UConn women's basketball

West Virginia coach Mike Carey sounded as if he was at wits end. He was downtrodden. He was frustrated. And it seemed as though he was emotionally spent after what has been an extremely trying season to date. The Mountaineers are 10-4, but the record doesn’t come close to painting the entire picture. A 61-55 loss to Cincinnati at home Wednesday, in which they shot 31.0 percent from the field (6-of-30 3-pointers), dropped them to 0-2 in the Big East. They start two sophomores and a freshman and the top-ranked Huskies are next on the schedule tonight.
“I’m really disappointed in our outing (Wednesday) night,’’ Carey said. “We felt that we should have had that game. We did not want to go 0-2. Our reward is to play Connecticut. So it’s life as it is in the Big East. We’re down to nine players We have several players out for the year and the players we do have playing right now are playing extremely hard and doing everything we’re asking of them.’’
The Mountaineers lost 11 players from last season’s 25-8 team that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. Carey thought he had added plenty of reinforcements by using the junior college route and through recruiting high school players. It was a class that was rated 20th overall by the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. But his plans have gone to waste. Junior college standouts Donica Cosby, a 5-7 guard with a scorer’s mindset, and Tracy Wittebolle, a 6-4 post player from Belgium, did not quality in the final hour for what a team spokesman said were “student privacy’’ issues.
Another junior college player – 6-foot guard Kasonna Samms – did arrive. But soon after she transferred. The Mountaineers, too, have been crushed by injuries. Carey announced Aug. 18, that freshman Jessica Capers, the team’s top freshman, would miss this season after tearing her ACL in her left knee during an All-Star game in North Carolina.
They have also lost Madina Ali, a junior post player, for the season with a shoulder injury and junior guard/sixth-man Vanessa House (6.6 points, 2.4 rebounds in seven games) also tore the ACL in her left knee. All of this has left the Mountaineers with nine players. Freshman Natalie Burton, who Carey hoped to redshirt this season, is now starting at center. And among the four reserves are three freshmen.
“It just seems like one thing hits and then four things hit right after that,’’ Carey said. “It’s been frustrating, but we can’t make excuses. We have to move on. We have to continue to play the season. We have to continue to play hard, and our girls to this point have done that. It’s just frustrating at times, not only for me but for them also that we’re so undermanned at a lot of positions. We really took a big hit in the post area and that’s been very frustrating for me. And we have three freshmen – two scholarship players and one walk-on – that are playing the post for us right now.’’
Tonight they’ll host a UConn team that is perceived as the best in the nation. The Huskies have won 19 straight against West Virginia by 30.1 points since losing the series opener in 1982.
“We have to go in with confidence,’’ Carey said. “We have to go in competing. With that in mind, in my eyes they’re the No. 1 team in the country and 2 through 20 are in a different league. Connecticut’s as good as any team I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching here at West Virginia. They play extremely hard. They’re well coached. They do a great job. We just want to be respectable and come in here and compete. If we can do that then that’ll be good.’’

Rich

Can’t get enough of the Huskies? Then check out the WBCA site where you can vote for UConn’s midseason MVP as part of this week’s poll and Here’s the link for the poll: http://wbca.org/Poll.asp?SPSID=92557&SPID=11229&DB_OEM_ID=19400

Also, the Huskies will be a main topic of discussion on this week’s edition of “Shootaround with Beth (Mowins) and Debbie (Antonelli).’’ You can listen to the show at www.wbca.org starting this afternoon.

Rich

The last time the Huskies’ Road Show invaded the Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla. Feb. 20, 2007 it proved to be a magical night for then-freshman Tina Charles. She dropped a career-high 34 points and 17 rebounds on the Bulls as UConn clinched its first outright Big East regular season championship since 2004. What also was memorable from that night was the insensitivity of the student section for the majority of the game.
They repeatedly showered Kaili McLaren with insults. It got so bad that Geno Auriemma took the time to lay into the fans himself in an effort to stand up for his player.
The incident is not one that Geno has forgotten on the eve of tonight’s Big East opener.
“It makes you wonder why they sell alcohol on college campuses,’’ he said. “Two knuckleheads with these yellow horns sticking out of their heads were yelling at Kaili. Can you imagine that? Like you’re making fun of Kaili while you’re sitting there with two horns on your head. What do people think? But they did. The guy who was the general manager of the building came over and apologized and he said, `We have problems with those guys all the time.’ But I think it was his son and his nephew. So I’m sure they’ll be back (tonight).’’
All signs point to these fans returning or many like them. Students returned to campus yesterday. And it’s a “White-Out’’ event with the first 500 fans receiving white South Florida t-shirts.
“They’ll be raring to go,’’ Geno said.
As ornery as some sections might be tonight, there should be plenty of love for the Huskies too. Freshman Tiffany Hayes went to high school in Winter Haven, which is about 50 miles from Tampa. She is expecting quite a contingent of family and friends to be in attendance.

