UConn women's basketball

ESPNU will announce the rosters for the 2009 McDonald’s All American Games tomorrow at 6 p.m. during a 30-minute program that will be hosted by ESPNU anchor Lowell Galindo and Paul Biancardi, ESPN Scouts Inc. National Basketball Recruiting Director. Both of the McDonald’s All-American Games will be held at the Bank United Center April 1 in Miami, Fla. The girls game will air on ESPNU live at 5:30 p.m., while the boys game will follow on ESPN at 8.
Keep your eye out for UConn-bound high school senior Kelly Faris, a 5-foot-11 guard from Indiana. She was not selected to compete in the WBCA All-American game.

Rich

The secret was still intact. The largest crowd at Gampel Pavilion (9,987) was nestled in it seats. Somehow Renee Montgomery was clueless. The ceremony to make her the first active player in team history to be inducted into the Huskies of Honor had been in the works for three weeks.
Her roommate, Kalana Greene, knew. Her family knew. The UConn coaching staff and Geno Auriemma’s executive assistant Sarah Darras knew too. Nobody slipped. Renee didn’t have an inkling that the ceremony was for her. She thought it was to honor former NC State coach Kay Yow, who lost a courageous two-decade battle with breast cancer Jan. 24.
The look of sheer surprise on Renee’s face as the announcement was made was stunning. A player that has given so much to this program, and one who still has more to give over what will likely be the final 14 games of her career, deserved this moment at midcourt Sunday.
“That was one of the great things about (Sunday) because Renee Montgomery like Diana Taurasi, like Sue Bird, like Jen Rizzotti, like the great, great players that I’ve had, thinks she knows everything about everything,’’ Geno said. “That you can’t fool her. You can’t surprise her. That there’s nothing you can say or do that she doesn’t already know. So it was perfect that she had no idea this was coming.
That probably (made her mad). That’s probably why she wasn’t like over the top because she was (mad) she didn’t know. Because she couldn’t find out. Because she is really good at that.’’
This was something Geno has been trying to put together for a while. The fact that he finally pulled it all together for Renee speaks volumes for the deep admiration and respect he holds for her to make her the first active player recognized.
And the reason it was done Sunday was because it was the final weekend game of the regular season at Gampel Pavilion. Senior Night is being held at the XL Center Feb. 28.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do for the longest time,’’ Geno said. “To recognize somebody while they were still playing, because it’s so hard to get them back here after they leave. And they get to share it with the people they play with, the fans that watched them play. So I decided that I wanted to do it, and I would’ve done it Senior Night, but it’s not here. Or do it the Notre Dame game (Feb. 22), but the Notre Dame game is at the XL Center. This was the time when it fit best. I’ve wanted to do it for other players but just couldn’t do it. So this is the first one since we’ve had that opportunity. Renee’s the first one and I wanted to make sure I took advantage of it.’’
The fact that she is still a member of the team is one of the main reasons why Renee didn’t believe the ceremony was to be in her honor. To her, it made sense to honor Yow on a day when both teams wore pink as part of a nationwide effort to promote breast cancer awareness.
“That’s why I knew it wasn’t for me,’’ Renee said. “And I just couldn’t believe it. And then you know now every day when we go out to practice I’m going to see it up there. It gives you motivation though to see that you have accomplished some things. I still have a goal that I want to get a national championship. But I guess seeing that up there every day can remind me. I haven’t gotten everything I want yet, but it’s a tremendous honor. I think it can be the best honor that you can receive.’’
Geno said that fooling Renee was one thing. But fooling Diana Taurasi would have been an entirely different challenge. One that he’s not sure he could have pulled off.
“I think Diana would’ve already been in my office (Saturday) going, `How come my name’s not up there?’ That would’ve been very hard to pull that one by her,’’ he said.
Geno has established a trend by ushering Renee into greatness before she graduates. Two years from now, he’ll do it again. And this time it will be Maya Moore’s turn to gain entrance into UConn immortality. Maybe.
“Only if she remembers to switch on screens,’’ Geno said. “She has a hard time doing that. But yeah, we’ll have to do that. Some time during her senior year we’ll do it.’’

