UConn women's basketball

I finally made it. It only took me 13 hours, but I’ve found my way to my room thanks to Juan the Porter. It’s the same room with a Jacuzzi near the bed and a blue hammock on the balcony. And I’m not kidding. But the Christmas tree with the presents underneath and the red bows on the light posts out front just don’t fit. To me, you need snow and 30-degree temperatures at Christmastime. Not sun and 80-degree temperature with people walking around in bathing suits. It’s too hot for good ole St. Nick. Does he use a boat and eight dolphins around here instead of a sleigh and eight reindeer?

Here’s bit of news from the lobby. This isn’t the MLB Winter Meetings in Vegas. But the lobby is a happening place nonetheless. Meghan Gardler fell during practice tonight and was then kicked. The blow to the head led to her remove herself from practice. That’s news in itself. Meghan is one of those tough kids from the Philly area. Her status for tomorrow’s game against Washington is uncertain at this point. Also, I ran into Cassie Kerns and Jacquie Fernandes in this same lobby. Cassie, who recently joined Heather Buck in the mono ward, said she is feeling better.

The games this week will be played in a converted ballroom on the second floor. The same floor with free appetizers and free drinks right outside the entrance. Yes, once you’ve paid upfront everything’s free. Even calls to the U.S from your room are free. You’ll get whacked with roaming charges for all of your cell phone calls when it actually works that is. But talk as long as want in your room. The seats in this converted ballroom are blue back chairs that you see at weddings and every banquet hall. I’m told there is room for about 400 fans, and with about 100 UConn boosters on the trip it should be a pro-Huskies crowd on the road once again. Heck, Geno & Company should be given an appearance fee for the way they draw away from home. Also, the lights are fairly low. Kind of like the catwalks at Tropicana Field.

It’s a light crew this week down here. John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant is the only other member of what people have referred to as The Arrogant Horde that has made the trip. John seems to be treating this like a normal week too. He was in the fitness room at 6 a.m. this morning. That’s dedication. Speaking of dedication … Chris Dailey, Shea Ralph and Rosemary Ragle were also in the fitness room at that hour.

The free food at any of the seven restaurants on this sprawling property is calling me louder now than ever. My motto has always been: “If it’s free it’s for me. And, in that case, I’ll take three.’’ Time to eat.

Rich

Another trip. Another problem. I don’t know which one of the travel gods I might have irritated over the years, but they struck back again this morning. At least this time there wasn’t a dead animal on the runway like there was last year en route to San Diego.
I took the necessary precautions with the ever popular wintry mix in store for the state by staying at the airport last night. I awoke at 3:37 this morning – every minute counts when you’re traveling – and logged on to see if my 5:30 flight to Philly was still on-time. No problem there.
I scraped the ice and snow off my car at about 4:10 and left for the valet place of choice – Roncari. No problem there. Got to the airport without incident and on the plane without incident too. Other than learning that my 14-month-old son, Chase, was up vomiting at home, there wasn’t anything that seemed to be awry with my day.
That changed as soon as I nestled into my seat on the plane. The pilot informed us that an air-start was needed to start the engine and it would take about 10-15 minutes before de-icing would take another 10-15 minutes. Right then I knew I was in trouble. The whole process took 74 minutes. We took off at 6:44 and landed in Geno Country at 7:41. Not bad considering, right. It was brutal for a person that had a 7:40 connection. When I walked off the plane at 7:56 a US Airways representative handed me boarding passes to Charlotte and Cancun. Frustrated, tired and out of breath after briskly walking across the airport to the A concourse while carrying two bags, I managed to get myself on the direct flight to Pleasure Country at 9:35.
Another snafu was waiting. The 7 a.m. flight from Hartford was late arriving because of de-icing and about 70 passengers were scheduled to take my latest flight. Unlike with my connection, we had to wait for these passengers. And it was a good thing because many card carrying members of Husky Nation were in this group. They boarded the plane proudly sporting the team colors on shirts, hats and sweatshirts.
This delay spanned nearly an hour. But amidst this headache came a bright spot. Audrey Foster, an endearing 77-year-old longtime Huskies fan from South Windsor, took the seat next to me. She was accompanied by her 52-year-old son, Arnold Foster, his wife, Noreen, and her 20-year-old granddaughter, Alyson, from Milford.
Audrey told me that her late husband, Bob, who passed away almost four years ago, was originally responsible for getting the family interested in UConn hoops. She said she has had men’s season tickets since 1955 and has been a women’s season ticket holder since the inception of the program. She went to Honolulu with the women in 2002 and was on hand in Minneapolis in 1995 when the Huskies won their first of five national championships.
In talking with Audrey for portions of what was a 3 hour, 13 minute flight, it helped me put into further perspective just how much people love this team. This trip is not cheap. And for four family members to attend is absolutely fantastic. The price tag without airfare has to be in excess of $5,000. Now that’s dedication. The fact that the tournament is in Cancun certainly makes it more attractive. But in this economy one week before Christmas, the Fosters are true fans. Maybe that’s why Audrey received a letter signed by Geno for purchasing tickets.
Keep the letters coming, Geno. Good people like Audrey and her family deserve them. Especially when they have to deal with airline nightmares to boot.