Rich

The learning process is never ending for All-American Maya Moore. Through 13 games, her numbers are astounding. She’s averaging 18.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks in 28.2 minutes for the unbeaten and top-ranked Huskies.
But the lesson that came out of Saturday’s 76-63 victory over a young and feisty LSU team that is going to be dangerous down the road came during the 20 minutes she played in the second half when Maya scored just two points on 1-of-5 shooting (0-of-3 3-pointers). She was hardly a non-factor, however, as she had six rebounds (two offensive), one assist and just one turnover.
But with LSU blanketing her defensively with a box-and-1 and various other schemes to limit the Huskies’ leading scorer, Maya was unable to get free for some open looks as she did in the first half and as she’s done so many times this season en route to surpassing the 20-point mark five times.
The two-points she scored equaled her lowest second half total of the season. The first, however, came in a much different scenario. She scored two points and did not attempt a shot in five minutes in a 96-37 rout of Holy Cross Dec. 3.
With Maya removed from the equation offensively Saturday the other 66.6 percent of the Big Three took charge. Renee Montgomery blew up, scoring 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting (2-of-5 3-pointers). Tina Charles (6-of-11 FG) had 12 points as the pair combined for 27 of UConn’s 35 points in the half.
“In the second half we were not really, towards the end of it at least, we weren’t going to take the first shot that we saw,’’ Maya said. “We want to use the clock. We want to work the defense. And there were opportunities where I could have done some things, but I was just trying to be patient. But then my teammates stepped up and there was no need for me to force anything when Tina and Renee have their opportunities. I probably could’ve crashed the offensive boards a little more if I wanted to stay involved. So that’s something that I can work on when I’m not getting wide-open looks to find other ways to score.’’
Maya still finished with another attractive line: 17 points (7-of-15 FG; 2-of-8 3-pointers), 13 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and one steal in 40 minutes. It was her fifth double-double this season and the first time she has played 40 minutes. The game also provided her with more reference material as she strives to become the best player she can be.
Maya needs to be continually active offensively despite what the opponent is trying to do to take her out of the game. Also, Geno would like to see her take more than 15 shots in every game.
“I told Maya before the game that somewhere between 15 and 20 shots was going to be good for her,’’ Auriemma said. “But we’ve been talking a lot about finding the ball. She’s sometimes waiting for the ball to find her. And in the past when she’s been really good she goes to where the ball is and it’s right there all the time it seems like. But that’s the growing thing for Maya. Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving. And if people judge her on how many points she’s scoring as to whether or not she’s being effective, I think they would miss how many other things that she’s doing right now that have made her a better player and that have made us a little bit better team.’’

Members of Husky Nation in Big 12 country were jobbed by CBS yesterday. Cherilyn Williams sent an e-mail last night stating that folks in Missouri were able to catch only the last couple of minutes of UConn’s victory over LSU. Obviously, the decision makers at CBS have no clue just how far-reaching the Nation stretches.
Here’s what Cherilyn had to say last night: “I really wish that I could’ve seen today’s game, but CBS pulled a slick one on us Missouri Husky fans! They did regional programming, showing different games in different parts of the country! They announced it as a triple play, as if they would show three games on and off, but we saw only the last TWO minutes of the UConn game – the LAST two!!!!!’’
By then Renee had already scored all of her game-high 21 points to bury the Lady Tigers.

One more thing … Don’t worry about the tape you saw on Maya’s right hand. She sustained a scratch on her thumb in the first half and applying tape is the best quick fix you can get during a 135-second media timeout. Kudos to trainer Rosemary Ragle for getting Maya back out on the floor without a hitch.

