UConn women's basketball

Senior Tina Charles was named the Big East Player of the Week for the first time in her All-American career today. She has helped lead the top-ranked Huskies to a 3-0 start, averaging 19.7 points and 11.0 rebounds in only 19.0 minutes.
Charles is also shooting 56.1 percent from the field and has recorded two double-doubles.

Rich

A look back at Friday’s UConn-Holy Cross game:
UConn 87, Holy Cross 34
TURNING POINT – The Huskies utilized full- and half-court pressure and a 2-3 zone at the start to completely disrupt the Crusaders. They forced seven of Holy Cross’ 17 first-half turnovers in the opening 5:45.
UConn had 12 steals in the half. And it scored 21 points off of turnovers to mount a 52-22 lead at halftime.
“It’s always great to get rewarded for your effort and for your hustle,’’ junior Maya Moore said. “With a roster of 10 people right now healthy and able to go, you’ve got to make sure that you get something out of your press because you can’t stay in it too long. It feels good to get the steals and the convert at the other end because it builds momentum and gives you more confidence in your pressing skills.’’
UNSUNG HERO – There is nothing about Moore that is unsung. But she does so much more than score, and that sometimes goes unnoticed. She finished with a game-high 21 points. However, she also had seven rebounds, four assists and a game-high four steals in 23 minutes.
BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ – The Huskies caught Holy Cross off guard with their half-court pressure. It created numerous turnovers, including a combined 13 by the Crusaders’ guards in the first half. Afterward, Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons said that this is likely Geno Auriemma’s best defensive team.
“They’re so long and athletic and they play so darn hard no matter what defense they’re in,’’ Gibbons said. “They threw that half-court trap … We hadn’t seen that. He hasn’t shown that all. We weren’t kind of ready for it.’’
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS – Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault and assistant coach Scott Hawk made the trip to scout UConn All-American center Tina Charles. The Sun own the No. 3 pick in the 2010 WNBA draft… Former Huskies post player Brittany Hunter was also in attendance, sitting in the first row behind the Huskies’ bench. … Auriemma did not take his sport coat off during the game. Gibbons had his off less than four minutes in. … The next two games in the series will be played in Connecticut. Gibbons is hopeful that when the Huskies return to Worcester in 2012-13 the game will be held on campus at the Hart Center for the first time since Jan. 20, 2000 when a sellout crowd of 4,000 was on hand.
“We’re hoping that we can talk to our administration to get the game back at the Hart Center and get the 4,000, 4,200 in the Hart Center and have the students,’’ Gibbons said. “And Geno’s fine with it.’’
LOOKING AHEAD – The Huskies were given Saturday and today off before reconvening Monday night. They will host Hofstra in the first round of the WBCA Classic at Gampel Pavilion Friday at 7:30 p.m. Auriemma will look to become the fastest coach in history to reach 700 wins (699-122). The event will see UConn play three games in three days.
BY THE NUMBERS
3 – Turnovers for Caroline Doty in 83 minutes this season
23.0 – Rebounding margin through three games
49.3 – Margin of victory through three games
58 – Points in the paint Friday (54 by UConn)

Rich

The Huskies have finalized the date of the final game in their two-game series with Stanford. They will meet the Cardinal in Palo Alto, Calif. Dec. 30, 2010. It will be part of a two-game West Coast trip that opens at Pacific in Stockton, Calif. Dec. 28.

Rich

Heather Buck knows what she has to do to earn Geno Auriemma’s trust. And it starts in practice. Since she did not practice well Monday in San Antonio she saw just six minutes Tuesday against No. 10 Texas.
Following a slow start Thursday when she said she couldn’t rebound to save her life, Buck picked it up. Tonight, she is expected to see more playing time against Holy Cross at the DCU Center. Every minute counts for her right now.
“Right now mostly I’m optimistic and I have moments where I’m frustrated,’’ Buck said. “But I remain optimistic most of the time. It’s early and I feel like the more we play and the further we get into practice the more I will settle down. Right now the things I’m doing wrong are more me rushing and me not concentrating because I’m not quite settled into playing at this pace. So I try to hurry up, and you can’t hurry up. You just have to settle down and just know what you’re doing. You can’t rush yourself. Once I get more comfortable, it’ll be a lot easier to settle down. It won’t be something I’m forcing myself to do. It will be something that just happens.’’
Not only will tonight’s game be an opportunity for Buck to advance, it will also serve as a reunion of sorts. She was heavily recruited by Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons and sophomore guard Meredith Ward was a former AAU teammate with the Rhode Island Breakers.
“I’m really just excited to see Meredith and how she’s doing,’’ Buck said. “What role she’s stepped into on their team. I’ll have a nice hello with Coach Gibbons. Coach Gibbons is a great guy and has a really close family-oriented program.’’
Buck had Holy Cross in her final five. But UConn was always her top choice. All it took was for her to believe that she could play at this level.
“I always knew I wanted to go here, and I just wasn’t really sure,’’ Buck said. “It was coming up here and seeing it and realizing that I could play here and that this really was what I wanted to do. I had to prove to myself that I could come here, and everything else was always competing against Connecticut. The way things were left with Coach Gibbons I know that if I ever went up there and visited Meredith and we ran into him, we would have a nice conversation and it would be great. There are no hard feelings there so it’s really nice.’’