Rich

The professional in Renee Montgomery sat patiently in a folding chair in the interview room Sunday in the bowels of MSG waiting for the next question to come her way regarding the Huskies’ performance in a 77-63 victory over Penn State. It was a performance that was easily their worst offensive showing of the season. And Renee was right in the middle of the futility with a 4-for-17 shooting effort. She missed 10 of her 12 3-point attempts in 40 minutes.
But the competitor and team leader in her wanted to be back in the locker room with teammates finding a way to make corrections to what had just transpired. She clearly was not happy with the way UConn played, the day before it was to head to Cancun to play three games at a plush all-inclusive resort.
“You can always learn something from it,’’ she said. “I just think they came out aggressive. They were driving. They were pushing the ball. A lot teams don’t run with us. They try to slow it down, but they were running right with us. They came out and tried to run their game plan. They didn’t try to change anything for us.’’
Georgia Tech might have played the Huskies closer – an 82-71 victory at Gampel Pavilion Nov. 16. But that was in the season opener. This was six games later after they had demolished the last five teams they had faced, scoring at 90 points and shooting at least 54.5 percent in every game. Frankly, they had not been tested since the season opener. Not even No. 4 Oklahoma tested them. That’s how easy this stretch has been.
What Penn State did Sunday was provide UConn with a firm reference point. One the Huskies can use in practice and draw on in future games when opponents are again physical with them and come right at them offensively. The performance might have peeved Renee. But it’s one that the whole team can use to become even stronger moving forward.
“It’s always good,’’ Geno Auriemma said. “It’s always a positive to get somebody that gets into you a little bit and forces you to do things that make you better. And I think that’s what happens when you play a team that is as aggressive as Penn State was. Their guards are big, except for the little kid (5-foot-6) Brianne (O’Rourke). Except for her, their guards are pretty big and they just kind of took our guys wherever they wanted to take them physically. We haven’t seen that up to this point. So it was good for us to see that. And that’s one more thing now that we know if it happens again when we go back to practice we’ll know how to deal with it.’’

Mel Thomas’ book arrived Saturday. I promise to give a good read and report back. If it’s anything like her diaries during the NCAA tournament last season it should be spectacular. By the way, she will kickoff her holiday book signing tour Thursday at the Enfield Senior Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and later that day at the Waterford Library at 7 p.m. Friday she’ll also be at the UConn Co-Op at 4:30 p.m. and the Irish-American Community Center in East Haven at 7:30 p.m. She’ll also make stops at Monaco Ford in Glastonbury Saturday from noon to 3 p.m., at the Connecticut Lighting Center in Hartford Dec. 27 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and at the XL Center on New Year’s Eve at 11 a.m. where the Huskies will host Hartford at noon.

Rich

The decision won’t officially be made for a few weeks. Judging from body language and the comments made by UConn freshman Heather Buck, though, she appears set on sitting out this season.
Buck missed her seventh straight game today when the top-ranked Huskies defeated Penn State 77-63 in the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden. She said she has already spoken to her mother, Mayada Wadsworth, and her older brother, Matthew, regarding the decision to seek a medical hardship waiver this season and they were both receptive to the idea.
“Everybody thinks that it would be a good idea for me,’’ Buck said. “I’ve been thinking about it and it’s just trying to weigh everything. I only just got back on the court so I think it’ll be a little while before we really know for sure. But it seems like a good idea. I think everybody here would love to have another year playing. So it’s great opportunity.’’
Buck returned to practice for the first time last Tuesday. Her return has not been as much of a struggle mentally as it has been physically. She started to suffer from a scratchy throat Nov. 3 and UConn publicly announced that she was stricken with mononucleosis Nov. 14.
The illness causes the spleen to enlarge, meaning that Buck was not permitted to participate in any physical activity. This set her conditioning back considerably and UConn coach Geno Auriemma said that he heard her breathing hard during practice last week.
“It was pretty hard,’’ Buck said. “I feel like I’m coming in and it’s the first day of practice. It’s a new beginning because I’ve lost pretty much all of my conditioning. So it’s time to get that back.’’
Buck would still possess four years of eligibility should she red-shirt. The decision would allow her to ease her way back into the flow of practice and take this season to grasp the system and get stronger.
The last UConn center to red-shirt was Jessica Moore in 2000-01. The move ultimately helped her evolve into a second-round pick (24th overall) by the Charlotte Sting in the 2005 WNBA draft.
Auriemma said that a final decision on Buck’s status this season is expected be finalized after UConn returns home from South Carolina Dec. 28.
“It’s not like they’re saying, `We just don’t want you right now,’’’ Buck said. “It’s for my own benefit. So it’s good. It’s always hard to sit and watch. But knowing that I wouldn’t just be sitting and watching, that I would have that opportunity to play later makes it that much better.’’

