STORRS, Conn. _ Sunday afternoon, Crystal Dangerfield's four assists in UConn's 92-34 win over Tulsa earned her the 10th spot in the program's all-time assist list. With 542 assists, Dangerfield surpassed Jill Brumbaugh's mark (541) and should have no problem bouncing ahead of current Nos. 7-9 _ Maya Moore (544), Kelly Faris (545), and Pam Webber (546) _ in UConn's next game, a home matchup against Tennessee.
Dangerfield's facilitating capabilities are unquestionably crucial for a UConn team reliant upon her senior leadership and four years of playing experience. But Geno Auriemma has been encouraging her to defer less to her teammates, and so far he's happy with the results.
"I told her, I said, 'You're at your best when you're trying to score every time you touch the ball,' Auriemma said on Sunday. "To me, that's when players are at their best. You get the ball and you're trying to score. Until when? Until you realize there's somebody wide open over there. And then you make the right play.
"So these last four or five games, since the Baylor game I would say, Crystal's mentality has been 'I have to score and because I'm trying to score, when they collapse on me or they bottle me up, I can make the right pass at the right time.'"
Following her 16-point outing Sunday (in which she shot 4-for-5 on threes), Dangerfield's scoring average is 15.7 points per game, virtually tied for second-best on the team alongside Christyn Williams (15.8). The senior has scored at least 16 points in each of UConn's games this month aside from a poor shooting night against UCF and UConn's win over SMU, where she only played 31 minutes. Dangerfield has also made four 3-pointers in over half of UConn's games since returning from winter break, shooting 45.0% from beyond the arc in that span.
"You can see, she has so much confidence in her shot right now," Auriemma continued. "So things are going things are going really, really well for."
And perhaps most importantly for the often banged-up senior, after playing at least 36 minutes in all but two of UConn's games prior to the holidays (not including the games she sat out with a back injury), Dangerfield has gotten a bit more of a breather to start the new year, playing 31 or fewer minutes in half of UConn's conference games this month.
