The day was almost perfect for All-American Tina Charles Saturday. It started with her being honored on Senior Day in the final regular season home game of her decorated career during an emotional pregame ceremony.
Charles then went out and took apart No. 13 Georgetown to the tune of a season-high 33 points and 15 rebounds in 38 minutes. She made 14 of the 16 shots she took, including a pull-up jumper in transition with 4:40 left in the first half that drew raves from her teammates.
Charles left the game to a standing ovation with 1:36 left in the second half. And she capped the day by grabbing hold of the Big East regular season trophy and posing for pictures with it during a postgame ceremony.
But there was one thing that was missing. Charles did not get the chance to attempt a 3-pointer, which was something she cleared with coach Geno Auriemma before the game.
“In the beginning of the season, I never took a 3-pointer in my life,’’ Charles said. “So in the beginning of the game I had asked him if I could take a 3. And he said, `yeah.’ But the way the game was going I didn’t want to chance it. So (when I came out of the game) I said, `You forgot about my 3.’ He said, `Do you want to go back in for it?’ And I was like, `No. That’s fine.’’
For the record, Charles has attempted one 3-pointer in her career. It came at Duke Jan. 18. But that one did not come in the flow of the offense. It was a desperation heave from well beyond the arc with the shot clock winding down.
“Let me tell you how bad Caroline (Doty’s) been shooting the ball,’’ Auriemma said. “Tina came up to me before the game and said, `Coach is all right if I shoot a 3 today?’ I said, `Sure.’ She goes, `Are you serious?’ I said, `Yeah.’ Meghan (Gardler) said, `We’re gonna run spread.’ I said, `Run it the first play and let her shoot it. What is she going to do miss any worse than Caroline’s been missing?’ Just shoot it. And if Caroline didn’t start hitting a couple like she did (Saturday), we were looking for alternatives.’’
One person who was not in on the agreement to set up Charles for a 3-pointer was Huskies associate head coach Chris Dailey.
“That was the whole point,’’ Charles said. “Not to tell her.’’
Charles was also hit with her second technical foul of the season after making a layup against Jaleesa Butler with 12:15 remaining in the game. In fact, it was Charles’ second in the past five games after being hit with one against St. John’s Feb. 13.
“I thought Caroline would have more techs than me,’’ Charles said. “I just had emotion. I just said, `And 1.’ And I guess it was just miscommunicated as to where I was facing when I said it.’’
“The next game she’s probably going to get ejected,’’ joked Kalana Greene said.
Butler was called for a personal foul and a technical on the play. Charles ultimately missed the free throw
“She was talking to us,’’ Greene then added.
During the postgame news conference Greene, Doty and Charles simultaneously yelled, “Pull-Up,’’ when Charles’s pull-up jumper was brought up.
“She’s the only center that runs down the floor like that,’’ Greene said. “Every time we watch film and we see everyone else jogging down the court we say, `Oh, yeah, Tina’s going to get a lot of fastbreak layups because she sprints the floor. Her game is not just inside. You’ve seen her at the foul line all year. I’m just surprised she pulled it up like that, like a guard. I won’t put it past her. She’s an All-
American. She was feeling it (Saturday). She should have given like a little shimmy afterwards or something.’’
With Maya Moore scoring 38 points at Syracuse Wednesday and Charles getting 33 against Georgetown, it was the third time in team history that the Huskies have had a player score at least 30 points in two straight games. Chris Gedney had 30 at UMass Jan. 23, 1980 and Cathy Bochain followed with
31 against Northeastern Jan. 26, 1980; Also, Svetlana Abrosimova had 39 at UCLA Nov. 17, 1998 and Shea Ralph followed with 30 against Washington Nov. 28, 1998.
Rich
