Tina Charles and Maya Moore were named to the five-person Wooden All-American team today. Moore was honored for the third straight year.
Rich
Archive for March, 2010
Tina Named USBWA Player Of The Year
Senior center Tina Charles was named a first team All-American by The Associated Press for the first time in her career Tuesday. She reached another milestone today.
Charles was named the Player of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association. She is the fifth UConn player to win the award, joining Maya Moore (2009), Diana Taurasi (2003), Sue Bird (2002) and Rebecca Lobo (1995).
“I think, especially coming into a program like that and you have all the resources and all the tools around, you should definitely try to soak everything in and try to make the best out of it,’’ Charles said. “So my four years here I just wanted to make the best out of my career.’’
The Associated Press National Player of the Year and Wade Trophy recipients will be announced Saturday in San Antonio. Charles is a leading candidate to earn both of these awards as well.
Charles and Moore were named to the 10-person USBWA All-America Team. UConn and No. 2 Stanford (Jayne Appel, Nnemkadi Ogwumike) were the only teams to have two players honored. Alysha Clark of Middle Tennessee, Victoria Dunlap of Kentucky, Kelsey Griffin of Nebraska, Jantel Lavender of Ohio State, Jasmine Thomas of Duke and Monica Wright of Virginia rounded out the team.
Nebraska Connie Yori was named Coach of the Year. Baylor’s Brittney Griner was named Freshman of the Year.
Rich
Huskies On To San Antonio
Here’s a look back at Tuesday’s 90-50 victory over Florida State in the Dayton regional final:
TURNING POINT – The Seminoles managed to hang around through the first half. They trailed the Huskies 42-28 at halftime.
But like so many other teams this season, Florida State got knocked out by another of UConn’s big-time runs. The Huskies opened the second half with a 24-6 run to blow the game open.
Maya Moore had 10 points. Kalana Greene had eight. The Huskies were 10-of-14 from the field in the run, scoring 11 points in transition.
“I can’t say enough about how we came out at halftime,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “The intensity level and the passion that these guys showed in that first 10 minutes of the second half was truly incredible. It was a real pleasure to watch.’’
UNSUNG HERO – Greene. Moore (22) and Tina Charles (20) did their thing again, combining for 42 points. But Greene bounced back nicely from a poor offensive game against Iowa State in the regional semifinals Sunday when she finished with 4 points on 2-of-6 shooting.
Greene finished with 15 points and six rebounds in 30 minutes against Florida State. She was 6-of-6 from the field (1-of-1 3-pointers) and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
“I think when you play an offensive game like I had against Iowa State, you can’t get much worse,’’ Greene said. “So I just came in confident and just knowing that I have to knock in shots. Every shot I shot in the Iowa State game I thought it was going in. And this game right here, I thought the same thing. I came with the same mindset and just had to knock a couple in.’’
BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ – At the start of the second half the Huskies turned to their defense to pull away.
The Seminoles opened 3-of-12 from the field and committed five turnovers. They also went scoreless for periods of 3:47 and 2:03 as the game got away from them in a hurry.
“We don’t like to trade baskets,’’ Greene said. “And I think in the first half we traded a lot of baskets, and then in the second half we locked them down. They didn’t score their points until the last five minutes of the game. We love playing defense and we take pride in our defense. When teams can’t score on us we love it. And that’s what we try to do every game, especially against Baylor (Sunday), it’s going to be a big key for us.’’
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS – Once the final buzzer sounded there was a mild celebration on the court. The real celebration transpired when the Huskies took to the baseline and danced and sang to an energetic song played by the pep band. This song and dance session has become a staple following UConn’s recent NCAA regional and national championships. … Charles and Greene will finish their careers by competing in their third straight Final Four. “I’m definitely happy, definitely looking forward to it,’’ Charles said. “This is our last go around. And Kalana and I, we talk about it all the time that we just have to do this and we just have to get it done. No matter how we get it done we just have to go out there and just play hard.’’ … The Seminoles scored 10 points in the first 14:07 of the second half. “They make you play ugly,’’ Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. “I thought we missed a ton of shots, but that’s because they did such a good job in every area. We couldn’t stop them.’’ … Former Huskies guard Mel Thomas was in the locker room following the game again Tuesday. … The Huskies’ margin of victory was the largest ever in a regional final. Tennessee set the previous record with a 36-point win over Mississippi in Dayton in 2007 (98-62).