Fans will have to settle for two out of three when it comes to watching the Huskies compete in the Caribbean Classic MTE this week in Cancun, Mexico. CPTV has again stepped up to save what appeared to be complete blackout.
CPTV announced today that it will televise UConn’s games against Northern Colorado Friday at 7 p.m. and against Florida State in the tournament finale Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Thursday’s game against Washington will not be televised. Fans can instead tune in to WICC-AM 600 or WTIC-AM 1080 to hear Bob Joyce and Kara Wolters on the call.

Here’s one of those sharp (but quality) lines from Geno regarding the defensive performance of Caroline Doty today.
“I don’t think there’s anybody in this (media) room, including chairs and your pocketbook, that Caroline Doty could guard,” he said.

Rich

Sophomore All-American Maya Moore was just following orders from assistant coach Shea Ralph late Friday afternoon when she headed back into Gampel Pavilion by herself 90 minutes after the conclusion of practice. Moore said that Ralph, who is currently on a recruiting trip, instructed the guards to take some extra shots while she was gone.
Moore worked on 3-pointers, bank shots and free throws for about 25 minutes.
“I want to sneak a couple shots in,’’ Moore said before slipping through the door to the court.
Moore said putting in extra work is commonplace during the preseason. But when Ralph delivered the order, she obliged.
This is yet another example of Moore’s dedication, her undying work ethic and her desire to be the best player she can be. Through the first six games this season, she leads the top-ranked Huskies in scoring (18.5), rebounds (8.8), blocks (1.7, tie) and steals (1.7). She is also second in assists (4.8) and minutes (25.8, tie) and is shooting 58.1 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from 3-point range.
“If there’s one thing you can say about Maya is she’s good in games,’’ coach Geno Auriemma said. “She practices so hard that when games come it’s like a walk in the park for her.’’

Geno found out what it’s like to be a fan Thursday night when he attended the St. Joe’s/Villanova game at the Pavilion in Villanova, Pa. His son, Mike, is a freshman walk-on for the Hawks.
It didn’t take long for Geno to gain a greater appreciation for what the diehard fans endure every season to see his team play.
“I told Kathy I’m not used to this,’’ Auriemma said. “I parked on a curb somewhere. I thought, man, I’m going to have to call (Villanova women’s coach) Harry (Perretta) or something to get out of this jam. It’s was a (pain) to park. You’ve got to walk about a quarter of a mile in the pouring rain. Then you get there and you’ve got to fight your way to … I’m not kidding you now – the last three seats from the top of the building and you’re the only two St. Joe’s people in the entire section because the section next to you is the band and the St. Joe’s student body. So it was like being back at an East Catholic (High School) game. You’re sitting there with the students. But it is a totally different perspective and I can appreciate what people to go through to come to a game.’’

Expect Penn State to play a lot of zone tomorrow. What do you expect from a coach – Coquese Washington – who spent eight years as an assistant coach/associate head coach at Notre Dame? She said the Lady Lions have a ton of individual match-up problems. So, in other words, she’s hoping the Huskies will miss a lot of shots in order for the game to be competitive. The problem is is that this is something that has not happened in the first six games.
The Huskies have scored at least 90 points in the last five games. They lead the nation in scoring (95.0) and field goal percentage (.588) and are second in 3-point shooting percentage (.452).
“I think the one thing about UConn is that they have scoring threats at every position on the floor,’’ Washington said. “You can’t really necessarily just double-team them or try to take one or two options away. Certainly Maya Moore gets the lion’s share of the credit, and Renee Montgomery. But when you talk about Tina Charles and Caroline Doty and Kalana Greene and Tiffany Hayes … They have weapons at every position whether they’re starters or coming off the bench. So you’re not going to beat Connecticut by trying to shut one person down. It has to be a collective team effort. You’ve got to guard them all and you’ve got to make all of them take tough shots and you’ve got to rebound and try to limit them to one shot. Now that’s a tough task because they can make tough shots.’’

