UConn women's basketball

The first live chat of the season will be Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. Stop by to discuss the hottest team in the history of the game.

Rich

Samarie Walker fouled out with 9:44 left in the second half. Stefanie Dolson fouled out with 7:24 left. UConn trailed 54-48 at the time. Geno Auriemma had no choice but to call on seldom used center Heather Buck.

Had it not been for all of the fouls Buck might not have even played in the game. Playing the most valuable minutes of her career, Buck managed to hold her own against Baylor’s 6-8 center Brittney Griner as the Huskies rallied from an eight-point deficit to post a 65-64 win.

“It might have been the best thing that happened to Heather, the other day,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “And then (Tuesday) too. (Tuesday) was probably the best thing. But the other day was good. The other day we were playing 5-on-5, and I said, `Heather, as long as you’re on the court, we’re playing 5-on-4. You’ve been here three years, and we’re still playing 5-on-4. So by the end of today, we’re either playing 5-on-5 with you on the court and you’re going to start paying us back for your scholarship or you’re going to leave and never come back because we’re going to kill you today. And you know what? I think it helped. Because then when she went in (Tuesday), she actually had a little bit of umph to her. Maybe that was an important seven minutes for her because if those guys hadn’t fouled out, I might not have put her in.’’

Buck grabbed a rebound on a missed lay-up by Melissa Jones with 4:12 left and UConn trailing 58-55. Bria Hartley tied the game with a 3-pointer at the other end.

Buck drew an offensive foul on Griner with 2:28 left and the game tied at 60. Hartley hit a go-ahead 3-pointer at the other end. You get the picture here. Although Buck did not score a point down the stretch, she was instrumental in one of UConn’s best wins during its current 80-game winning streak.

“I’m so proud of her,’’ All-American Maya Moore said. “She wasn’t in there long, but when she was in there she made a difference. And that’s all we can ask. It’s your job when Coach calls your name to go in and execute what we’ve been working on. So I hope she’ll gain a lot of confidence from this and she’ll build on it. And I’m just proud of the way she was ready. She could’ve come in and just thought, `Oh, I’m not playing’ and been soft. But she was into it. She brought energy. You could just see it when she ran from the bench into the game that she was ready to go.’’

Aside from having Walker and Dolson foul out, Hartley and Kelly Faris finished with four fouls. Tiffany Hayes had three. The Huskies were whistled for 22 fouls by the officiating crew of Dee Kantner, Eric Brewton and Maj Forsberg.

It was the most fouls for the Huskies since they were called for 25 in an 82-76 loss at North Carolina Jan. 15, 2007. They had been called for as many than 20 just four times in the previous 137 games.

“There were a lot of (darn) fouls called (Tuesday),’’ Auriemma said. “They were protecting (Griner), the big kid. She’s 6-8. She doesn’t need protecting. Then when I had Kara Wolters I said, `Hey just because she’s 6-8 doesn’t mean she fouls all the time.’’’

From the desk of Captain Obvious: Faris needs to be more involved offensively. She had two points and took just one shot – a missed 3-pointer with 6:00 left in the first half.

“I don’t think she was great at anything other than fouling,’’ Auriemma said.

Of course, Faris did get the offensive rebound and the assist on Hartley’s go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:08 left.

The UConn/Baylor game drew a 10.6 market rating. It was the highest regular-season women’s college basketball game in the Hartford DMA since Jan. 19, 2009 (UConn/UNC, 10.9 rating).

The ESPN family of networks will air approximately 250 women’s college basketball games this season. It announced it broadcasters Tuesday. The `A’ team of Dave O’Brien (play-by-play) and Doris Burke (color), who called the games at the Final Four last season in San Antonio, will again work together. They will call UConn’s game at Stanford Dec. 30.
Sideline reporter Rebecca Lobo will also provide game and studio analysis this season.
The most noticeable addition to ESPN’s broadcasting team is former UConn forward Tamika (Williams) Raymond. She joins the network as a game analyst.

Rich

By no means was UConn freshman Samarie Walker being disrespectful in her postgame comments Tuesday night at the XL Center. She truthfully had not seen a 6-foot-8 woman before matching up with Baylor All-American Brittney Griner in a nationally televised showdown between two of the elite teams in women’s basketball.

Former Huskies’ All-American and Olympic gold medalist Kara Wolters is 6-7. There is no one like Griner in the college game right now. And in the second game of her college career, it was Walker’s assignment to try to contain her despite a seven-inch differential in height.

“Stepping up there next to her I was like, `Oh, my goodness. She really is big,’’’ Walker said. “But once I was out there I just completely forgot about the height difference and I just played her as if we were the same height. It was a new experience. But it was very exciting to be given the duty of guarding her.’’