LOOKING AHEAD – The Huskies will meet 14th-ranked Baylor and 6-foot-8 All-American freshman center Brittney Griner in the NCAA national semifinals Sunday at the Alamodome in San Antonio (approx. 9:30 p.m.; ESPN).
UConn (37-0) is making its 11th appearance in the Final Four. Baylor (27-9) is making its second.
“Some days, they’re going to beat you by 20 and some days they’re going to lose by 20, just like it’s happened to them already,’’ Auriemma said. “But I don’t see that happening to them in the NCAA tournament. Whatever was going on with that team, that’s not the team that’s playing right now. So whatever the score was against anyone else, it’s hard to gauge because they’re not the same team. Not at all.’’
BY THE NUMBERS
157 – Combined points for Moore and Charles in the tournament
161 – Combined points allowed by UConn in the tournament
60.4 – Combined FG percentage for Moore and Charles in the tournament
Just a reminder … I’ll be chatting tomorrow at noon.
Rich
A Hat Trick For Maya/Late Game For Huskies Sunday
The final numbers are insignificant to junior All-American Maya Moore. The fact that she is able to step forward and help the lead the top-ranked Huskies one step closer to earning a second straight national championship is what matters most.
Moore again was a leader for UConn tonight in a 90-50 rout of No. 11 Florida State in the Dayton regional final. And putting up gaudy numbers was again part of her performance as she was named the regional Most Outstanding Player for the third straight season.
Moore produced a game-high 22 points (8-of-13 FG) and added eight rebounds in 20 foul-plagued minutes against the Seminoles.
“It’s a great honor,’’ Moore said. “I think that our team winning makes it the most sweet. I’m just glad that I’ve been able to come through for my team.’’
Senior teammates Tina Charles (20 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks) and Kalana Greene (15 points, six rebounds) were named to the all-regional team.
Moore is averaging 21.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 21 minutes through the first four rounds of the tournament. She has scored 87 points in 84 minutes.
“My teammates expect a lot from me,’’ Moore said. “They expect me to score and to rebound and just to be the best player I can be. Make an assist, and just doing all of that. So whenever I can come through and show up for my teammates that feels the best. And when I do that you guys obviously see that they come through for me too and do their part.’’
The Huskies will play in the second game Sunday against Baylor. It will start at approximately 9:30 p.m. Oklahoma and Stanford will meet at 7.
Rich
Tina, Maya Named To AP 1st Team
UConn senior Tina Charles and junior Maya Moore have been considered the top two players in the country this season. They received the recognition they deserved today.
Moore and Charles were unanimously named first team All-Americans by The Associated Press. It was the third straight season Moore has been honored. Charles was honored for the first time.
“We’ve been fortunate,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “Jennifer (Rizzotti), Rebecca (Lobo) and Kara (Wolters) were all first team All-Americans at the same time. Sveta (Abrosimova) and Shea (Ralph). She and (Diana Taurasi) and Swin (Cash). All first-team All-Americans. We had times when we’ve been in that situation where there’s just too much balance on our team. The difference between I think some of those teams and what makes these guys kind of unique is they don’t have as much help around them. Like last year they did. But this year they don’t have as much help around them. Like Sue (Bird) and D were the two best guards in the country, but we had Swin who was an All-American. We had Asjha (Jones), Tamika (Williams). So when you get these guys you’ve got Tina and Maya and then you say, `Well, who else is going to be an All-American or a Top 5 draft pick on this team.’ And they’re too young. They’re not even seniors. Two sophomores in the backcourt and a freshman coming off the bench. So they have to do more than those other guys did simply because they don’t have as much help around them. And it’s been a little bit tougher on those two than it would be normally. And maybe that’s why they’re so good because they know the pressure’s on them every game. They know they have to play well every game for us to win.’’
Moore and Charles, who was a second-team pick last season, were joined on the first team by Nebraska senior forward Kelsey Griffin, Ohio State junior center Jantel Lavender and Virginia senior guard Monica Wright. Delaware freshman and former UConn recruit Elena Delle Donne was named to the third team. UConn senior Kalana Greene earned honorable mention honors.
It is the second straight second season the Huskies have had two players on the first team. Moore and Renee Montgomery were honored last season. Moore also is the fourth three-time All-American, joining Courtney Paris of Oklahoma, Chamique Holdsclaw of Tennessee and Alana Beard of Duke.
