UConn women's basketball

The spurt spanned only 68 seconds in the first half Saturday. But during the spurt Huskies’ senior guard Tiffany Hayes put on a show to help the Huskies pull away from No. 13 Rutgers.

Hayes scored eight straight points to ignite a 19-2 run. She opened by making a jumper just inside the 3-point arc with 13:42 left in the half. She followed with a 3-pointer with 13:16 left and completed her individual run with a three-point play off a scoop shot down the lane 42 seconds later.

It was the beginning of another complete performance for Hayes. As there have been many of these in the last month. The latest helped UConn bury the Scarlet Knights 66-34.

Hayes collected 14 points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 34 minutes. She committed just one turnover.

“I think as we are seeing throughout the season that Tiffany is such a versatile player, that’s she’s just becoming one of those players that you just can’t stop,’’ UConn freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis said. “Tiffany definitely sets the tempo for our team. Whenever she’s doing great, the rest of the team’s doing great. And whenever she’s down, the whole team’s kind of like `Oh, my gosh. What are we going to do right now?’’’

Hayes has now had at least five rebounds in a career-high eight straight games and in 11 of the last 12 overall. She has also reached double figures in scoring in 11 of the last 12 games and has had at least three assists in five straight games and at least three steals in four of the last six.

Through the first 23 games this season, Hayes is averaging career-highs of 16.0 points, which leads the team, 5.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals in 29.2 minutes. She is also averaging 3.5 assists, shooting career-highs of 54.3 percent from the field and 42.0 percent from 3-point range and is second on the team with 47 offensive rebounds.

“She’s been in a really, really good flow,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “And (Saturday) we talked about it in the locker room afterwards. It’s not about somebody has to get 35 or 33 or whatever the case may be. If everybody just does enough, it’s going to be enough for us to win most games that we play. And for Tiffany to have seven assists, what else are you going to do? You have to guard her. And if you guard her and she’s finding people open … and she’s rebounding the best of her career. I just think there’s a level that she’s playing at now. And some night shots aren’t going to go in, I understand that. But she’s in kind of a … that momentum that she has just kind of keeps pushing her forward.’’

Speaking of momentum … Is there any question that freshman Kiah Stokes has plenty of it right now too. She has clearly turned the corner and has gained an understanding of exactly what the Huskies need from her every day in practice and in games.

Stokes was again impressive against Rutgers, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in 15 minutes. She did not commit a turnover.

When asked if she was a different player right now than she was weeks ago, a smile lit up her face.

“Definitely. I know my teammates are trusting me more, which gives me more confidence and gives them more confidence in me,’’ Stokes said. “And each day at practice the coaches aren’t yelling at me to go harder. They’re yelling at me for, `Oh you should’ve made that cut or this cut.’ So it’s just different. But it’s a lot better.’’

Stokes has raised her season averages to 4.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 13.7 minutes. She is averaging 6.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 16.9 minutes over the last seven games in what has been a breakout stretch for her.

“I think there was just a little switch that went off,’’ UConn starting center Stefanie Dolson said. “I think she has a different mentality during practice and is just playing extremely hard. So I think it just translates onto the court the past couple of games. So hopefully she just keeps improving.’’

Kelly Faris played in the 100th game of her career Saturday.

Rich

Here is my advance for Saturday’s game against Rutgers …

The shots have looked the same to UConn freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis over the past two games. Each one she took she felt as though it was going in the basket. Just it did when she scored 25 points in back-to-back games against Pacific and Stanford earlier this season and again at DePaul Jan. 21.

The major difference in wins over South Florida and No. 5 Duke, however, is the ball did not find the basket with any sense of regularity. In fact, Mosqueda-Lewis finds herself in another shooting slump as the third-ranked Huskies head into Saturday’s game against No. 13 Rutgers at Gampel Pavilion (7; CPTV).

Mosqueda-Lewis is a combined 4-of-20 from the field in this span. She is 3-of-12 from 3-point range. And, as is the case with many elite shooters, she is placing pressure on herself to shed her woes and score.

“I know my team really relies on me for my shooting, and I really rely on myself,’’ Mosqueda-Lewis said. “I kind of put a lot of pressure on myself to actually score and make shots because you know if you practice something so much you expect to perform, you expect to actually profit from working out that much.’’