The knock on the Huskies this season is that they are not a deep team. Just don’t tell that to Gibbons, who had a tough time watching UConn roll over Texas on TV Tuesday night.
“Everyone says they’re not as deep this year and that may be true,’’ Gibbons said. “But their first seven or eight are the best seven or eight in the country I think. So it’s all relative. I watched them the other night against Texas and (Tina) Charles is in foul trouble and someone else is foul trouble and they’re still up 21 at half. I finally got sick to my stomach and turned it off.’’

Here’s a note of inspiration: The Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, in partnership with The V Foundation for Cancer Research, has raised $1.7 million since its inception Dec. 3, 2007. That’s just outstanding.

Rich

Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said today that there is no change regarding the status of junior point guard Lorin Dixon. She will miss her third straight game Friday night when the Huskies meet Holy Cross at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.
The best case scenario would see her returning to practice at some point next week and playing in the WBCA Classic Nov. 27-29 when UConn will play Hofstra, Richmond and Clemson in as many days.
“It’s a pain in the (butt),’’ Auriemma said. “It’s just not a good injury, and it’s not a good injury and you’re reluctant to use it. So it’s a double whammy. It takes a while to get back and then you’re a little bit leery. So it’s just a lot of rehab, a lot of time. Everyday she’s getting closer. You just don’t know when the day is. But we’ve got a big break after tomorrow. We don’t play again until the following Friday so we’re good to go.’’
Natural two-guard Tiffany Hayes has assumed the role of starting point guard in Dixon’s absence. She has an uncharacteristic/team-high 10 turnovers and six assists in 44 minutes this season. She did not record her 10th turnover last season until the 11th game at South Carolina Dec. 28.
“She’s trying to pass too much,’’ Auriemma said. “And some of the turnovers are she’s trying to do too much. When she didn’t have the ball as much in her hands she just kind of let the game come to her and did what she does best. Now I think she feels like I have to make this play or I have to make this play and she’s being a little too aggressive. But the more Caroline (Doty) has the ball, who doesn’t turn it over generally speaking, and the same with Kelly (Faris) I think that’ll help her. But it’s just a matter of getting more comfortable out there.’’
Hayes, who is also averaging 12.0 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 2.0 steals, is not overly concerned with the number of turnovers. But due to the comfort she feels when she’s at the two-guard spot, the first question she said she asked Dixon when the team returned from Texas was how many more days until she’ll be back on the floor. Dixon did not travel to San Antonio because she had an exam to take.
“She started laughing and was like, `You did good, Tiff. You did good,’’’ Hayes said. “I was like, `No, seriously. How many days is it?’ So I’m constantly waiting for her to come back, but while I am at the spot I’m going to work at it as hard as I can to help my teammates out until she gets back.
“I feel more at ease at my spot. I know that I didn’t start at the point guard spot. (Dixon) did, and I started at the two. So I’m like, `I know I can do this, but it’s not my spot.’ So in the back of my mind I’m like, `Oh my God, Oh my God.’ But I told myself I can do it. I know I can do it. But in the back of my mind it’s just like, `This is not my spot. Lorin, when are you coming back?’’’

Nicknames have been a part of the UConn program for years now, especially when Renee Montgomery was around. But even in her absence this season it didn’t take long for Kelly Faris, the Huskies’ lone true freshman, to be labeled. Just call her “Omnu.’’
“It was at our championship dinner (Sept. 22 at the Aqua Turf Club),’’ Hayes said. “Everybody was like, `Oh hi, how are you?’ She was like, `Oh, I’m Kelly. I’m new.’ So we would be like, `Omnu?’ So we just started calling her Omnu. That’s her nickname. I think either Meghan (Gardler) or Kalana (Greene), one of those two came up with it. We all call her Omnu now.’’

Rich

I will be chatting live about the Huskies today from noon to 1 p.m. Come one, come all.

Rich

Huskies’ All-Americans Maya Moore and Tina Charles and sophomore Tiffany Hayes are among 50 preseason candidates for the Naismith National Player of the Year trophy, it was announced today. St. John’s sophomore and former Trinity Catholic star Da’Shena Stevens and former UConn recruit Elena Delle Donne also made the list.
Moore won the award last season.
The watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, which based its decision on last year’s performance as well as expectations for this season. The Naismith Trophy will be presented at the Final Four in San Antonio in April.

Rich

I will be having another live chat tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m. I look forward to speaking with you about the top-ranked Huskies.

Rich