Don’t forget to place a bid on the pink Brioni tie that Geno wore during the game Sunday, as well as the three authentic UConn No. 1 jerseys at www.genoscancerteam.org. The auction runs through Saturday.

Rich

Tiffany Hayes was named the Big East Freshman of the Week for the second time this season and the second time in the last three weeks. She averaged 13.5 points and a team-high 4.5 assists in wins over St. John’s and No. 19 Pittsburgh.
Hayes also shot 53.3 percent from the field (8-of-15) and 55.6 percent from 3-point range (5-of-9). She has reached double figures in scoring in six of the last seven games.

Rich

Kalana Greene had the unenviable task of trying to keep a secret from her roommate and UConn teammate Renee Montgomery for the past three weeks. It seemed like an eternity for Greene, who admits that Montgomery is one of the nosiest people on the planet.
Greene was first contacted by Montgomery’s mother, Bertlela. The next day she was brought into the office of Huskies coach Geno Auriemma and told that Montgomery was going to be inducted into the Huskies of Honor today against No. 19 Pittsburgh. Greene was being called on to drum up the necessary number of tickets for Montgomery’s family and to keep the ceremony quiet from the rest of the team.
The efforts of Greene and the UConn coaching staff were remarkable. Greene got her hands on 16 tickets. And when her No. 20 banner was finally unveiled today Montgomery was completely surprised, uttering the word, “wow’’ over and over as she walked to midcourt.
“I think the way in which I received it made it even more special,’’ said Montgomery, with her 3-year-old niece, Shayla seated on her lap. “I had no idea I was getting it. (Greene) did an amazing job of keeping it a secret for three weeks. My family was here. I think that was definitely the best surprise I’ve ever gotten by far.’’
Montgomery, a 5-foot-7 All-American point guard, initially believed the ceremony was to honor former North Carolina State coach Kay Yow, who died Jan. 24 following a two-decade fight with breast cancer. Her parents, Ron and Bertlela joined her at midcourt. Her two sisters, Nicole and Nachette, four nieces and other members of her family were also in attendance.
The honor ordains Montgomery as one of the greatest players to play for what is considered to be one of the greatest programs in the country.
Following the game, Montgomery addressed the fans, thanking them for their support throughout her career and expressing how surprised she was about being honored.
“It’s special being that the secret wasn’t broken, and her family being able to be here for her was great,’’ Greene said. “She’s doing a lot of great things here and I’m happy to be a part of it.’’
This is the second such ceremony this season for the Huskies. The 1994-95 undefeated national championship team was honored during season opener against Georgia Tech at Gampel Pavilion Nov. 16.
Montgomery becomes the first active player and the 11th player to be honored. Svetlana Abrosimova, Kerry Bascom, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Rebecca Lobo, Shea Ralph, Jennifer Rizzotti, Nykesha Sales, Diana Taurasi and Kara Wolters were inducted as part of the inaugural class Dec. 21, 2006. Auriemma was also inducted in that class.
Montgomery, was named a State Farm All-American last season, is currently ranked seventh in team history in scoring (1,761), fourth in assists (569), fifth in made 3-pointers (214) and 10th in steals (239). She made her 134th start – 127 straight – against Pittsburgh. Both streaks are the longest active streaks in the nation.
Montgomery, Taurasi and Rizzotti are the only players in team history to amass 1,500 points and 500 assists. Montgomery, Abrosimova and Ralph are the only in players in team history to rank in the Top 10 in scoring, assists and steals.
“I just think when you reach that special level of you’re the best in the country you probably have other things going for you,’’ Auriemma said. “You probably have a certain something about you that you deserve to be recognized and remembered for as long as they talk about Connecticut basketball.’’