It is the fourth time overall that UConn has had two players honored. Ralph and Abrosimova were honored in 1999-00, and Wolters and Rizzotti were honored in 1995-96.
“I think that’s just the cherry on top to be recognized as one of the best,” Charles said. “It just shows that hard work definitely pays off and everything that Coach was trying to teach me definitely paid off.’’
Moore is the first player in team history to be a three-time first-team pick. Along with Paris, she is also only one of two players to be named to the first team in each of their first three seasons.
Entering tonight’s Dayton regional final against No. 11 Florida State, Moore is averaging 18.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals in 27.8 minutes this season. Charles is averaging 18.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 27.0 minutes.
“I think it’s even cooler because you get to share it with your teammates,’’ Moore said. “It’s always nice to be recognized for the hard work that we do. It’s great to be on a team that celebrates with us because they know that they were a part of why we’re so good. If Meghan didn’t challenge me every day in practice and do her best to try to make me as uncomfortable as possible during practice, some of the things that you see us do that look so easy they wouldn’t be that easy and they wouldn’t look so easy. Just the stage that we’ve been able to be put on because of the team we have … It just makes it a celebration of all of us. That’s all great, but if we don’t win a national championship it’s not as much of a happy time if we don’t take care of business that we’ve all been so invested in.’’
Rich
Geno Talks Tennesee … Again
Huskies coach Geno Auriemma has left no doubt that he has moved along since Tennessee coach Pat Summit cancelled the regular season series between the teams following the 2006-07 season. Not even a potential matchup in the national semifinals in San Antonio that loomed once the brackets were revealed March 15 piqued his interest about a game that was annually the most watched in the sport.
Following Sunday’s victory over No. 16 Iowa State in the Dayton regional semifinals, the questions regarding playing the Lady Vols surfaced again. And Auriemma again could not have been clearer about whether or not even a small part of him was disappointed that a game against Tennessee would not happen even if top-ranked UConn defeats No. 11 Florida State in the regional final Tuesday.
The Lady Vols took care of that by enduring a 77-62 loss to No. 14 Baylor in the Memphis regional semifinals Saturday.
“I don’t worry about teams that aren’t playing any more,’’ Auriemma said. “I worry about the teams that we’re playing now. The most important game in our lives is Tuesday night against (Florida State). Having said that, if we are fortunate enough to win Tuesday, I think it’ll be a great Final Four. If we win Tuesday night and had Tennessee won (Saturday) and (tonight), it would’ve been a lousy Final Four because it would’ve been all about Geno and Pat. That would have really (stunk) for the other two teams there, for the kids, for everybody. The only people who would’ve been happy would’ve been TV and writers who don’t really matter in the big scheme of things. If we’re fortunate enough to win Tuesday night, we’re playing a better team than Tennessee, the team that beat them.’’
Auriemma believes that in the interest of the continued growth of the game it is beneficial that UConn and Tennessee do not play every season. And, in particular, they don’t play in the latter rounds in the NCAA tournament on a regular basis either.
He noted that the accomplishments of teams such as Baylor, Oklahoma, Florida State, Mississippi State, Xavier and Gonzaga in this tournament should be appreciated. And how about what Kentucky did to Nebraska Sunday night too.
“You grow the game by somebody beating us Tuesday night,’’ Auriemma said. “That’s how the game grows. The game doesn’t grow by the same teams playing each other every year for all the marbles. That doesn’t grow anything. I think what Baylor has done grows the game. What Oklahoma has done grows the game. What Mississippi State, Florida State, Xavier, Gonzaga have done, that’s what grows the game. Tennessee-Connecticut is like a heavyweight fight. You spend all year worrying about it. Then if the game happens it happens. Then the average person says, `That’s it, I’m done with women’s basketball,’ and they forget about it. So really, does it grow the game? It doesn’t grow the game one bit. Everybody looks forward to it. They watch the game and then they throw it back in the trash. So you play who you’re supposed to play. Show up, play the other team and hope it’s a great experience.’’
Rich
Faris Comes Up Big Again; ‘Noles Coming In Dec.
UCONN WOMEN’S NOTEBOOK
STEPPING UP – There were too many times this season when freshman Kelly Faris walked away from a game displeased with how she played and the end results of her performance. She has long been an aggressive player at both ends of the floor. Yet, for much of this season, she lacked aggression offensively.