Walker said her main objective was to keep her from scoring. There are not too many post players that have been able to do what she did against Griner for a long stretch in top-ranked UConn’s coming-of-age 65-64 victory. Walker held Griner scoreless for the final 15:42 of the first half.

In all, Griner was scoreless for a stretch of 21:47. The Huskies were exceptional providing help-defense on Griner, but Walker stood up to the challenge of defending the country’s premier post player.

Walker also totaled four points, seven rebounds and two steals in 25 minutes before fouling out with 9:44 remaining in the game.

“I thought Samarie was unbelievable,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “She really was. She is really something else. I didn’t want to take her out. Once she got in there and I saw what she was doing and how she was going about it, I didn’t want to take her out. She’s a competitor. Samarie is the strongest player on the team. She’s big enough and strong enough physically that she can keep people from going where they want to go.’’

Walker was one of the many players who emerged during UConn’s most difficult win in what is now an 80-game winning streak. The Huskies learned they are talented enough to build a 15-point lead on the second-ranked team in the country. They learned they have enough fortitude to overcome a fairly significant second-half deficit, which was as large as eight points, to earn a win.

And they learned that despite being freshmen, players like Walker and especially point guard Bria Hartley can make impact plays at the most opportune spots in a game.
“This is a new group,’’ UConn All-American Maya Moore said. “We haven’t been in this situation before. But I think they answered a lot of questions, (Hartley and Walker) specifically. They proved a lot to themselves and to our team.’’

The Huskies will play their first road game of the season at Georgia Tech Sunday. This will provide another test as they navigate through a difficult schedule that has match-ups against No. 7 Ohio State Dec. 19, No. 16 Florida State Dec. 21 and at No. 3 Stanford Dec. 30 before the end of the calendar year.

“When we go to Georgia Tech on Sunday our freshmen aren’t going to be freshmen any more,’’ Auriemma said. “If I could’ve written a scenario I don’t know that I couldn’t have written it better for all the things you wanted to come out of the game so that you could help your team move on. We played great. We played lousy. We made big plays, dumb plays. It’s the second game of the year and there’s a lot of pressure on these kids. A lot. A lot more than you think.’’

Rich

Freshmen Bria Hartley and Stefanie Dolson are listed in the starting lineup for UConn. Both players came off the bench Sunday against Holy Cross.

Also, UConn 2012 recruits Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck are seated in the first row behind the Huskies’ bench.

Rich

Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor has nominated UConn coach Geno Auriemma for its “Sportsman of the Year’’ award. It is presented annually to the person/team who has excelled in athletic performance and demonstrated great character.

Taylor nominated Auriemma for the Huskies’ 39-0 season in 2009-2010 when they won their second straight national championship and “for his remarkable ability to inspire greatness from his players at all times.’’

Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, former Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, figure skater Evan Lysacek, tennis star Rafael Nadel, Thunder forward Kevin Durant, Phillies right-hander Roy Halladay, the Butler men’s basketball team, golfer Lorena Ochoa, Capitals left wing Brooks Laich and Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy have also been nominated. There will be about 25 nominees.

SI will announce its choice for “Sportsman of the Year” Nov. 29.

Below is Taylor’s nomination column:

“Last February, back when UConn was absolutely trampling the rest of the field in women’s college basketball on the way to becoming undefeated national champions for the second straight season, I wrote a column that suggested that the Huskies’ dominance was detrimental to their sport. I did not recommend that the UConn women get off the court and into the kitchen, although you might have thought as much, judging from the accusations of sexism that came my way.
Somehow what I wrote was misconstrued as a slam against the Huskies, as though they were to blame for being so far ahead of the pack. On the contrary, I recognize greatness when I see it, and I recognize the architect of that greatness, which is why UConn coach Geno Auriemma is my Sportsman of the Year. It’s not just that Auriemma never lost, it’s that motivating his players to challenge themselves from within when there is no challenge coming from without.

It would have been easy for the Huskies to let their intensity wane while they were crushing all comers, but they rarely, if ever, did. Their defensive pressure never lost its bite. If they missed an open jumper with a 30-point lead, they seemed as irritated with themselves as if it were a tie game with 10 seconds to go. They Huskies didn’t always play perfectly — though they came awfully close — but they invariably played as if they were all scrapping for the last open spot on the roster. UConn’s real opponent was its own high standards, and that was because of the way Auriemma kept the fire lit under them.
Granted, there was motivation in trying to break the NCAA women’s record of 70 consecutive wins, which they did (it’s now 79 and counting), but make no mistake, that goal was secondary. “The main thing that keeps us playing hard isn’t any record,” senior All-America forward Maya Moore said during the season, “it’s keeping that man satisfied. He doesn’t just care about whether we win, he cares about how we play.”