Rich

The Huskies were clearly not happy with the way they played defensively at St. John’s Wednesday. Expect their effort at that end to improve tomorrow against No. 19 Pittsburgh and senior guard Shavonte Zellous.
Zellous leads the Big East in scoring at 23.6 points per game. She is the fourth active leading scorer in the country (2,023 pts.). She has scored at least 20 points in 16 of the first 22 games, including 42 against Florida and 34 against West Virginia.
“She’s one of the focuses, but we’re looking to play team defense,’’ Kalana Greene said. “We don’t want her to not score and then her teammates score. So we’re trying to shut down everybody we can. We’ve seen players like Angel McCoughtry come in. She’s a hard player to guard too. So I think we’ve seen it before. We’ve ready for it. And it’s going to be a lot of different matchups, a lot of people guarding her and giving her havoc.’’
Renee Montgomery said the Huskies won’t change anything they do defensively to compensate for the presence of Zellous. There were no changes in practice Saturday. They will stick with man-to-man with one player, likely Kalana or Tiffany Hayes, drawing the assignment of defending Zellous.
The Huskies have been successful in the past against Zellous. She is averaging 10.4 points, 1.0 assists and 1.5 turnovers and she’s shooting 32.6 percent from the field (14-of-43) in four previous meetings.
“I’m pretty sure we’re not going to change up what we do,’’ Montgomery said. “We’re just going tell somebody, `You have to go play really good man-to-man defense and we’re going to help you.’ So we’ll see if that works. Coach (Geno Auriemma) always says we’re not going to shut them out, but you have to make it as difficult as possible.’’

Kalana was not overly pleased with her scoreless effort at St. John’s when she went 0-for-8 from the field in 24 minutes. It was the first time she had failed to score in a game since posting back-to-back goose eggs against DePaul and West Virginia in the semifinals and final of the Big East tournament March 6 and 7, 2006, as a freshman. That’s a span of 71 games.
But the effort certainly has not hurt her confidence at all. Saturday she appeared ready to get right back in a rhythm tomorrow against Pittsburgh.
“The ball didn’t go into the hole,’’ she said. “It happens. It’s an 0-for, but what can you do? Come to practice and work hard the next couple days, get in the gym and shoot and just be confident coming back the next game. That game’s behind me. It happened. It was a terrible game. I played bad. But I just have to come get it back every day at practice and come get it back at shootaround and the game tomorrow.’’

Here’s Pittsburgh coach Agnus Berenato’s take on why she believes the Huskies are one of the best team’s in the history of the game:
“I just think the first thing is their players,’’ she said. “They have the best of the best players in the nation. That’s the first thing. Then No. 2, their transition game is phenomenal, and No. 3 is their sharing. They share the ball tremendously well. Then they have a coaching staff that knows how to pull it all together and make those kids play competitively. They will play as competitively in Minute 39 as they did in Minute 1.’’

Recruit Lauren Engeln, a 5-foot-11 guard from Laguna Hills, Calif., took in practice today at Gampel Pavilion. She was joined by her father, Tim.
Lauren has also made unofiicial visits to California, Vanderbilt and Washington.

Lastly, UConn will unveil the newest, still unnamed, member of the Huskies of Honor during a pregame ceremony tomorrow.