During the break following the Big East tournament Faris came to the realization that she needed to pick up her play and start playing like she knows she can play. And in the NCAA tournament, she has done just that.
Faris established a new career-high in scoring for the second straight game Sunday with 16 points in 21 minutes in a 74-36 win over No. 16 Iowa State in the Dayton regional semifinals. She also added four rebounds and two blocks.
“There’s nothing special to it,’’ Faris said. “I guess I could say I have more confidence now that (the shots will) start falling. I think that would happen really to anybody. That’s just kind of how it goes.’’
Faris, who had 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, against Temple in the second round, was 6-of-8 from the field Sunday (4-of-4 3-pointers). There has been no hesitation on her part when it has come to looking to shoot.
Faris was averaging 3.7 points and shooting 35.5 percent from the field and 19.2 percent from 3-point range entering the tournament. However, through the first three rounds, she is averaging 11.0 points on 75.0 percent shooting (12-of-16). She is also 7-of-8 from 3-point range.
“She’s just such a good basketball player that making shots for her just adds to her value,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “When she’s in the groove that she’s in right now, it takes a little bit of the pressure off of Caroline (Doty) and Tiffany (Hayes) because if they’re not making shots somebody’s got to come in and make them.’’
TAKING OVER – Maya Moore started the game by making four 3-pointers and scoring 16 of the first 22 points for the Huskies. She did so in a span of just 8:46. But in this span she also picked up two fouls, including a wild offensive foul in the lane with 12:03 left in the half.
Moore would ultimately spend the final 10:36 of the first half on the bench. And her teammates did not miss a beat.
The Huskies led 25-10 when Moore went to the bench. They followed by outscoring Iowa State 17-4 over the rest of the half. Tina Charles scored nine and Faris had eight to fill the void offensively.
“We have a lot of offensive weapons and a lot of people with a lot of confidence right now,’’ Moore said. “It really makes me feel good to see my teammates do so well and to get to show everything that they’ve worked hard for this whole season.’’
QUICK SHOWER – Florida State made its first appearance in the Sweet 16 Sunday in its 10th trip to the NCAA tournament. Tuesday the 11th-ranked Seminoles will be making their first appearance in the Elite Eight following a 74-71 victory over seventh-seeded Mississippi State Sunday.
To commemorate this milestone, the players doused coach Sue Semrau with a large cooler of water in the locker room. Semrau was a bit cold afterwards. Not that she was complaining, though.
“Honestly, with this team I’m so impressed by the way they can celebrate it and then get back to business,’’ Semrau said. “Going to the Sweet 16 they did that. In order for us to build our program, we have to have those kinds of kids. I’m freezing as a result.’’
DATE SET – Florida State will travel to Connecticut next season to play two games in a four-day span against Yale and UConn. The Seminoles will play at Yale Dec. 18 and at UConn Dec. 21.
The game against the Huskies will be the final game in a current two-year deal. Semrau said there has not yet been talk about continuing the series, but she would like to see it happen.
“I’d love to,’’ Semrau said.
– RICH ELLIOTT
-30-
There were too many times this season when freshman Kelly Faris walked away from a game displeased with how she played and the end results of her performance. She has long been an aggressive player at both ends of the floor. Yet, for much of this season, she lacked aggression offensively.
During the break following the Big East tournament Faris came to the realization that she needed to pick up her play and start playing like she knows she can play. And in the NCAA tournament, she has done just that.
Faris established a new career-high in scoring for the second straight game today with 16 points in 21 minutes in a 74-36 win over No. 16 Iowa State in the Dayton regional semifinals. She also added four rebounds and two blocks.
“There’s nothing special to it,’’ Faris said. “I guess I could say I have more confidence now that (the shots will) start falling. I think that would happen really to anybody. That’s just kind of how it goes.’’
Faris, who had 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, against Temple in the second round, was 6-of-8 from the field today (4-of-4 3-pointers). There has been no hesitation on her part when it has come to looking to shoot.
Faris was averaging 3.7 points and shooting 35.5 percent from the field and 19.2 percent from 3-point range entering the tournament. However, through the first three rounds, she is averaging 11.0 points on 75.0 percent shooting (12-of-16). She is also 7-of-8 from 3-point range.
