UConn women's basketball

UConn-bound recruit Lauren Engeln, a 5-foot-11 guard from Laguna Hills (Calif.) High, returned to action Friday night after missing the previous two games with a sprained knee. She had 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting (2-of-2 3-pointers), six rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes in a 57-44 victory over University.

Rich

Senior Meghan Gardler had a blast last Saturday at Villanova. Not only did Geno Auriemma award her her first career start, but she did so before about 110 members of her family and friends in her final homecoming game.
Homecoming games are special occasions. They give players the chance to showoff in front of people who often times have not seen them play since high school. Tomorrow, though, will be a different kind of homecoming game when the Huskies meet Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center. It will be for UConn assistant coach Shea Ralph.
No, she didn’t grow up in the Steel City, as you know. She grew up in North Carolina. However, Ralph spent five of the most important years of her career there as an assistant coach for the Panthers under Agnus Berenato. Tomorrow will mark the first time she returns to Pittsburgh with the Huskies since filling the void left by the departure of Tonya Cardoza last year.
“How cool is Shea? Don’t you love Shea? I’m like really proud of her because I remember when she was just right out of college, like a kid,’’ Berenato said. “I feel like when she want back to Connecticut she was like a full-fledged professional woman. We had five years together and it was five years of everyday. We had to work to really try to build a program. I didn’t know Shea Ralph for Jake before I interviewed her. She was like one of my kids. She’s like my child. I’m so proud of her. My heart is just … I’m so proud. Every time I see her on the sidelines … It’s just like her dedication to the game and just her never-say-die attitude. A lot of times people don’t get the opportunity to go back to where they truly love, and they don’t have that chance. And for her to have that chance to do it, and I feel like when she went back to do it she still was prepared. So she just jumped right in. I’m just so excited to see her. She’s great.’’

When team goals and team accolades are what matters most at UConn, individual milestones often get brushed aside. Tina Charles is on the verge of reaching a milestone only six players in the history of the program have been able to reach.
Charles will enter Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh needing 17 points to reach 2,000. She would join Nykesha Sales (2,178), Kerry Bascom (2,177), Diana Taurasi (2,156), Kara Wolters (2,141) and Rebecca Lobo (2,133).
The journey has been something special for Charles.
“Yeah, definitely,’’ Charles said. “Just the fact when you look in the media guide and only see a certain amount of players who reached that podium, yeah. It’s something I don’t really want to think about or harp on because there are other things to harp on. But is it great? Yes. I think anybody who reaches 2,000 points in their college career is pretty good.’’
Not surprisingly, Auriemma did not spend a lot of time talking about the latest milestones of one of his elite players. He’s superstitious and does not like to talk about such things until after they occur.
But when the subject of Sales initially breaking Bascom’s scoring record came up, Auriemma came up with a rather witty response.
“I talked about it with (Villanova coach) Harry (Perretta), but that was about it,’’ Auriemma said.
If you recall, Sales ruptured her Achilles tendon one point shy of Bascom’s mark against Notre Dame at Gampel Pavilion Feb. 21, 1998. Three days later at Villanova, Auriemma and Perretta worked it out so Sales could shoot an uncontested layup to seize the record.
It’s a good sign that after all these years Auriemma can joke about the hoop that launched him into a national firestorm of criticism.

Rich

Caroline Doty is just more than a year removed from undergoing surgery on a torn ACL in her left knee for the second time. She is still being held out of portions of practice at times as a precaution. And she has been experienced some swelling in her knee of late.
But following practice today at Gampel Pavilion, Doty took a few minutes to set the record straight concerning her problematic knee.
“It feels great,’’ Doty said. “I realize I have a new body with the whole recovery thing so it’s going to swell and act up here and there. It’s nothing serious. The screws are definitely irritating it a little bit and the swelling that comes along with it. People hear swelling and they think, `She’s definitely going to be out.’ But the swelling is just a natural thing. Such a bad trauma happened to it last year that it’s natural it’s going to swell and act up. As long as I ice it and take care of it, it feels fine. Playing on it, I don’t even feel it or think about it at all. It’s just the aftereffects.’’
Doty played at least 30 minutes in three straight games – at Marquette Jan. 13, vs. Notre Dame 16 and at Duke Jan. 18 – for the first time this season before playing 28 minutes at Villanova last Saturday and just 15 against Rutgers Tuesday. Bothered by the screws in her knee, she contemplated having surgery during the semester break before changing her mind because she did not want to miss any practice time.
At this point further surgery is not an option Doty is entertaining.
“Right now it’s not even in my mind,’’ Doty said. “I’m not even thinking about it because it feels fine. If it’s an option in the future and it’s irritating me then maybe.’’