Rich

Kaili McLaren apparently has a thing for LSU. Or at least Lady Tigers coach Van Chancellor thinks so.
Kaili victimized the LSU for 11 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in a career-high 30 minutes in a win at the Pete Maravich Center last Feb. 25. It was only the third double-double of her career an her only one against a ranked opponent.
She was at it again today, tying her season-high with 10 points (5-of-6 FG) and adding two assists in 22 minutes in another victory for the Huskies. Geno Auriemma said afterward that he thought she was the best big man in the game.
Here are Van’s thoughts:
“I tell who I wish would just quit is McLaren,’’ he said. “She doesn’t playing against anybody but us it looks like. She kills me down in Baton Rouge last year. If was the Connecticut staff I’d tell her when I played Rutgers that they had purple on. I don’t know. She’s just a Tiger tamer.’’
For Kaili, it was feel-good performance that should again elevate her confidence level. She was coming off of two forgettable efforts against South Carolina and Hartford when she had scored a combined four points and had one rebound, two assists, four fouls and three turnovers in 23 minutes.
“Kaili came in and gave us great energy,’’ Maya Moore said today. “She hit shots. And when she finds the gaps and just makes great decisions, it gives us so much confidence.’’

Geno has held a lot of parties at his house over the years with his former players serving as guests. He could have held another one at the XL Center today as 12 former Huskies were in the building. Rebecca Lobo (CBS), Kara Wolters (WTIC) and assistant coaches Shea Ralph and Jamelle Elliott were working, but Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Asjha Jones, Maria Conlon, Ashley Valley, Kerry Bascom, Meghan Culmo, and Nicole Wolff were all seated in first couple of rows behind the UConn bench.
“I’m sure when I watch the film one of them is probably commenting on something we’re not doing well on CBS,’’ Auriemma said. “One of them is moaning and groaning on the radio about what we’re not doing well. And then the guys sitting behind the bench at one point were booing. So it’s one of those kind of surreal things where you turn around and everybody everywhere you look there’s a face that you remember. It’s hard to put into words because for them to want to see us play and to make the effort to come and see us play I think says a lot about them and the experience they had when they were here. That means the world to me, to us. They could be anywhere today, and they chose to be here. I said at one point that I don’t know how much longer that you can actually do this and do it well, but the one thing that does make you want to keep doing it is those kind of things when you keep seeing players that think enough to want to see you play.’’
Recruit Stefanie Dolson, who has orally committed to play for UConn, sat in the first row behind the bench.

Rich

Ten times in the 22-game series between UConn and Tennessee the teams squared off in January. It was the Super Bowl weekend of women’s basketball. CBS couldn’t wait to televise the game. Fans couldn’t wait to tune in.
Pat Summit ended it all when she axed the series following the 2006-07 season. Now the only time the teams will meet is in the NCAA tournament. UConn coach Geno Auriemma said today that aside from Carol Stiff of ESPN trying to save the series in the spring of 2007 he has not been contacted by either CBS or ESPN about again playing Tennessee during the regular season.
Tomorrow, UConn will meet LSU on the day that had so long been reserved for UConn and Tennessee on CBS. Ironically, Tennessee will meet Rutgers in the second half of the doubleheader.
“It is something that when there weren’t a lot of games on and that game had its regularly scheduled time the average guy out there who may not have any interest whatsoever in the game somehow or another was drawn to that game,’’ Auriemma said. “And it did showcase the best of what women’s basketball has to offer. You miss the game and you miss the intensity of it, the rivalry that grew from that. I think you always want to be in that situation whenever possible. When we play Louisville it’s going to be like that. When we play Rutgers it’s going to be like that. When we play at North Carolina it’s going to be like that. We have a lot of national games. The Oklahoma game had that kind of feeling. So in spite of it not being that game, tomorrow (against LSU) might be like that. We still have what we had.’’

Renee Montgomery did not need stitches to close the wound on the right side of her lower lip. However, her lip is still swollen and she has used plenty of ice to help combat the swelling. She has used so much ice that Geno couldn’t help but take a shot at his star point guard.
“I’ve never seen a kid use so much ice as she’s used in the last three days,’’ he said. “We’ve had kids with torn ACLs and you name it not go through so much ice as she has. She’s so anxious to get that swelling to go down. But I don’t think it’s going to prevent her from playing the way she’s been playing. She’s been playing unbelievably well.’’
Renee is averaging 19.3 points, 6.0 assists, 1.0 turnover and 32 minutes in the last three games. She is also shooting 57.1 percent from the field (24-of-42) and 50 percent (9-of-18) from 3-point range.