Mosqueda-Lewis is averaging 5.5 points in the last two games. She scored five points (2-of-10 FG; 1-of-6 3-pointers) in 29 minutes against South Florida Jan. 28 and she had six points (2-of-10 FG; 2-of-6 3-pointers) in 29 minutes at Duke Monday. It is the first time Mosqueda-Lewis has failed to reach double figures in scoring in back-to-back this season.

This is the second time this season that Mosqueda-Lewis has been mired in a 4-of-20 slump over two games. She has also endured a 9-of-31 stretch over two games and she had a three-game stretch where she was 9-of-30.

Mosqueda-Lewis had her off-days shooting during her All-American career at Mater Dei High in California. But she admitted that she didn’t have as many as she has had already at UConn.

“I think she can fix it,’’ UConn assistant coach Shea Ralph said. “I just don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong. I just think she needs to grow up a little bit, and I think that can happen. The more situations we put her in like that, the more chance she has to get out of it. I think she’s a competitor so I think she wants to. And that’s half the battle.’’

Mosqueda-Lewis has been getting extra shots in on her own in between classes or in between practices. And she has also spent time working with UConn guard Bria Hartley.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma has been providing her with positive reinforcement. But he knows that Mosqueda-Lewis emerging from her slump goes well beyond words of encouragement.

“When you release it you either think it’s going in or you think it’s not,’’ Auriemma said. “I think she knows and I think everybody else on the team knows that when she’s open she’s going to shoot it. And she should. I think, more importantly, the thing we want to make sure is we keep getting her open and she keeps getting the same number, nine or 10 3s a night. So I feel like if we get her 10 Saturday night she’s going to make a bunch and we get her 10 on Tuesday night (at Louisville) she’s going to make a bunch. Nothing that happened last game is going to change my mind.’’

To her credit, Mosqueda has not allowed her difficulty shooting the ball alter her focus in other areas of the game. She has continued to be productive defensively and is averaging 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists over the last two games.

Mosqueda-Lewis has had at least seven rebounds in a season-high five straight games.

“The one thing that I want to make sure doesn’t happen is that you don’t get tentative all the way around,’’ Auriemma said. “I don’t want Kaleena to be defined as `I’m a shooter.’ I hope she didn’t come 3,000 miles to shoot the ball. I hope she came here to play basketball. If you get here as a high school All-American and you’re a freshman and you look up and there really aren’t two, three college All-Americans on your team, life’s not going to be so easy for you. So it hasn’t been easy, but she has been really good.’’

Mosqueda-Lewis is averaging 14.1 points, which ranks third on the team, on 41.4 percent shooting from the field (36.2 3-pointers) through the first 22 games. She is also third on the team in rebounds (5.5) and minutes (27.9) and is averaging 2.0 assists.

Mosqueda-Lewis has proven to be an all-around basketball player. Right now she is trying to remain positive that her deft shooting ability will soon return.

“I just try to go out to every game with the same mindset that it’s just another game, just go out and play hard, play the way that you have been in practice and everything should be going pretty well for you,’’ Mosqueda-Lewis said. “I think it’s just a mental thing for me right now. I’ve just got to get it together.’’

Rich

UConn has won seven straight games against Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights enter Saturday’s meeting with the Huskies at Gampel Pavilion reeling after a 54-36 loss at No. 20 Georgetown Jan. 28 and a 71-41 loss to No. 2 Notre Dame at home Tuesday.

Rutgers has shot a combined 30.5 percent from the field (1-of-21 3-pointers) in the two games. The Scarlet Knights likely will also be without senior point guard Khadijah Rushdan for the second straight game due to a concussion suffered against Georgetown. Rushdan is second on the team in scoring (12.7), steals (1.3) and minutes (28.3) and first in assists (3.7).

Still, UConn coach Geno Auriemma is hardly taking Rutgers lightly. To him, it’s still Rutgers and he expects another physical, defensive-oriented game.

