UConn women look to clinch top seed in AAC Tournament

Eleven months ago in New Orleans, the upstart Louisville Cardinals met the Connecticut Huskies for the NCAA National Championship. Although it was a rout for the UConn women, Louisville displayed in that game that they were no Cinderella.

Tonight, they meet again for another championship at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville, Ky. (7pm ESPN2). This time it is for the inaugural American Athletic Conference regular season title. If UConn wins, they will win the outright conference championship and will be the top seed in this weekend’s American tournament at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. If Louisville wins, both teams will share the regular season title and a coin flip will determine the top seed in the tournament.

The No. 1 Huskies defeated No. 25 Rutgers, 72-35, to earn a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season championship last Saturday. In a game where they never trailed, top-ranked and unbeaten UConn (30-0 overall, 17-0 AAC) used a stifling defense to keep the Scarlet Knights at bay. Rutgers was held to a season-low 35 points scored. They played without their leading scorer Kahleah Cooper who missed most of the game Breanna Stewart and Bria Hartley led the Huskies in scoring. They both scored 20 points each. Stewart and Stefanie Dolson (six points) had 10 rebounds apiece. Kia Stokes pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds off the bench.

Last month, UConn defeated the No. 3 Cardinals 81-64 and ended a 16 game winning streak in front of soldout crowd at Gampel Pavilion. Since then, the Cards (28-2, 16-1) have won five in a row, most recently a 75-51 victory against Cincinnati.

Louisville coach Jeff Walz is known for his aggressive game plans. In the last meeting, his team was physical and they opted to leave Moriah Jefferson open. However, offensively they struggled against the UConn defense and Stewart just took over. Stewart had 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Jefferson scored a career-high 18 points. The Huskies forced 14 turnovers and held the Cardinals to 36% shooting.

Expect Walz and his team to learn from the previous meeting and come with another game plan to contain Stewart and Hartley. It is without question that Walz will use some type of full-court pressure defense to tire out the Huskies who only have eight scholarship players. They will also use a combination of a two-three or three-two zone. Expect Stewart to be double or triple teamed in the post.

The Cardinals are led by a pair of All-American candidates in guard Shoni Schimmel (17.2 point per game) and forward Sara Hammond (11.2 points, 6.6 rebounds). In the last meeting, the UConn defense was able to contain and limit both players on offense. Forward Asia Taylor (12.2 points) had 18 points in the last meeting and guard Antonia Slaughter is a three-point threat.

Both teams are pretty much at full strength. UConn saw the return of Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis on Saturday afternoon. Although she scored only seven points, she did play 27 minutes. Geno Auriemma expects Lewis to have a better shooting performance than she did last Saturday. Lewis sat out the past two weeks with mononucleosis. Louisville will have guard Bria Smith, who missed the last meeting with the Huskies due to a knee injury.

The Cardinals are undefeated at home this season (17-0) and this is their senior night.

UConn women win on Senior Day, 72-35

March got off to a great start for the Connecticut women’s basketball team. The Huskies defeated No. 25 Rutgers, 72-35, to earn a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season championship.

In a game where they never trailed, top-ranked and unbeaten UConn (30-0 overall, 17-0 AAC) used a stifling defense to keep the Scarlet Knights (21-7, 12-5) at bay.  Rutgers was held to a season-low 35 points scored. They played without their leading scorer Kahleah Cooper who missed most of the game with turf toe.

Breanna Stewart and Bria Hartley led the Huskies in scoring. They both scored 20 points each. Stewart and Stefanie Dolson (six points) had 10 rebounds apiece. Kia Stokes pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds off the bench.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis returned to the court after missing four games with a bout of mononucleosis and played 27 minutes and scored seven points. She was a bit rusty making only one three pointers in seven attempts but had three assists.    

Prior to the game, Hartley and Dolson were honored in the senior day festivities. Both All-Americans were also inducted into the Huskies of Honor at Gampel Pavilion.

The Huskies, which have won 36 straight, have started the season 30-0 for the seventh time in program history.  They went on to win the national title five times and went undefeated four times. This is also the ninth straight time UConn has won 30 games in a season and the 18^th time in the last 20 seasons.

During the game, Dolson pulled down her 1,000 career rebound. She became the fifth UConn player to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds.

No. 1 UConn will visit No. 3 Louisville on Monday night in the final regular season conference game of the season. If the Huskies win, they will capture their first outright American championship and the top seed in next weekend’s conference tournament. If they lose, both teams will be declared co-champions and a coin flip will determine the top seed in the tournament.

No. 1 UConn women hosts No. 25 Rutgers on Senior Day

March is finally here. This is what college basketball is all about.

The easy competition is over.  Every game now can be a struggle.  It is all about survive and advance.  This is the time of year where legends are made.