Recruit Stefanie Dolson, a high school junior who orally committed to play for UConn on Christmas Day, and former UConn players Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Asjha Jones, Maria Conlon and Ashley Valley are expected to be in attendance tomorrow. Add in UConn assistant coaches Jamelle Elliott and Shea Ralph, WTIC-AM color commentator Kara Wolters and Rebecca Lobo, who will be part of the CBS broadcast team, it makes for quite a Huskies’ reunion in Hartford.

Rich

Maya Moore had five points and five rebounds in the first seven minutes Wednesday against Hartford. She was again well on her way to another Maya-like effort. One that sees her fill up just about every statistical category there is on the box score. But Geno Auriemma saw something else from Maya. Something he did not like and he acted on it in a hurry.
It was a lack of effort Maya defensively that miffed Geno. Instead of stepping up to stop Erica Beverly she stepped back and watched her go in for a layup with 12:32 left in the first half. Geno immediately called a 30-second timeout. He ripped into Maya in the huddle and ripped her from the lineup. She would spend the remainder of the half sitting on the bench. And when she wasn’t offering her support to her teammates she was facing the wrath of Geno.
Geno laid into her several times in an attempt to get his message across. At times he wasn’t even paying attention to the game as he chastised the nation’s top player for the defensive gaffe.
“She’s a funny player,’’ Geno said afterward. “As much as she makes you shake your head with what she does when she has the ball in her hands, when she doesn’t have the ball in her hands it just makes you shake your head at some of the things that she does. You just can’t believe that she just did that. Like there was a play … That guy starts dribbling towards the basket. So Maya, as that guy’s dribbling towards the basket, takes a step and then goes, `ahh, (forget) it’ and gets out of the kid’s way so the kid can shoot a layup. And I thought, `Hmm, I never saw that before.’ But I don’t want it to be a pattern. I don’t know that if you’re the best player in the country that you should just get out of the way and let people shoot layups. That’s probably not the winning edge.’’
Maya certainly got the message. She started the second half and had three rebounds in the first 1:21 of the half. She finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes.
“I think there’s a lot of interpretation with Coach, but for the most part he makes his points pretty clear,’’ Maya said. “It’s a lot harder to do all the things that he wants from us, but that has to be my expectation as well. I think that I have very high expectations for myself so I’m not going to be upset with him. I’m just going to do what I can to fix it and improve my game.’’
Geno has never played favorites when it’s come to his most talented players. He threw Renee Montgomery off the floor during practice Tuesday. And in the past he regularly hounded his All-Americans, namely Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird. He likes to challenge his best players in an attempt to help them become the best they possibly can during their career. His strategy has worked more times than not.
“I just think that there’s a lot of teams in this country that when their best player doesn’t do what everybody else does they turn around and they yell at their worst player,’’ Geno said. “And I’m not going to get mad at Tahirah or Meghan every time Maya makes a mistake that she’s not supposed to make, especially one of effort when I know that she gives a great effort 99.9 percent of the time. So you never fault Maya’s effort … ever. And you never question it. But you would question a decision to just get out of the way. Then in the second half she blocked five shots I think at the other end. So how did she respond? Probably pretty good.
“But you know what? Maya’s one of those funny people. She’s not in the Top 15 in steals so I told her that. And she argued with me. She goes, `Yes, I am.’ I said, `No you’re not.’ And I showed it to her. `It’s in the Big East Report. You’re not in the Top 15 in this conference steals. You’re averaging 1.8. No. 15 is averaging 1.9.’ So the next game she had (five at South Carolina). So all you have to do is challenge her and she’ll respond. I just don’t know how much she has been challenged up to this point … AAU, high school. How can you be when you’re that good? What’s been the challenge? No one’s good enough to play against you. You think her coach is going to say, `Hey, Maya, I don’t like the fact that you only got one offensive rebound last week.’ Nobody’s going to say that to her. So if I don’t say it I’m doing her a disservice.’’

Here’s a program reminder: Saturday’s game against LSU and Tuesday’s game at South Florida can be heard on WTIC-FM 96.5.

Rich