“Obviously, they’re a much different team without (Rushdan) in the lineup,’’ Auriemma said. “She’s I think a fifth-year senior if I’m not mistaken. She’s been there through a lot of different scenarios. And I know in the DePaul game (a 65-64 win Jan. 24) when they were struggling she pretty much took the game in her own hands. And you’ve seen what happened the last two games where they’ve struggled a little bit without her. But at the same time with April Sykes and Erica Wheeler, you’ve got two of the better players in our league. So I know they’ve struggled the last couple of games, but Rutgers is Rutgers. They make you struggle too. So that’s why it’s so impressive that DePaul went in there and played them great and lost a heartbreaker. And Notre Dame went in there and they must have played really, really well. I just think it’s Rutgers. And year in and year out you’re going to get the same kind of game. It’s going to be a defensive struggle. It’s going to be hard to get good shots. It’s going to be hard to get points. It’s going to be very physical. So regardless of who’s in the lineup or who’s starting, who’s not starting, who’s hurt, who’s not hurt, it’s still Rutgers.’’

The Scarlet Knights are the last team to beat the Huskies at both Gampel Pavilion (60-56 Feb. 7, 2006) and at the XL Center (55-47 March 6, 2007).

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer continues to hold out hope that Rushdan will be able to play tomorrow.

“I’m holding my breath hoping that the trainer comes to me (with the OK) when everybody else is on the floor warming up,’’ Stringer said. “We just don’t know. It’s day to day.’’

Rich

The Huskies had seen Kevin Hart perform in movies such as Scary Movie 4, Soul Plane, Fool’s Gold, Along Came Polly and Superhero Movie. They have see some of his stand-up comedy clips on YouTube. And they were in attendance Wednesday when Hart headlined UConn’s Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts.

Now the Huskies can say that they played basketball against Hart at Gampel Pavilion too.

“We went to the show,’’ freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis said. “We were waiting afterwards and hoping that maybe he’ll walk out. We talked to the other comedians and got to know them. They were super chill. They were like, `We’ve seen some of your games.’ And there was like other people around. We were taking pictures with all the comedians and then all of a sudden they were like, `Kevin’s a basketball fan too.’ And we were like, `Oh that’s cool.’ And then somehow we started talking about basketball and they were like, `Oh yeah, we’ll play you guys….’ We came over the Gampel and we were here just getting shots up because we were all here after the Kevin Hart show. And the whole crew shows up. They’re like, `Let’s go. We’re going to get you guys. Up to 11.’ We ended up playing like five games of 5-on-5 full court.’’

The Huskies never back down from a challenge. They took on Hart and his crew, beating them in every game.

“They weren’t very good,’’ sophomore Stefanie Dolson said. “It was hilarious.’’

The only members of the Huskies that did not play were Caroline Doty, Lauren Engeln and Michala Johnson.

“It was a lot of fun,’’ Mosqueda-Lewis said. “The last (game) was pretty close. They were getting … Pride was in the way. One was really athletic and then Kevin was pretty good. Like you could tell when he was younger he was good. He was crossing people over, pull-up jump shots. I was like, `Dang, he’s good.’ And he’s all of 5-foot-4. He’s short.’’

Here is one of Hart’s tweets regarding the pick-up games: “Big S/O 2 @kstokes41 @bbybri13 @tiphayes3 @MJ_Mickey25 @LCE12 @bigmommastef @kaleena23 @Breezyyy14 @cdoty5 The Lady Huskies, we let yall win”

 Rich

Overcoming obstacles is nothing new for UConn guard Caroline Doty. She has pushed past three tears of the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee to resume her career. She overcame a sprained left ankle this preseason and, most recently, a bone bruise in her left knee.

Returning to the court, though, is only the first step. Doty is not satisfied with being back in the starting lineup for the third-ranked Huskies. She wants to again be a player that the team can rely on to contribute on a game-to-game basis. And through the first 21 games this season, that had not been the case.

Doty had struggled offensively to get to the basket off the dribble and to score from the perimeter. However, with a chance for UConn to secure a confidence-building win against No. 5 Duke Monday, she rediscovered her shooting touch and played a significant role in a 61-45 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“It helps a lot,’’ Doty said. “There’s still so much work to be done, but to have a game like this … If I continue to work hard hopefully there’s going to be more games like this game. Make this kind of like the norm for myself. But that’s just me putting a lot of pressure on myself knowing that there’s going to be a few games here and there. But if I can have more good games than OK games I’ll be happy with that.’’