The final two regular season games for the No. 1 Connecticut women’s basketball team are against two NCAA caliber opponents. This afternoon, UConn (29-0 overall, 16-0 American) will host No. 25 Rutgers (21-6, 12-4) at Gampel Pavilion on Senior Day (4pm, CBS Sports Network). The Huskies travel to No. 3 Louisville on Monday night.

Seniors Bria Hartley and Stefanie Dolson will be honored in a pregame ceremony. Since both were named All-Americans during their career they will both be inducted into the Huskies of Honor.

Hartley and Dolson have had stellar senior campaigns and great college careers. Hartey recently joined elite company by being the third UConn player (Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore) to have 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. Dolson enters today’s game is six rebounds shy of 1,000 for her career – she can become the fifth member of the 1,000 point/1,000 rebound club.

In addition to the final regular season home game at Gampel Pavilion, today marks an end of an era.  UConn and Rutgers had a fierce conference rivalry dating back to the late 1990s.  C. Vivian Stringer came to Rutgers wanting to make them the jewel of the east.  She made the Scarlet Knights relevant – NCAA appearances, Final Fours, Big East regular season and tournament titles, and wins against UConn. They gave the Huskies a run for their money in the Big East.

With Rutgers leaving for the Big Ten next season, today’s match-up may be the last between the two Hall of Fame coaches. Auriemma (868) and Stringer (924) have combined for 1,792 wins. However, Auriemma has had an edge in the overall series (31-6) against Rutgers.  The Huskies have won 11 straight games and are 18-1 at home. 

Most recently, UConn defeated Rutgers 94-64 on January 19.  Hartley scored a career-high 30 points while Breanna Stewart added 22 points and nine rebounds.  Dolson had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Rutgers was led by Tyler Scaife (22 points) and Kahleah Copper (20 points).

Overall, the Huskies survived their 6,000 mile, nine-day road trip and got some good news along the way.  Brianna Banks came back from ankle injury and provided the team with some depth and quality minutes.  In addition, there was word on late Thursday night that Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis participated in practice and may play today.

This past week, the Huskies swept their Texas road trip defeating both Houston 92-41 and SMU 81-48. Auriemma was not pleased with the first half performance against Houston last Saturday.  Despite winning by 51 points in a nearly empty arena, the Huskies struggled to be motivated in Auriemma’s 1,000^th game.  They regrouped at the half and UConn was lights out in the second half shooting 80 percent and went on to the easy victory.  Hartley and Dolson scored 24 points apiece to pace the Huskies.

On Tuesday, SMU played with UConn and kept things closer than their previous meeting earlier this month.  The Mustangs were playing in front of their largest home crowd at Moody Coliseum.  They played pretty good defense and kept within five points with four minutes left in the first half. UConn just went on a dominating 30-7 run that spanned the end of the first half into the first eight minutes of the second half.  Hartley and Stewart led the way with 25 and 23 points, respectively, in the 33-point rout.

If UConn wins today, they will win at least a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season title.  This will be their first regular season conference championship since 2011.  They can win the outright title on Monday night at Louisville.

Mount Rushmore of UConn Women's Basketball

Wikipedia

The Presidents that are engraved on Mount Rushmore to me may not be the greatest, but they had the greatest impact on this nation.  As for sports, we always want to know who the greatest is.  We are constantly ranking teams or players or eras.  Nothing is truer than the comparison between Kevin Durant and Lebron James.  Or does Derek Jeter belong on the Yankee's Mount Rushmore.  But that is a topic for another time...

Yesterday we focused on the UConn men's basketball team and their impact players.   We took a look at their impact players.  Yes, a lot of great names were left off.  Picking the top three is very challenging - because Jim Calhoun had the greatest impact on UConn basketball.  Today, we look at the women's basketball team - that can even be more challenging, but maybe not.

NCAA

Let's start off with Geno Auriemma.  The head coach took Connecticut basketball from absolutely nothing and made it into an eight-time national champion.  It is simply the best program in all of college sports.   Auriemma is a Hall of Famer and his name will be mentioned in the same breathe as Wooden.  Auriemma has a chance to to win as many championships as John Wooden.

AP

Just like Ray Allen, Rebecca Lobo made people in Connecticut care about college basketball in the 1990s.  She went to four NCAA Tournaments, two Elite Eights and won the 1995 National Championship.  Lobo was the consensus national player of the year in 1995.  She led her team to a perfect 35-0 season.  She continues to do a lot for UConn as she is the face of women's basketball for ESPN.

AP

Diana Taurasi - the Southern California girl - led UConn to three National Championships.  Probably the greatest player to ever play the game.  She went to four Final Fours, won four Big East Regular Season titles and two Big East Tournament Championships.  She was apart of 70-game winning streak.  Played on the greatest team to every play the game which was a perfect 39-0 and was named the Final Four MVP two years in a row.   

AP

Maya Moore was a winner.  She went to four Final Fours, won two National Championships, and was a series of teams that won 90-games in a row.  Moore was the National Player of the Year three times.  Moore has the scoring record at UConn.  She had one of the most successful college careers in the history of women's basketball.  She continues to rewrite the history books at the pro level.  

