into the team dynamic as anyone, Jefferson says.
“Goofballs,” she said as the best way to describe them.
Especially when they’re making Dubsmash videos.
Dubsmash is a video-messaging app that involves people taking video of themselves lip-syncing songs or funny lines from movies. The Huskies freshmen have a few on their Instagram accounts from the movie Elf and of them singing Katy Perry.
“They’re two of the closest best friends I’ve ever met,” Nurse said. “They’re obviously here to learn and get better and they’ve done a great job of that. They ask questions when they need to and they fit in really well. And they’re hilarious.”