Doty, who entered the game shooting 40.0 percent from the field (37.3 percent from 3-point range), finished with 11 points (4-of-5 FG), three rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes. She made all three of her 3-point attempts and committed just one turnover on a night when UConn committed 21.

Doty had scored a combined 10 points in her last three games and had reached double figures in scoring once in her previous seven games and only five times in her first 20.

“She hasn’t made any shots,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “She hasn’t made a lot of shots in practice. She didn’t make a lot of shots in shootaround. I think she’s been struggling a little bit. In and out with the knee bothering her and not bothering her. And I think when she made her first one I think that kind of let the air out a little bit. People forget Caroline knocked in some big shots when she played her sophomore year. I’m just happy to get her back to that point where she feels like she’s contributing. When you’re coming back from injuries like she has sometimes you wonder whether or not you’re contributing. She’s the first one out all the time. We’ve got Kaleena (Mosqueda-Lewis) coming off (the bench) and everybody talking about … It’s always the new kid in town. And I think Caroline just wants to feel like she’s contributing. And I think (Monday) she certainly did that. And I was thrilled for her.’’

Doty was forced to sit out UConn’s game at Syracuse Jan. 25 with the aforementioned bone bruise in her knee. It was an injury she suffered at DePaul Jan. 21 when she played only two minutes, 20 seconds. And she looked rusty in her return Saturday against South Florida, finishing with three points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field (1-of-5 3-pointers) in 26 minutes.

The rust had all but disappeared Monday as Doty recorded five points, two rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes in the first half. She then made a 3-pointer with 18:34 left in the game to give UConn a 34-25 lead.

Doty made another 3-pointer with 12:46 left to cap an 8-0 run that staked the Huskies to a 42-29 lead.

“It was unfortunate with the knee bruise,’’ Doty said. “We’re just fortunate that it was only that minor setback. It felt good to come out and be able to feel comfortable again, get that confidence back up. But you take one day at a time, one game at a time. I just hope that I can come back and be consistent at practice and then keep moving forward throughout the rest of the season.’’

Doty is averaging 6.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 21.0 minutes in 21 games this season. She is shooting 41.7 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from 3-point range and has a team-high 1.8 assists to turnover ratio.

Following an off-day today, Doty will look to build on her success against Duke in practice Thursday. The Huskies have eight games remaining in the regular season, including four against ranked opponents. This will provide her with ample opportunity to build some momentum heading into the postseason.

“I’m really proud of her,’’ UConn sophomore Bria Hartley said. “She works hard all the time. You know her heart is in this every time she steps on the court. And for her to come out and play this well (Monday) it’s a good thing for her and I’m really happy for her.’’

Rich

Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie was asked to comment on the significant contribution of UConn’s 6-foot-3 freshman center Kiah Stokes following Monday’s game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. At first, McCallie did not know quite how to answer the question. So she took a look at the final boxscore for some assistance.

When she saw that Stokes had finished with four points had season-highs of 12 rebounds, five blocks and 28 minutes in UConn’s 61-45 victory, McCallie knew exactly what to say.

“Probably the difference maker in the game,’’ McCallie said. “I didn’t realize she corralled 12 rebounds, which is more than anybody on our team. And she’s a sub off the bench. Yeah, she deserves a lot of kudos for that. I didn’t realize that she collected that many.’’

Stokes came through on a night when UConn badly needed her to. Starting center Stefanie Dolson picked up her second foul just three minutes, 56 seconds into the game. UConn coach Geno Auriemma did not hesitate in sending Stokes to the scorers table to take her shot at defending Duke’s talented 6-3 freshman center Elizabeth Williams. And Stokes, who continues to improve, responded.

“That was two pretty good freshmen going at each other,’’ Auriemma said. “I think Elizabeth right now is little more advanced as an offensive player than Kiah is. But it hasn’t been often this year that the coaches were telling me to get Kiah in for defense because she was going to alter shots and rebound the ball. She’s such an athletic individual and she’s got such long reach that something like this is what you expect of her when you see her. But it’s been a little bit difficult getting it out of her. But we keep going to her and keep going to her because we had always hoped that this is there somewhere. It’s just getting it out of her.’’