Rich

The surprises never stop when it comes to the Huskies and their quest for a sixth national championship. Seeing Renee Montgomery, Tina Charles and Maya Moore each go over the 20-point mark and combine for 62 in last night’s victory at St. John’s was impressive. If there was a coach or a player in some dark corner of the nation that had yet to realize just how potent this trio can be anytime it steps on the floor, they know now.
Wednesday’s domination of the Red Storm was certainly something you don’t see every day. In fact, it hadn’t happened in this great program in more than 10 years. The last time three Huskies scored at least 20 points in a game was when Svetlana Abrosimova (21), Shea Ralph (20) and Tamika Williams (20) lit up Pittsburgh Jan. 7, 1999.
Tina shook herself free from her two-game slump that saw her miss 10 of 13 shots. She started fast against St. John’s, making her first four shots, 6 of 7 and scoring 14 points in 18 minutes in the first half.
“Coach always specifies that we can dominate in the lane so that is what I go out there to do,” Charles said. “I know the last two games that didn’t show, but I’m always working toward that.”
Tina finished with 21 points, the sixth time this season she has reached the 20-point mark, on 8-of-11 shooting in 30 minutes. It was good to see her rebound in front of some family and friends. The Huskies are going to need her to play like this in the NCAA tournament to fortify their chances of winning it all.
“One of the things that we wanted we tried to do right from the beginning was put the ball in there and let’s see what happens,’’ Auriemma said. “She’s more of a product of confidence and success so when she made the first couple I think she started to really feel good about herself. But she had a couple of really good days at practice so I knew she was going to play well. I don’t think we gave it to her enough after that initial sequence. I thought we got a little bit content to shoot perimeter shots when I thought we could have done a better job of giving it to her even more because she really had a pretty good frame of mind (Wednesday).’’
Renee, Tina and Maya represented all that was good about the Huskies. Then there’s the other end of the spectrum where we have Kalana Greene. She had been locked in heading into the game, having scored in double figures in a season-high four straight games (13.8). I, for one, expected that continue. I, for one was wrong.
But she didn’t finish with eight or nine points to just miss extending her streak. She didn’t score at all and she missed all eight of her shots, including three 3-pointers, in 24 minutes. That was a stunner.
Kalana had scored in 71 straight games before Wednesday.
“I don’t know what the answer is,’’ Geno Auriemma said. “Somebody like Kalana’s going to get a hundred wide-open shots over the course of the season because they’re not going to guard her. And she’s got to make some of them. That’s the way I look at it. (Wednesday) I don’t know that any of them were contested. I don’t know that any of them were difficult. She’s another one … If she makes a bunch she wants to keep shooting. If she misses then she gets tentative. I don’t know what the answer to that is. Maybe it’s just a girl thing. Guys when they’re open, they shoot. When they’re not open, they shoot. When they’re double-teamed, they shoot. They shoot all the time. We’ve got guys that are like, `Well, I don’t know.’’’
Kaili McLaren ran into another one of those matchup type games where she simply didn’t fit in. She tied her season-low by playing just five minutes, none in the first half.
“I don’t think there was anybody on the court she could guard,’’ Geno said. “They’re playing with five guards at times. Three guards and two forwards. So I didn’t think there were any good matchups that we could find for her. We didn’t want to play zone. Meghan (Gardler) was playing great.’’

How good was Da’Shena Stevens? Her numbers were impressive coming in. Geno had some good things to say about the former Trinity Catholic star before the game. But what she accomplished in 32 minutes against the Huskies Wednesday was downright nasty.
There was no sign of intimidation competing against the nation’s top team. Stevens wasn’t in awe being on the same court with All-American’s like Montgomery and Moore. She just took the court and played. And when the final buzzer sounded her numbers screamed out from the box score. She burned UConn for a career-high 27 points (11-of-17 FG), nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
“The kid Stevens played great. I was really impressed with her,’’ Geno said. “She played great. Some freshmen are very tentative, very reluctant to kind of be as aggressive as she was. I think she knew how hard we were working to keep them from getting off a lot of 3s. Their perimeter game gets an awful lot of attention, and rightfully so. Those three kids (Sky Lindsay, Monique McLean and Kelly McManmon) are pretty talented. I think she took advantage putting the ball on the floor. I thought the first half we made a lot of mistakes defensively, and she took advantage of them, which a lot of freshmen don’t know how to do that.’’
No player has scored more points against UConn this season. Not All-Americans Courtney Paris and Angel McCoughtry. Not Epiphanny Prince. Not Krystal Ellis. But Stevens did.
It was the second time this season she scored at least 20 points. The first time, though, was against Manhattan (20, Nov. 22). According to Big East record book, the 27 she dropped on the Huskies were the most scored by a St. John’s player against UConn in series history. The previous best was 23 by Jackie Smith Jan. 24, 1984.
“The reason I came here was to play in the Big East against the best in the country,’’ Stevens said. “Knowing they are a great team, the No. 1 team in the nation, you always have to come out and play hard. You always try to be aggressive every possession and stay with it whether it was scoring, rebounding or finding one of my teammates. That’s what I did (Wednesday).’’