President's Day Edition - Mount Rushmore of UConn Basketball

Wikipedia

With all this talk about the Mount Rushmore of certain teams, I will going to tell you my own personal Mount Rushmore for both UConn basketball teams.  Today we will start with the men's basketball team.

NCAA

The first person is Jim Calhoun.  The former head coach led Connecticut from the basement of the Big East to a three-time NCAA National Champion.  He was the architect.  Calhoun believed it was doable and it was done.  He created the Beast of the East and helped make Storrs, Conn. the capital of College Basketball.

The Daily Hand Off

The person who helped put Connecticut Basketball on the map is Walter Ray Allen.  Before becoming the NBA career leader in third point makes and winner of two NBA titles, Allen was a dominate force for the Huskies in the mid-1990s.  His teams won three Big East Regular Season Titles and made three Sweet 16s. He helped lead UConn to their first No. 1 ranking in 1995.  He helped lead the state of Connecticut into Huskymania.  Allen is a future Hall of Famer.

Hartford Courant

Emeka Okafor was the man in the early 2000s.  His low post presence on defense made offenses wary of his shot block ability.  Okafor's teams went to three Big East Championship games, winning two of them.  They advanced to the Sweet 16 three times, the Elite Eight twice and won the 2004 National Championship.  Perhaps the smartest UConn basketball, Okafor was also the highest draft pick that came out of Connecticut.

AP

The fourth person is a real toss up.  There are three guys that can be placed here.  I honestly think it is a toss-up between Richard Hamilton, Kemba Walker, and Khalid El-Amin.  All three played key roles in privotal moments for UConn basketball.  Hamilton and El-Amin starred in the UConn backcourt for the 1999 National Title.  However, it was Walker who carried his team on his back for the most improbable national championship in 2011.  I am leaning towards Walker only because he played in two Final Fours and helped guide his team to 11 straight wins in the postseason.

************

Speaking of President's Day - here is a throwback - Allen vs Allen - UConn vs. Georgetown 1996.  The Hoyas dominated the Huskies during that game with their full court pressure defense.  But it made the Big East final a few weeks later even more special with the Ray Allen off-balance game winner.

SBNation.com

In the above picture, it was freshmen vs freshmen - Iverson vs. Ricky Moore.  Iverson said the only person to every shut him down in college was Moore.

Here is Ray Allen's game-winner in 1996-

Would Of, Could Of, Should Of

It has been a pretty big week for the University of Connecticut.

Connecticut forward Niels Giffey, left, comes down with a rebound against Cincinnati guard JaQuon Parker, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, March 2, 2013, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/David Kohl)

The week started with the men's basketball team ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since late December. 

The men's basketball team had a huge opportunity on Thursday night at AAC leader Cincinnati.  They had a 10 point lead late in the first half, but saw it evaporate late in the second half.  The Bearcats out willed and out toughed UConn late in the game.  The Huskies made plenty of poor decisions and it cost them the game.

Kevin Ollie's crew needs to refocus.  They need to get DeAndre Daniels healthy.  Daniels was out of Thursday's game with back spasms.  They have games at Central Florida on Sunday night and a home game with South Florida.  They need to win those game as well as rematches with Temple and Rutgers and try to defend their own home court in games with Memphis, SMU and Cincinnati later in the season.  They have nine games left and need to start making up ground in order to avoid the 4/5 AAC Tournament quarterfinal game.    

Bob Diaco, former Notre Dame defensive coordinator, speaks as Connecticut's new head football coach during an introductory news conference on campus in Storrs, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

The football team got 14 new players committed to playing for UConn this coming year.  However, the national ranking services gave Bob Diaco a pretty poor grade.  These rankings are dumb and flawed.  They rank young kids until their senior year of high school.  I do not believe that they take team fit into consideration. I wonder what their rankings are on these athletes while in college and in the NFL?

On Thursday, the University of Tennessee suspended the upcoming football series with UConn.  Tennessee is opting to play two neutral site games in Tennessee in 2015 and 2016.  The two universities agreed to find a new date by 2015.

Connecticut's Bria Hartley (14) drives past SMU's Gabrielle Wilkins (3) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Storrs, Conn., Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014. Hartley scored a game-high 21 points in her team's 102-41 victory. (AP Photo/ Fred Beckham)

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/02/04/3245299/uconn-women-win-30th-straight.html#storylink=cpy

The top-ranked UConn women had their largest conference win this year defeating SMU by 61 points.  Five UConn players scored in double figures.  On Sunday, they will take on No. 4 Louisville for first place in the American Athletic Conference.  The game preview will be posted on The UConn Blog sometime on Saturday.

Go Huskies!

Steve Lappas' Post Game Comment following Thursday's Game

Watch this video from CollegeSpun...

http://collegespun.com/aac/connecticut/steve-lappas-did-not-enjoy-last-nights-uconn-houston-game-very-much#