Stokes got rolling immediately, producing two points, two rebounds and a steal in the first 2:44 she was on the court. It was only the beginning.

Stokes would generate seven rebounds and four blocks in 13 minutes in the second half when UConn took command. She had a key blocked shot on Williams with 8:09 left in the game and Duke looking to cut the Huskies’ lead to 10. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis made a 3-pointer 11 seconds later to stake UConn to a 48-33 lead.

“I guess I could be (happy), but I can’t be happy with this one game,’’ Stokes said. “I have to continue to grow from this and continue to play hard every day and get rebounds and block shots. That I know I can do to help my team. Doing anything to help our team is all I can do. And I know that my teammates are gaining a little more trust in me so I’ve got to continue to keep that. I don’t want to let my teammates down, that’s No. 1.’’

Mosqueda-Lewis missed each of her first six shots, including three 3-pointers, in the first half Monday. Auriemma wanted to make sure that she did not get tentative and stop shooting the ball in the second half so he had a talk with her at halftime.

Mosqueda-Lewis heeded Auriemma’s advice. And the first shot she took in the second half was one of the biggest of the game. Her 3-pointer with 16:13 left in the game stopped a run of four straight points by Duke and gave UConn a 37-29 lead.

Mosqueda-Lewis missed one more shot before connecting on a second 3-pointer with 7:58 left that gave the Huskies a 48-33 lead. She finished with six points (2-of-10 FG; 2-of-6 3-pointers), seven rebounds and two steals in 29 minutes.

“I’m always telling her, `You should never be worried about taking a shot,’’’ Auriemma said. “She passed up a couple shots (Monday) too. And that’s what happens. Young kids start missing and they go, `OK, I’m not going to shoot it.’ And I let her know about it at halftime and on the bench. I said, `You’re out there for a reason.’ So hopefully she doesn’t let it bother her. But when you’re a young kid and you know people are counting on you to make shots and you’re not it’s easy to just say, `OK, well I don’t want to hurt the team anymore so I’ll stop shooting.’ But those two she made were huge. No question about it. They were really, really huge.’’

Huskies’ assistant coach Shea Ralph is going to see Saniya Chong, a 5-9 junior guard from Ossining (N.Y.) High, play Tuesday night in New Jersey. Assistant coach Marisa Moseley is leaving on a recruiting trip to California. One of the players she is taking a look at is Karlie Samuelson, a 5-11 junior guard from Edison High.

Rich

Tiffany Hayes has crashed to the floor so many times during her career that you just expect her to bounce back up and continue competing. But after she banged heads with Duke’s Shay Selby with 3:24 left in the first half Monday Hayes did not get right back up.

She remained on the floor for several minutes before making her way to the UConn bench. Hayes sat out the rest of the half. She did not start the second half and again returned to the locker room with team athletic trainer Rosemary Ragle with about 16 minutes left in the game.

Ragle performed some more tests and Hayes was back on the court for the Huskies with 12:43 left. She would finish with eight points (3-of-10 FG), five rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes.

“I didn’t see it,’’ Auriemma said. “We have this thing on our team that you can’t be laying on the floor there like that and expect to stay in the game. So you either get up and you keep playing or if you lay down there you’re coming out. None of this crap where a kid lays there for five minutes and plays the next 25 like nothing happened. You’re either hurt or you’re not. So when she stayed down I knew something happened. And when she came out she didn’t look good. And that’s why we didn’t start her the second half because Rosemary wanted to take her back down there again and put her through the whole tests that the athletic trainers have for the kids when they get hit in the head. She gave us the thumbs up and said everything’s fine. We were prepared to play the whole second half without her if we had to. When I came upstairs to start the second half I didn’t think she was going to play in the second half. I didn’t think she was going to play.’’

Rich

The Huskies had an 11-point lead at No. 1 Baylor with 13:17 left in the game Dec. 18. They lost 66-61.

The Huskies led by as many as eight in the second half at No. 2 Notre Dame Jan. 7 and had a chance to win the game in the final 20 seconds of regulation. They lost 74-67 in overtime.