Sportsmanship isn’t always about helping the opponent up or keeping the score manageable. A great sportsman can be relentless in his pursuit of perfection, as Auriemma is, and in that way he lifts his competitors, he dares them to match him. “You know, there’s no law that says I can’t be out-recruited, or that somebody can’t be better than me at Xs and Os, or motivate players better than I can,” he says. “There’s probably somebody out there right now who’s made it their goal to outwork the UConn Huskies, to catch us and pass us.’’
For the sake of the women’s game, I hope he’s right.’’

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/magazine/sportsman/11/08/taylor.auriemma/index.html#ixzz15TrUn4AT

Rich

The streak has been a run of success that might never be duplicated once UConn finally does lose another game. It has to happen at some point, doesn’t it? Huskies’ coach Geno Auriemma certainly thinks so. He has already predicted they will lose this season, ending their run of back-to-back undefeated seasons.

UConn has won 79 straight games dating back to an 82-73 loss to Stanford in the national semifinals in Tampa April 6, 2008. There are those around the country who are hoping that streak ends Tuesday night when the top-ranked Huskies host No. 2 Baylor and 6-foot-8 All-American center Brittney Griner at the XL Center (6; ESPN2). There are those who hope it doesn’t end until the Huskies win at least 89 in a row, which would break the record of 88 straight wins by the UCLA men’s basketball team (1971-74).

Regardless of what side of the fence you’re on, just don’t ask Auriemma, a member of his coaching staff or any of his players to talk at great length about the streak. They are not caught up in the hype one bit. All that matters is that they are in a position to win a third straight national championship – eighth overall – in Indianapolis in April.

“We don’t talk about this stuff,’’ Auriemma said. “Why bother? I mentioned it last year at the Final Four at halftime of the Stanford game. I said, `I think the streak is getting to you guys. So you only need to win one more. You need to win 20 minutes. You don’t have to worry about the streak.’ You know what would be really hard, if you had the same exact team coming back for three years in a row?’ Then you could really talk about it. `You guys haven’t lost in two years.’ And they’ll be like, `Yeah.’ We’ve got guys on our team that … They’ve won one game. And now we’re going to put that on them? Samarie Walker doesn’t know any one of our plays. You think she knows anything about a streak other than, yeah, they told me that we have to win every game at Connecticut. So, to be honest with you, I don’t want to go through this season … If we had everybody back from last year’s team, I would be having some fun with this at other people’s expense, as you know me. But it’s not the same team so I can’t put this on them. It’s not fair to them. This is not their streak. It doesn’t make any sense to me.’’

The Huskies have five freshmen on their active 10-man roster. Caroline Doty is out for the season with a knee injury. That’s why Auriemma doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about the streak. Half of this team was still in high school when this streak was being constructed.

“DiMaggio got all 56 hits himself if I remember correctly,’’ Auriemma said. “He didn’t stop at 40 and then have somebody else get the other 16. I have people in women’s basketball that have a problem when I talk like that. They think like I’m Joan of Arc carrying the torch for the whole game. That if we beat the record we’re better than men’s (basketball), we’re better than John Wooden, we are better than anybody. And I just could give two rips about that. I want my guys to just enjoy coming to the games, playing (and thinking) ‘Hey, I went to Connecticut to win a national championship.’ And I don’t want it to be any more than that. They’re not the saviors of anything. Those guys are so clueless it’s unbelievable.’’

However, while Auriemma does not like to talk about the streak. He does not necessarily want it to end either. He’s a competitor. And so are the Huskies. They would like to extend this run as long as they possibly can.

“Do I want it to end? No,’’ Auriemma said. “If it keeps going I’m fine with it. And I’m fine if it ends. Why would I be one way and not the other way. I know it’s going to end. It’s just a matter of when.
When we had won 39 in a row after Year 1, I didn’t know that we’d hit 78. And certainly last October and November and December when we were putting this (Baylor) game together, the Ohio State game together and all these other knucklehead games we have, don’t you think I would’ve went, `Hey, I’m not sure we ought to do this until February?’ Who cares? I’m sure a lot of people care. How about, `Like, it’s been great.’ If we win Tuesday, it’s still great. And when is greatness going to end? At Georgia Tech? I don’t know. Ohio State? Stanford? North Carolina? Oklahoma? Notre Dame? When’s it going to end? So the excitement’s there. Ninety-nine percent of the country is probably following the game (Tuesday) night in the sports world because it’s a great match-up between two great teams, two great players in Maya Moore and Brittney Griner. Two teams No. 1 and No. 2, and let’s see if they can knock the streak out. So a lot of people are going to be watching (Tuesday) night. Me too.’’

As of this afternoon there were around 3,000 tickets remaining for the game Tuesday.