“She’s just such a good basketball player that making shots for her just adds to her value,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “When she’s in the groove that she’s in right now, it takes a little bit of the pressure off of Caroline (Doty) and Tiffany (Hayes) because if they’re not making shots somebody’s got to come in and make them.’’
Florida State will travel to Connecticut next season to play two games in a four-day span against Yale and UConn. The Seminoles will play at Yale Dec. 18 and at UConn Dec. 21.
The game against the Huskies will be the final game in a current two-year deal. Semrau said there has not yet been talk about continuing the series, but she would like to see it happen.
“I’d love to,’’ Semrau said.
Maya Moore had made eight straight 3-pointers over the last two games before missing with 12:57 left in the game.
This is the third time in team history that UConn has opened a season by winning its first 36 games. Each start has come since the 2001-02 season.
Rich
Another Photo Op For Fennelly?
Any victory over UConn over the years has been a significant milestone for the opposition. Iowa State is no different. Coach Bill Fennelly still has a sizeable picture of him and his son, Steven, walking off the court at the Shoemaker Center in Cincinnati following Iowa State’s 64-59 win over the Huskies in the 1999 NCAA Mideast regional semifinals.
Steven Fennelly, who is now a junior at Iowa State, is currently serving as a team manager. The Fennellys and the Cyclones will take aim at UConn’s 74-game winning streak tomorrow in the Dayton regional semifinals.
“It’s a picture that is very important to us,’’ Fennelly said. “Not just because we beat Connecticut, but it was a very important time for our school’s basketball development. So it meant a lot to our team and to our school. And, certainly, if that were to happen tomorrow, we might have to have the whole wall or something. It’s fun to think about, and certainly we’re going to go out there tomorrow and do our best.’’
It seems every site UConn teaches during the NCAA tournament coach Geno Auriemma and the players are asked whether they feel their current dominance is good for the game or bad the game. The line of questioning surfaced again today at University of Dayton Arena.
Auriemma was asked if he believes the causal fan respects what the Huskies are doing right now.
“Does the casual fan respect what we’re doing? I don’t know. I really don’t,’’ Auriemma said. “The casual fan in this country at this point in time is really insignificant to me. A lot of people have tried to do a lot to attract the casual fan. I could care less about the casual fan. I care about our fans back home. I care about the people who are going to watch the game tomorrow because they’re interested to see how we do. Those people interest me. The casual fan I could care less about because I bet you they could care less about me or my team. So I don’t worry about people that don’t worry about me. As far as women’s basketball in general, it’s like ice hockey. There are ice hockey fans. Does the casual fan enjoy ice hockey? Probably not. But ice hockey fans love ice hockey, the NHL. So we are who we are. We attract who we attract and we go with that.’’
Here’s Maya Moore’s take on when she was asked if she could imagine that people could find any negativity in UConn’s level of success over the rest of the competition this season:
“People can find negativity in anything they want,’’ Moore said. “We’re not really concerned about people who don’t like what we’re doing. We love what we’re doing. We think it’s great. And we work hard every day. We put in so much work, our coaching staff, all of our the staff, our players … in everything that we do. We work really hard to accomplish what we have. And there’s no way that we’re ashamed or not satisfied with everything that we’ve done. We’re going to keep playing hard. And we’re going to keep having fun and keep putting together great basketball.’’
Fennelly said that he did not expect to use Iowa State’s win over favored UConn in 1999 as a motivational tool heading into tomorrow’s game.
“People talk about that a lot, and certainly here it was a big game,’’ Fennelly said. “But our kids now, some of them were 7, 8 years old. They don’t know. It’s fun to talk about and the correlation is an obvious one to talk about. But not really. I guess, for me personally, yeah, you think about how special that was. But for this team and this day and age I don’t really think so. And maybe I might be wrong, but our players … That’s so foreign to them. They don’t remember what they did yesterday let alone what we did 11 years ago. I don’t think that’s really going to be as much of a factor as maybe some people make it out to be.’’
Tennessee’s 77-62 loss to Baylor in the Memphis regional semifinals ruined some hard work by the people behind the scenes at ESPN. A producer said today that he had already completed about seven packages that were slated to run Tuesday night if both UConn and the Lady Vols had reached the Final Four. They can blame Baylor freshman Brittney Griner (27 points, seven rebounds, 10 blocks) for spoiling their plans.
Rich