There has been some question whether or not All-American Maya Moore will be eligible to play for Team USA when it squares off against team of WNBA All-Stars at the Mohegan Sun Casino July 10. UConn coach/Team USA coach Geno Auriemma put those questions to rest by saying that he could select her to compete.
“She’s part of the National Team, and we’re a separate entity,’’ Auriemma said. “She’s not representing the WNBA. She’s representing the USA National Team.’’

Rich

Here’s the link to my live chat today (noon to 1 p.m.):

UConn-bound recruit Lauren Engeln, a 5-foot-11 guard from Laguna Hills (Calif.) High, is nearing a return to the court. She missed her second straight game Tuesday with a sprained knee, but Lady Hawks’ coach Jim Martin said today that she is “scheduled to most likely return for our game this Friday’’ against University.
Engeln is averaging 20.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.8 steals this season.

Just a reminder … My weekly live chat will be held tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m.

Rich

A look back at Tuesday’s UConn-Rutgers game:
No. 1 UConn 73, Rutgers 36
TURNING POINT – The Huskies were 4-of-14 from the field as they neared the midpoint of the first half with a 10-8 lead. But as has been the case so often this season, they went on a run and the game was transformed into a rout. UConn scored nine straight points in a 30-7 run to finish the half. Rutgers missed nine straight shots at one point and 18 of its final 21. Meanwhile, the Huskies made 12 of their final 18 shots to take a 40-15 lead at halftime.
“I think in the beginning of the game we had a lot of open shots and we didn’t make them,’’ senior Kalana Greene said. “And then on defense … we were very confident in our defense. People talk about us being an offensive team. But I think our defense is even better and worth more talking about than our offense. So we’re confident on defense and try to force them to take shots they’re not comfortable taking and get the ball out of their best player’s hands.’’
UNSUNG HERO – Kaili McLaren. She finished with six points, four assists and one turnover in 21 minutes.
“Kaili practiced really well,’’ coach Geno Auriemma said. “I think she knew she knew she was going to play well (Tuesday) because against Rutgers you need her. And she knew it. She kind of had the rest of the week off because she knew against Villanova she wasn’t going to play. So she was just kind of kicking back. So there’s some teams that we play against that it’s very difficult for her to matchup with anybody on the floor. But a game like this she knew and I think she prepared herself for it.’’
BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ – The Huskies employed many more zone looks against Rutgers than they have in other games this season. And Rutgers was hapless offensively against them. The Scarlet Knights shot 28.6 percent from the field (1-of-14 3-pointers). Leading scorer Brittany Ray was 1-of-11 shooting (0-of-5 3-pointers). And Rutgers tied the second lowest scoring output (36) in team history.
“We played more zone then we did normally,’’ Auriemma said. “So maybe that kind of slowed them down a little bit. I think any time you play Rutgers you’ve got to kind of prepare for the same thing that you’re always going to see. It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be tough to get a lot of possessions and I thought (Tuesday) was pretty much the same as what we’ve come to expect and the style of play.’’
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS – Auriemma compared McLaren to Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre after the game in what a comical exchange. “She’s still the Brett Favre of women’s basketball,’’ he said. “Like don’t throw it to that guy. He’s wide-open. Don’t throw to that guy either. He’s wide-open. And don’t you dare throw it to that guy who’s more wider-open than wide-open. Try to throw through these four guys to that guy who has to make a great catch and then make a layup. That’s how she is. That’s who she is. And when she makes an easy pass it looks so easy that everybody goes, `Wow.’ And she goes, `I’m bored.’ So now she has to make something that everybody will go, `Oooo.’ Except me when it bounces off three people’s heads.’’ Auriemma was then asked if he thought Favre would return next season. “Is he coming back? I think Kaili’s going to replace him,’’ he said. “She’ll play two positions. Maybe three. Quarterback. Fullback. Right guard. She can handle all those positions.’’ … Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer commented on that fact that she doesn’t believe it’s good for the game that the Huskies are winning by such large margins. “It’s not their fault, but it’s not a great thing for the sport,” she said. “How can anybody enjoy a game that is really not much of a competition? You come to see games because of the competition.’’… Aside from the sellout against Stanford Dec. 23, the crowd of 12,347 was the second largest this season.
LOOKING AHEAD – The Huskies will travel to Pittsburgh Saturday to play in the palace known as the Petersen Events Center. It will be the first of six road games over the final 10 games to close out the regular season.
BY THE NUMBERS
1 – Opponents that have shot higher then 37.3 percent from the field (Stanford, 46.4)
6 – Straight games Greene has scored in double figures, one shy of her career-high
17 – Points needed to Tina Charles to reach 2,000