Rich

Many times it is a “what have you done for me lately” type of thing for Huskies coach Geno Auriemma. That was ever so apparent again today in the season opener against Holy Cross. Freshman Stefanie Dolson had started both exhibition games, averaging 8.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in 20.5 minutes. Heather Buck had played a total of 24 minutes in the games.

Auriemma saw something he did not like from Dolson in practice Saturday and made a change. In fact, he saw something that he did not like from the entire freshman class because he threw all five of them out of practice Saturday.

Auriemma started Buck and he also went with senior Lorin Dixon at point guard instead of freshman Bria Hartley today.

“(Saturday) at some point in practice I realized that … I don’t know what it was,’’ Auriemma said. “I just thought our freshmen … I don’t know whether they’re a little bit nervous or they’re a little bit timid. But they don’t practice nearly like they play in games. And at some point that’s going to catch up to them. So I guess I’m just kind of preparing for down the road when it does catch up to them. You might as well experiment with as many starting lineups as we can and see where that takes us. At some point you’ve got to find out whether Heather Buck can play a little bit, and sitting her on the bench until mop-up time isn’t going to tell us anything. And the same with Lorin. Tuesday night (against No. 2 Baylor) it could be all different. Who knows?’’’

Tiffany Hayes offered her thoughts on Saturday’s practice. She said she had never seen Auriemma throw an entire class out of practice before and she hopes that she never sees it again.

“It was kind of a down practice,’’ Hayes said. “They’ve had their ups and downs and it was a down practice for them. Me and the other upperclassmen had to pick things up and do what needed to get done.’’

Dixon finished with seven points (3-of-4 FG), six rebounds, four assists, two steals and zero turnovers in 27 minutes today. Buck had two points, one rebound, one assist, one block, one steal and one turnover in 15 minutes.

“They were alright,’’ Auriemma said. “I thought Lorin was much better. When the game’s fullcourt and it’s fast paced, the faster we can make it the better for Lorin. And she did a great job making it that way today for the most part. If we can get Lorin to make some shots and feel really good about herself offensively then that changes everything. Everything for her and everything for us. No turnovers and four assists, that’s pretty good. And six rebounds. As long as she doesn’t feel like she has to take a lot of shots … It’s not a good sign when your 5-5 guard gets six rebounds and your 6-3 center gets one. Maybe we should invert our offense. Play our big guys on the perimeter and our guards inside.’’

All-American Maya Moore is confident that the game will help boost Buck’s confidence moving forward. Aside from the 6-5 Dolson and 6-1 freshman Samarie Walker, the Huskies lack depth up front. A regular contribution from Buck would be a plus, especially Tuesday against Baylor’s 6-8 All-American Brittney Griner.

“It absolutely can (help her confidence),’’ Moore said. “It’s up to her. We’re hoping that it does. I’m confident that she’ll use it as a confidence (builder).’’

It was a different experience for sophomore Kelly Faris today when the 2009-10 national championship banner was unveiled. A year ago she witnessed another championship banner unveiled, but as a freshman the 2008-09 national championship had nothing to do with anything she did to help the Huskies prevail that season.

“It’s a little bit different than last year,’’ Faris said. “Last year I wasn’t a part of that. I was excited for everybody on the team and proud of them. But this year was a little bit different for me because I was actually a part of it and was able to contribute. So seeing them pull that down just kind of brought back the memories of last year and the feelings of the buzzer going off and knowing that we had met our goal and we had won the championship. So it was a good feeling.’’

The Huskies executed at a high level offensively throughout the game against the Crusaders. They shot 65.7 percent from the field, including 69.7 percent in the first half. Led by a career-high 32 points from Tiffany Hayes and 21 from Moore, five players scored in double figures.
UConn was 9-of-21 from 3-point range (.421). The Huskies also had 30 assists on 44 field goals and scored 68 points in the paint.

“We spent a lot of time yesterday going over that stuff. A lot,’’ Auriemma said. “And I was just happy that they retained a bunch of it. I think we ran the same stuff for maybe 35 of the 40 minutes. For a young team sometimes it’s good for them to do that because they get into a nice little routine and they can pick up things as they go along and they don’t have to worry about changing up. `What are we doing now? What are we running next?’ So I think the comfort level is what helped with all the open shots and nobody forced anything and there weren’t a whole lot of bad shots. And that’s what happens when you don’t take bad shots and you don’t force it, they go in for the most part.’’

There are about 3,300 tickets remaining for Tuesday’s early-season showdown with No. 2 Baylor at the XL Center (6 p.m.). Fans can purchase tickets on-line at UConnHuskies.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 or by visiting the XL Center Box Office beginning at noon Monday.

Rich

Senior Lorin Dixon will start at point guard for the Huskies over freshman Bria Hartley. And, in a surprise move, Heather Buck will start over freshman Stefanie Dolson at center.

Rich