The unbeaten Huskies have captured the attention of the nation with their continued pursuit of history this season. There have been pieces in Sports Illustrated and the USA Today recently chronicling what is now a 61-game winning streak and UConn’s string of blowout victories.
In the coming weeks, the Huskies will be profiled like they never have before. ESPN is in the process of putting together a reality-based, all-access program focusing on UConn’s exploits on and off the court.
Four episodes will air on ESPNU beginning later this month.
“Tina (Charles), especially, has been saying since freshman year that we should be on tape because some of the stuff that happens is just hilarious,’’ senior Kaili McLaren said. “And now that we have the opportunity it’s just cool to see it happen, especially in our last year and just be able to track everything that’s going on.’’
McLaren and fellow senior Jacquie Fernandes will carry handheld cameras through the end of the season to capture off-court footage. ESPN interviewed the team Thursday at Gampel Pavilion. It will also set up a camera up in the locker room and film live game action.
“I kind of feel like James Cameron,’’ McLaren said. “I’ve got an HD camera and I’m going around and I just get to do whatever and it’s cool. I just want to show everybody how much fun we have. We’re not just like zombies and do certain things. We just like to have fun.’’
UConn coach Geno Auriemma has held Caroline Doty out of practice this season at times in an effort to give her surgically repaired left knee as much rest as possible. Now he is looking to do something else to aid Doty.
Auriemma said following practice today that he needs to find a way to get Doty, who has been spending the majority of her time at point guard this season, more shots within the offense.
“She hasn’t practiced every day because her knee was bothering her and I was trying to maybe just not overdo it,’’ Auriemma said. “But she’s not getting as many shots as she did when Renee (Montgomery) was here because she’s handling the ball more. So I’ve got to figure a way to fix that. I’ve got to get her some more shots. I think that’ll help. She’s a shooter so I’ve got to get her more shots. And I know she’ll make them when she has to make them.’’
Doty scored 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting (3-of-5 3-pointers) in 30 minutes at Duke Jan. 18. It marked the third straight game she had played at least 30 minutes (94 total). She has since scored 11 points in the last four games on 4-of-19 shooting (3-of-11 3-pointers).
Doty took just one shot in 18 minutes in Tuesday’s victory over No. 11 West Virginia, missing badly on a 3-point attempt with 5:30 left in the first half. She was replaced by Kelly Faris to start the second half and played just five minutes in the second half.
“I was more like spotting up last year where here I’m trying to create more because if I’m just standing there and doing what I did last year nothing’s going to happen,’’ Doty said. “If Tiffany (Hayes) were to bring up the ball I’ll be able to spot up and get more open shots. But I think it’s all about open looks. I guess I have to create more for myself if I were to look for more open shots. And just keep working at the game and trying to get better at different parts. And right now that’s my challenge is to get open looks and try to get more shots up. I’ve got to keep working on that.’’
Doty didn’t seem overly concerned about a lack of shots. She is focused on distributing the ball to the Huskies’ main scorers – Maya Moore, Charles and Kalana Greene. They are averaging a combined 48.9 points per game, which is more than UConn is yielding to the opposition (44.6).
“Being the point guard is all about seeing who the go-to players are,’’ Doty said. “And Tina dominating down low and Maya playing as well as she is and Kalana playing as hard and as aggressive as she’s been playing … I think it’s important to focus on getting them the ball. I’m going to come off screens and look to shoot. But I’m going to come down and see what I have to do. If Tina’s wide-open I’m going to give her the ball because you know she works hard down there. You know Maya’s working hard. There’s three main scorers right now. And as the point guard it’s important to get the main guys involved.’’
The Huskies hosted a couple of hundred people representing numerous high school, middle school and AAU teams from across the state today at practice. The Christian Heritage girl’s basketball team was among those teams in attendance.
The players sat in the seats in the lower level of Gampel Pavilion during practice. Auriemma, who had to be on his best behavior during practice, addressed the crowd and entertained some questions after practice. And following their post-practice weight training session the players too met with the girls, parents and coaches. The Huskies introduced themselves and posed for photos.
“It put it into perspective like how many people are really watching and looking up to you,’’ Doty said. “When you’re playing games you just see a big bowl full of people you’re kind of just like, “Alright, it’s a typical day.’ But here you kind of buckle down. You meet people face-to-face and you know these little girls are looking up to you. A couple of parents were like, `Thank you so much for being great role models. We really look up to you.’ It puts everything in perspective and how respectful we have to be and how you have to be a good role model for these girls because you never know who’s watching.’’
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