2015 Maggie Dixon Classic: UConn, Immaculata capitalize on turnovers in wins at Madison Square Garden

In the nightcap of the Maggie Dixon, former Big East rivals UConn and St. John’s faced off. But not to be forgotten was the two storied programs that played earlier in Queens and Immaculata.

New York City- The annual Maggie Dixon Classic gave us a little history lesson along with a glimpse at present. Two programs, so much a part of the storied past of women’s basketball, met in game one. The night cap saw defending National Champion UCONN take on Big East power St. John’s.

The scores:

Queens 76 Immaculata 60

UCONN 70 St. John’s 54

What follows is a closer look at the numbers for each matchup.

Queens-Immaculata

Possessions: 82 (a fast paced ‘NASCAR’ tempo game)

Offensive efficiency: Queens 93 Immaculata 73

Four Factors:

Attack the basket. “It is something we do but emphasized,” said Queens coach Bet Naumovski. “We felt we had an advantage over them (Immaculata) in athleticism.”

Queens dominated in virtually every facet. Their OREB percentage advantage was supplied by 21 boards on the offensive end. The exceedingly high turnover rate they forced Immaculata into translated to an outstanding 30-12 edge in points off turnovers. They owned the lane with 50-14 scoring in points in the paint.

Game MVP. Madison Rowland, Queens. The sophomore guard scored a game high 28 points while adding 11 boards, also the game’s leading figure. Rowland enjoyed the best efficiency in the contest with a score of 35. He added 4 assists and 6 steals with her only negative being 4 turnovers.

Sara Smith paced Immaculata with 15 points and an efficiency of 20. Smith shot 6 of 10 from the floor and the senior guard added 6 rebounds.

Queens is now 8-2, Immaculata 4-6.

UConn-St. John’s

Possessions: St. John’s 66 UCONN 65

Offensive efficiency: UCONN 108 St. John’s

Four Factors:

Turnovers a key. UCONN not only forced St. John’s into an above average TO rate, they put those Red Storm errors to good use. The Huskies enjoyed an 18-11 points off turnovers edge. Some of those points off the turnovers helped contribute to another paint for UCONN, a 38-26 lead in points in the paint.

St. John’s could take solace in competing, s strong effort that cannot be fully measured by a number or formula. Their defense did do a solid job forcing the dangerous Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis into a 3 of 9 shooting day (6 points).

Game MVP. Take your pick. Morgan Tuck of UCONN led all scorers with 23 points. Teammate Brianna Stewart added 18 points, 11 boards and 6 blocks. Stewart had a game high 26 efficiency with Tuck right behind at 25. Both were very effective and a major reason Geno Auriemma’s club was so strong in the paint.

Aliyyah Handford led St. John’s with 20 points. The junior guard’s efficiency was 13 due to 8 of 21 shooting. Amber Thompson paced St. John’s with a 15 efficiency. Thompson shot 5 of 9 and added 8 rebounds to her 10 points.

UCONN is 12-1, St. John’s falls to 12-2.