The Connecticut Huskies have already beaten their foes by a combined 179 points here in the NCAA Tournament, but they've only covered one of their four spreads. With the other side of the Final Four featuring a pair of shocking entrants, perhaps the last step between the Lady Huskies and an unprecedented fourth straight National Championship is a semifinal clash with the Oregon State Beavers.
NCAA Tournament Odds at BookMaker.eu
Connecticut Huskies -19.5
Oregon State Beavers +19.5
Over/Under 121.5
HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Huskies just keep on keepin' on. They haven't lost yet this season, and they've won literally every single one of their games by double-digits. Texas at least gave UConn a bit of a fight for a while, as it didn't have a quarter in which it was outscored by more than 10 points.
It wasn't a shock to see Oregon State get into the Elite Eight, but Baylor was thought to be the better of the two teams, and it wasn't even close. The Beavers came out of the blocks in good form against the previous one-loss Lady Bears, leading 34-25 at halftime, and they withstood a third quarter run and came up with some timely stops down the stretch to log a 60-57 victory.
HOW THE CONNECTICUT HUSKIES CAN COVER THE SPREAD
The Huskies just keep murdering teams with their athleticism. Breanna Stewart is the next in the great long line of Lady Huskies who have dominated the sport. She's averaging 19.3 points per game and is one of the nine on this team averaging at least five points per game. Geno Auriemma has just an embarrassment of riches at his disposal.
Of course, it's the defense which has really kept UConn going all this time. The Huskies' defense is the reason this spread is so low, as Oregon State is tapped to finish with just 51 points. Opponents average just 48.2 points per game against the Huskies, and they'll have to stay right around that average in all likelihood in this one to have a shot to win by three touchdowns or more.
HOW THE OREGON STATE BEAVERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Let's not forget that the Beavers have won 32 games year, and they just beat the team which was figured to be one of the only ones with a shot at taking down the Lady Huskies.
The Beavs take the air out of the basketball and love to slow things down, and the way they're going to have to do that in this game is by getting second-chance opportunities. They actually pull down 37 percent of all rebounds on the offensive end of the floor, an insanely high number. Ruth Hamblin and Jamie Weisner are all over the glass, and that's why these are the two leaders of this team and average almost 30 points per game between them.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
We’re going to take the points in this game out of principal. The Beavers play the right style of basketball to compete with the Huskies for the full 40 minutes. Sure, they aren't going to win this game, and we're not going to even try to make it sound like they've got even the remotest of chances.
However, UConn is just 1-3 ATS in this tournament for a reason. Everyone is going to look at this spread of 19.5 and think that it's a bargain after the Huskies have destroyed their previous four foes. The game against Texas though, was proof of how it could be done. UT hung in there by not accepting the Huskies were just the superior girls on the court destined to roll, and OSU won't be intimidated either, especially after beating Baylor.
Auriemma will have to use his starters in the fourth quarter, perhaps the whole way, and that's not something he and his Lady Huskies are used to.
Connecticut 73, Oregon State 58
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Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The Connecticut Huskies and Oregon State Beavers will square off Sunday, April 3, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. ET at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN.