Rich

The noise was unmistakable. And it provided UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma with a tell-tale sign of exactly where freshman Heather Buck stands when it comes to the present level of her conditioning.
Buck has missed the first six games this season while suffering from mononucleosis. She was not even permitted to jog until the final week of November and she only returned to practice earlier this week.
When Auriemma heard Buck’s labored breathing during drills he wondered if too much time has passed for her to fully regain what she has lost. He said following practice this afternoon at Gampel Pavilion that a decision of whether or not to red-shirt Buck this season will be made following the top-ranked Huskies’ return from South Carolina Dec. 28.
“Her conditioning is not good, obviously, sitting out all that time,’’ Auriemma said. “Little by little she’s getting better, but I think as we get into the New Year we’re going to have to start trying to figure out whether she’s ready to start doing something or whether so much time has gone by that maybe it’s better to just let her spend the year getting ready and playing in practice. I don’t know how you make up for all this lost time.’’
Buck, who was unavailable for comment Friday due to her exam schedule, said that she began dealing with a scratchy throat Nov. 3. Her bout with mononucleosis was made public by UConn Nov. 14.
Auriemma said Buck practiced Tuesday, Thursday and today this week. Should the decision be made to seek a medical hardship waiver Buck would retain her four years of eligibility.
“You don’t like to have one player in a class and we have one next year,’’ Auriemma said. “Big kids traditionally take a lot longer to develop anyway. We’ll sit down and talk about what we need to do.’’

While the players were busy this week taking exams, a recruiting source said today that the members of the Huskies’ coaching staff were busy catching up with some recruiting targets from the Class of 2010.
Assistant coach Shea Ralph went to see Samarie Walker, a 6-foot-1 junior swingman from Dayton, Ohio, last night. She finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals in a 76-41 victory over Purcell Marian. Samarie is the top rated player in the Class of 2010 and gave an oral commitment to the Huskies Oct. 17.
The staff also paid visits to Orsi Szecsi, a 6-3 Hungarian forward from Oak Hill Academy in Virginia; Stefanie Dolson, a 6-5 center from Slate Hill, N.Y. (Minisink Valley High School); Michala Johnson, a 6-3 forward from Lombard, Ill. (Montini High); and Sheronne Vails, a 6-4 forward from Arundel High in Gambrills, MD.
Dolson, who is ranked No. 10 by HoopGurlz, averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds last season. Johnson, is ranked No. 16, while Vails averaged 13.5 points and 8.7 rebounds last season.
The Huskies would like to secure two post players from the current class of high school juniors.

Rich

She tried to act as humble as all possible Wednesday night considering the circumstances surrounding her role in a 96-37 rout of Holy Cross. She tried to conceal the emotion that was just itching to be released. It was a big night for senior Tahirah Williams. Really big. If she entered the media room jumping up and down and pumping her arms over her head in exaltation no one would have blamed her.
Tahirah had a night she had been dreaming of her entire career. She entered her 81st game wearing a UConn uniform with career-highs of nine points, five rebounds and 15 minutes. She has been a bit player, one that had played as many as 15 minutes in a game five times. And these games all came in the first 10 games of the 2006-07 season, with the fifth coming against Sacred Heart that New Year’s Eve.
Tahirah twice played as many as 12 minutes last season, but made it into double figures in minutes in just three games overall.
So here she was last night sent into the game by Geno Auriemma to produce and to build on what she has been doing in practice lately. And produce she did. Like never before. Tahirah finished with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds in 21 minutes. The smile she flashed ever so quickly during the postgame question-and-answer session was priceless. It was full of pride and self-satisfaction in the team-oriented neighborhood of Storrs.
Tahirah deserved this moment.
“I’m pretty happy,’’ she said. “This is something I always look forward to … contributing and being a part of the team every time I come on the court when Coach calls my name. Always hustle and play hard and do my job. It definitely does boost my confidence and hopefully it just carries on throughout the season.’’
Tahirah described her role as a player who works to get shooters like Renee Montgomery, Maya Moore and Caroline Doty open looks, rebound, run the floor and provide energy. This is something she said she looks forward to providing. But the opportunity to do more was there against Holy Cross. And Tahirah seized the opportunity.
“It’s taken Tahirah two years to finally get to the point where she understands that if you’re trying to score 20 points coming off the bench for us you’re not going to play at all,’’ Auriemma said. “And she understands now what her contribution can be to this team, and if she’s consistent every day in practice, which she has been of the most part, she’s going to get her opportunities to play.’’
The breakthrough performance raised Tahirah’s season averages to 5.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 12.4 minutes. She is shooting 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the field. Her career-highs are 1.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 7.7 minutes.
Now, the key for her is parlay this performance into further success, and playing time, moving forward. That, of course, is the unknown right now. Tahirah is not going to be asked to provide 17, seven and 21 minutes every night. If she can provide the Huskies with quality minutes off the bench with some regularity it would be a plus. It’s up Tahirah. If she proves to Geno that she deserves these minutes, he will find a way to get her in the game.
“That decision’s usually made during the course of the game,’’ Auriemma said regarding Tahirah’s chance to play critical minutes in future games. “And I’m sure there’s going to be times this year when she’s going to be put in that situation and hopefully between now and then she’ll do what she has to do to be ready for it. But a few years ago she wouldn’t have been ready for it because she thought her job was to come in and shoot and score. If that didn’t work two years ago it certainly isn’t going to work this year, and I think she has a better grasp on it. And, yet in spite of all that, she’s become a better offensive player. It’s funny how that works when you’re not so hyped up on being a good offensive player and you concentrate on other things you become a pretty good offensive player. That’s what’s happened with her and she’s put herself in a good situation and that’s all you can ask for.’’