Rich

Jessica McCormack, the Huskies’ promising 6-foot-5 sophomore center from New Zealand, was forced to reschedule today’s surgery due to a throat infection she contracted on her return flight home from Connecticut.
She said in an e-mail today that the surgery is now slated to occur Monday at the Auckland Public Hospital. Dr. Bruce Twaddle will perform the procedure, which is expected to clean up the area surrounding her problematic right Achilles’ tendon.
“I have a lot of faith and confidence in my surgeon and believe this will fix it once and for all,’’ McCormack said. “I have to go through it with a positive mind and focus that it will indeed be healed as it’s going to make it a lot easier for me to rehab it if I do.’’
McCormack, who was able to practice for only a couple of days in December, elected to undergo surgery as a final option. UConn coach Geno Auriemma said that there is nothing wrong with the Achilles’ tendon itself.
McCormack said she believes she will be performing her rehabilitation at home, which leaves her exact return to UConn in question at this point. The belief is that she will be back for the second term of summer classes.

Had it been any other recruiting year the final destination for former Trinity Catholic star Da’Shena Stevens have been different.
This is not to say that Stevens would have ended up at UConn, or that it would have been a better fit for her then St. John’s. But had Geno not already had his class in order he might have taken a longer look at Stevens during the process.
“I liked her when I saw her play,’’ he said. “But I thought with who we had and what we had coming in that’s not necessarily the spot that we needed to recruit at that particular time. But she is having a good year and she is a good player.’’
Entering tonight’s game against top-ranked UConn at Carnesecca Arena, Stevens was second on the Red Storm in scoring (11.0) and first in rebounding (6.7) and blocks (1.0) in 27.0 minutes. She had amassed 241 points, which ranked 24th among all freshmen nationally and had reached double figures in scoring in 15 of the first 22 games, including scoring a season-high 20 points against Manhattan Nov. 22.
Stevens, who also ranked 15th among freshmen in rebounding, had notched four double-figure rebounding games and had three double-doubles.

The UConn Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will be sponsoring a Book Drive during Sunday’s game against No. 19 Pittsburgh at Gampel Pavilion. Fans are invited to bring “gently used’’ children’s books from their collection. The books will then be donated to the Burgdorf Health Center in Hartford.
UConn students donate their time to read with the children as they wait for appointments at the Burgdorf Health Center, which is operated by Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center and the UConn Schools of Medicine and Dentistry. Following their appointment, the children are given the book to take home with them.

Rich

The UConn training staff did everything it could in its attempt to get sophomore Jessica McCormack back on the court this season. But after countless hours of rehabilitation, nothing seemed to work.
The situation finally reached a point where McCormack, a 6-foot-5 center, had to make a decision. And her decision is to undergo surgery, which had always been the final option. The procedure will be performed Wednesday in her native country of New Zealand.
“Jessica McCormack has been dealing with on-going Achilles pain since January 2008,’’ UConn team doctor Tom Trojian said in a statement. “She has received treatment in New Zealand and Connecticut and has decided to return to New Zealand to have surgical exploration by a family friend. She has had numerous non-operative treatments that are usually successful, but continues to experience discomfort, which led to this decision.’’
McCormack practiced with the top-ranked Huskies for the first time Dec. 2. She would only practice for a couple of days before being forced to again wear a walking boot.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma reiterated Monday that there is nothing wrong with the Achilles’ tendon. McCormack is expected to have scar tissue removed from the area surrounding the tendon.
“Everyone that’s examined her said there’s nothing wrong with the tendon itself,’’ Auriemma said. “It’s just like any other surgery. You go in and say, `This is going to be good.’ Her doctor believes it and she believes it. There’s no reason not to believe it. Everything else has been tried and it hasn’t worked. So hopefully this will be the final thing that gets her over the hump.’’
McCormack, who played through the pain last summer in Beijing as a member of the New Zealand Olympic team, plans to return to campus this summer. Since she did not spend an entire academic year on campus after transferring from Washington she will not be eligible to play for the Huskies until the end of the 2009 fall semester in mid-December.
The final exam period is scheduled to end Dec. 19. McCormack is likely to miss six to eight games.
“She’s got three years of eligibility,’’ Auriemma said. “Plus, Jessica’s experience that she brings from playing at the Olympic level and competing against some of those players … I think she’s going to be really good.’’

Rich