Rich

UConn and Rutgers have combined to win the last eight Big East regular season championships, with the Huskies twice winning three straight titles from 2002-04 and 2007-09. They have also combined to win the last five conference tournament championships, with UConn winning back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006 and 2008 and 2009.
The Huskies and Scarlet Knights also met in the NCAA Greensboro regional final in 2007. UConn leads the series 10-5 since the teams began playing twice during the regular season in 2003-04. But there was stretch where Rutgers won four of six in what has blossomed into a rivalry.
This season, though, with the Scarlet Knights down a notch and Notre Dame rising the Big East opted to pit UConn and the third-ranked Irish in a home-and-home series. Rutgers will play Syracuse twice.
“It’ll feel weird at the end of the year when you’re not going down there,’’ Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said. “You’re so used to playing in that building. You look forward to that. You kind of write that on your calendar every year. You know you’re in for a treat. And this year it’s not going to happen.
“It seems like it’s been a pretty intense rivalry from the beginning. I shouldn’t say from the beginning. I think it took them a couple years, but I would say once my good friend Linda Miles arrived I think that kind of spiced things up a little bit. I told her that when I saw her at the referee camp.’’
Miles was a freshman when Rutgers defeated UConn for the first time – in the sixth game of the series – at the RAC Feb. 10, 1998 (74-70). Late in the game she ran past the UConn bench and told Auriemma that he had three more years of losses coming. That bold statement carried little weight moving forward as the Huskies went on to win the next 12 games in the series.

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer offered her opinion on the Huskies this week. She sounded a lot like many other coaches that have come in contact with UConn this season – extremely impressed.
“There is a whole lot of distance between them and everybody else,’’ Stringer said. “They’re functioning on another planet. They measure themselves by themselves, not by others. The vast majority of players always measure themselves by others and as a result they never realize how good they can be. We all know that. … They don’t see the other opponent. They play within themselves and they test themselves against themselves. And that’s the greatest of all, but it requires a tremendous amount of mental disciple. That’s probably what allows them to keep their edge.’’

Rich

Caroline Doty might look as though she has fully recovered from the torn ACL in her left knee that sidelined her for the final 22 games last season. She is averaging 25.8 minutes through the first 19 games this season for the unbeaten Huskies, and she played at least 30 minutes in a season-high three games prior to playing 28 at Villanova Saturday.
But Monday provided another example that this is still a process for Doty and UConn. After participating in the first half of practice at Gampel Pavilion, Huskies coach Geno Auriemma held her out for the remainder of practice to give her some rest. Doty instead spent time riding a stationary bike on the sideline.
This is a practice that Auriemma has regularly employed throughout the season when the days with a heavy work load have begun to mount for Doty.
“We’ve gone, what, a couple games in a row now, a couple days in a row,’’ Auriemma said. “So we always do that after a couple days. She played Saturday. We practiced Sunday. We play tomorrow. We had practice Friday. So I don’t like to have her go too many days in a row the whole practice.’’
Auriemma also rested Lorin Dixon, who missed the first nine games with a strained left hamstring, for the better part of the final half of practice too.
“Yeah, pretty much the two of them,’’ Auriemma said. “Whenever I get a chance I kind of give them a little free time.’’
With Doty and Dixon out, Kelly Faris and Kalana Greene spent time at point guard along with Tiffany Hayes as the Huskies ran a drill that focused on their halfcourt offense.
“Things were going really, really well and I wanted to jumble things up a little bit and I put Kalana at the point there just to remind me that this is very fragile and it could fall part any day now,’’ Auriemma said. “So all you have to do is watch her play up there for about 15 minutes and then go over and rub Caroline’s knee a little bit and make sure it’s feeling better. Go rub some ice on Lorin’s hamstring. All of sudden you become Dr. Geno.
He then she dropped the sarcasm and commented on the value of having players play different positions in practice just in case they are needed to do the same in games.
“You have to move around a little bit,’’ Auriemma said. “You have to play different positions for us. We’ve got to do different things in practice. I think that’s what keeps us a step ahead of everybody. If people try to defend us a certain way I want to have an answer for everything, and that answer can’t just be, `Well, you’ve got Tina (Charles) and Maya (Moore).’ It’s a little more complicated than that I think.’’

Rich