The Huskies now head into the final exam period. They will not play another game until meeting Penn State in the third annual Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden Dec. 14 in NYC. Rutgers and Army will also compete in the afternoon doubleheader that honors Dixon, the former Army coach who died suddenly April 6, 2006 of arrhythmia at the age of 28. The Cardiac Arrhythmias Research and Education (C.A.R.E.) Foundation, Inc. will conduct 1,000 free EKG’s during the event to raise awareness of heart related illness.
The Huskies will practice today and Friday before taking Saturday and Sunday off. They will then resume practice next Monday and Tuesday, take next Wednesday off and practice next Thursday through Saturday in preparation for Penn State.
“The time blocks are two hours so we just kind of put two hours up on the clock and then when the two hours are up we leave,’’ Auriemma said. “It’s a fine line between how much do they have to study and getting them out there to try to get some physical exercise. It’s hard for us to maintain their conditioning during this time and stay sharp basketball-wise and improve individually and put some things in team-wise that can make us better. So there’s a lot going on, and add in the travel for the coaches to go recruiting. It’s late nights for the players because they’re trying to get their schoolwork done. So it’s not exactly a 10-day vacation.’’
Geno said he will install some new things during this stretch in order to keep the players from going through the motions during practice. The emphasis is on improving during this time in between games as opposed to just staying the same.
And he isn’t worried about the Huskies getting flat either.
“By the time you do play on the 14th, they’re ready to play,’’ Auriemma said. “They’re sick of practice. They’re sick of exams. So they’re really ready to play. The fact we’re going to Madison Square Garden and we’re playing for a good cause, I think they’ll be in rare form. It has a lot to do with the kind of kids you have and a lot to do with who you’re playing. If we were playing a really bad team in a bad environment, you would be wondering, `What are they thinking?’ But come Sunday at Madison Square Garden, they’ll be ready to go.’’

Rich

Mel Thomas’ tour of the state is nearing its start. Her book, “Heart of a Husky: Determination, Perseverance, and a Quest for a National Championship,’’ is now available for purchase at www.melthomas.com and it will be shipped Dec. 15 if it’s ordered online. There are 1,000 copies in stock and carry a price of $19.95.
Mel will be holding a host of book signing events later this month at various reaches throughout the state. She’ll be at the Waterford Library Dec. 18 at 7 p.m., Monaco Ford in Glastonbury Dec. 20 from noon to 3 p.m. and at the XL Center on New Year’s Eve at 11 a.m. when the Huskies will host Hartford at noon.

If you haven’t noticed already Geno Auriemma has gone back to wearing a tie at every game this season. He got mixed reviews last year when he went tie-less for the first time since the early years, with half of the people telling him he should wear one and the other telling him he shouldn’t.
Coupled with his crusade against cancer this season, where he will donate some ties for a charitable auction, Geno is again sporting a flashy tie and a matching pocket square in his sport coat.
“I just think maybe I was going through a phase last year,’’ Geno said. “I was trying to be like George Clooney. And everybody told me, `You’re not. So stop pretending like you are and put on a tie.’’’

Rich