The Huskies have yet another opportunity to win a game on the road against a Top 5 opponent tonight when they face No. 5 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium (7; ESPN2). UConn coach Geno Auriemma has been preaching that good teams win on the road, and the players have absorbed his message.

“Coach always says the good teams are the ones that win on the road,’’ junior Kelly Faris said. “And the two big challenges that we’ve had on the road, we’ve lost. And I think more so, not that the other teams didn’t play well, I think it was more one of those things that we lost it. We had the lead and we just couldn’t contain it. It would be a big win for us to kind of finally buckle down and finish a game off on the road.’’

Said freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis: “Coach has been talking about great teams win on the road. And I definitely feel like we are one of the great teams and that we can be great. We just have to show it. We gave up two leads on the road that we should’ve never gave up. We’ve just got to make sure that once we get that lead we’ve got to make sure we stay on top of everything. We’ve got to make sure we’re capitalizing on all of our defensive steals. We’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of the ball. We’ve got to make sure we rebound. All those things that Coach has been harping on every day in practice we’ve got to make sure that we do that the whole game.’’

Mosqueda-Lewis will be seeking some personal redemption as well. Sure, she scored 15 points against Baylor. But after giving UConn a 50-39 lead with a jumper with 13:17 remaining, she missed her final six shots.

Mosqueda-Lewis scored only seven points against Notre Dame, one of only four games this season that she has failed to reach double figures. She also attempted a season-low seven shots in the game, going scoreless and attempting only three shots over the final 26 minutes, 36 seconds that she was on the floor.

“Both games I came out pretty strong,’’ Mosqueda-Lewis said. “I did well. I scored within the first couple minutes I was out there and then after that I kind of disappeared. I went away. But I’ve been working on that. I’ve been trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again and I’m going to do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen at Duke. And I’m pretty sure it won’t.’’

Mosqueda-Lewis admitted that the magnitude of the game affected her play in UConn’s only losses this season. And entering tonight’s game against the Blue Devils, she believes that she has made the necessary changes to succeed down the stretch.

“I definitely was probably feeling a little overwhelmed,’’ Mosqueda-Lewis said. “But I don’t know what really happened. I kind of just froze once I was out there and once it got towards the end. And I probably did look at Bria (Hartley) and say, `OK, well, Bria’s doing good. So let’s just let Bria keep doing it.’

“I definitely do (feel it’s going to be different). I have a lot more confidence in myself. I know what I need to do at the end of the game. I know that I’ve been paying a lot more attention to everything that Coach has been saying in our huddles during the game. I know that I need to execute every single time I go out there.’’

Not only will two of the top teams in the nation be squaring off tonight, but the game will feature the nation’s top two freshmen in Mosqueda-Lewis and Duke 6-foot-3 center Elizabeth Williams.

Mosqueda-Lewis is averaging 14.5 points and 5.4 rebounds in 27.8 minutes for the Huskies. She has scored at least 21 points in five games this season, three times scoring 25. Williams, who has already set Duke’s single-season freshman record for blocks (73), is averaging team-highs of 14.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in 29.6 minutes. She has scored at least 20 points in three games and has one triple double (18 points, 16 rebounds, 12 blocks vs. Wake Forest Jan. 6) and three double-doubles.

“It’s going to be exciting,’’ Mosqueda-Lewis said. “I know it’s going to be a battle for our post players inside and it’s going to be up to us guards to put a lot of pressure on their guards to make them do tough things and make it not easy for them to get it inside to her because Elizabeth is a great post player. She’s one of the best post players that I’ve played with probably ever. She’s really aggressive. She runs the floor really well. She’s just one of those post players that’s kind of hard to stop. You have to pick and choose what you’re going to let her do, where you’re going let her get position at. It’s going to be tough.’’

Mosqueda-Lewis, Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley were teammates with Williams on the USA U-19 World Championship team that won the gold medal in Chile last July. Mosqueda-Lewis and Williams on the U-17 World Championship team that won the gold medal in France in 2010. And Mosqueda-Lewis, Kiah Stokes and Williams were teammates on the U-16 National Team that won the gold medal in Mexico City in 2009.

Rich