UConn women's basketball

2010-11 UConn women’s basketball schedule

Nov. 4 vs. Franklin Pierce (exhibition) at Gampel Pavilion, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 10 Indiana University (Pa.) (exhibition) at XL Center, 7 p.m.

Nov. 14 vs. Holy Cross at Gampel Pavilion, 2 p.m.

Nov. 16 State Farm Tip-Off Classic vs. Baylor at XL Center, 6 p.m.
(ESPN2)

Nov. 21 at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m.

Nov. 26 World Vision Challenge vs. Howard at Gampel Pavilion, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 27 World Vision Challenge vs. Lehigh at Gampel Pavilion, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 28 World Vision Challenge vs. LSU at Gampel Pavilion, 4:30 p.m.

Dec. 2 at South Florida, TBD

Dec. 5 vs. Sacred Heart at XL Center, 1 p.m.

Dec. 9 vs. Marquette at Gampel Pavilion, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 19 Maggie Dixon Classic vs. Ohio State at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 vs. Florida State at XL Center, 7 p.m.

Dec. 28 at Pacific, 10 p.m.

Dec. 30 at Stanford, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)

Jan. 5 vs. Villanova at Gampel Pavilion, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 8 at Notre Dame, 2 p.m.

Jan. 12 at St. John’s at Madison Square Garden, 9:30 p.m.

Jan. 15 vs. Louisville at XL Center, TBD

Jan. 17 at North Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Jan. 22 vs. Pittsburgh at Gampel Pavilion, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 26 at Rutgers, TBD

Jan. 29 at Cincinnati, TBD

Jan. 31 vs. Duke at Gampel Pavilion, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Feb. 5 vs. DePaul at Gampel Pavilion, 2 p.m.

Feb. 8 at West Virginia, 7 p.m.

Feb. 12 at Providence at Dunkin Donuts Center, TBD

Feb. 14 vs. Oklahoma at XL Center, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Feb. 19 vs. Notre Dame at Gampel Pavilion, TBA

Feb. 22 vs. Seton Hall at XL Center, 7 p.m.

Feb. 26 at Georgetown, 3 p.m.

Feb. 28 vs. Syracuse at Gampel Pavilion, 7:30 p.m.

March 4-8 Big East tournament at XL Center, TBD

Rich

The Huskies will be the first women’s basketball team to be featured during ESPU’s Midnight Madness coverage Oct. 15, it was announced today. Bob Picozzi and Kara Lawson will be at Gampel Pavilion for First Night festivities and will tape some footage that will air on the four-hour program that begins at 9 p.m.

Rich

Progress is the key to any rehabilitation process. And right now, just weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn the anterior cruciate ligament and a slight tear of the posterior meniscus in her left knee, Huskies’ guard Caroline Doty said Wednesday that she already has full range of motion in her right knee and is bending her left knee to 90 degrees.

Remember, one-third of the patellar tendon was removed from her right knee and placed in her left knee during the procedure Aug. 31.

“It feels better,’’ Doty said. “It gets better every day. With the amount of pain that I was feeling after surgery it was a lot faster than I thought it would be. We’re pretty conservative. It’s still like early on. I’ve been putting a limited amount of pressure on it, but everything I can do it feels great.’’

Doty is spending between two and three hours in the training room at a time in an attempt to come back from her third ACL tear in her left knee. She has also been sending time with the Huskies during their workouts and off the court as well. She will not play this season, but that has not left her feeling disconnected from the team.

“They’ve all been great,’’ Doty said. “Tiffany (Hayes) has been helping me day in and day out making sure I’m OK. The freshmen help me, getting some stuff at the Union. Tiffany makes sure I’m up. She lets me know when the workouts are, makes sure that if anybody comes near me that they’d better watch out. But everybody’s been around like nothing else happened.’’
“Shea (Ralph’s) been 100 percent backing me up with what to do and what procedure to do because she’s been through so many (ACL surgeries). So she’s really been someone I can really look too to know how to act with this stuff. As for the whole coaching thing or what to do on the sideline they already talked about it this past weekend that I’m going to be right next to (Chris Dailey). So once the players come off they’re going to talk to CD and once they sit down I can kind of see if they have any questions with what CD or Coach (Geno Auriemma) wants them to do. (In 2008-09) when I couldn’t be on the bench because of my brace and being in the back that’s the worst. You feel like a fan. Being up there with the coaches you can hear what they say. I’m having a blast trying to learn everything I can.’’

Doty said she never once felt her career was in jeopardy when she again suffered a torn ACL. She has already come back from two prior surgeries. She knows she can come back from one more.

Doty has two years of eligibility remaining in her career.

“Of, course it was like a possibility,’’ Doty said. “`Oh, it’s your third time. There’s a possibility you might not play any more.’ I’m like, `Yeah, right. I came back from two. Why can’t I come back from three?’ I take it day by day and know that everything happens for a reason. And I’m just going to take it and whatever I’m told to do I’m going to do it the best I can. (Team doctor Robert Arciero) just feels really comfortable. The surgery went really well. And he has no doubt in his mind that I will come back 100 percent next season.’’

Former UConn forward Kaili McLaren is playing professionally in Greece. “I was so happy for her,’’ senior Lorin Dixon said. “She was so excited. I was so proud of her.’’

The expectation is that the Huskies will play two Big East games in December for the first time since the 1998-99 season (at Notre Dame Dec. 8, 1998; at Villanova Dec. 29, 1998) and for the fourth time in team history (1996-97, 1997-98). They played three games before Jan. 1 in 1997.
The schedule is due to be released within the next few days.

Rich

Former Huskies guard Jacquie Fernandes was named the Fairfield director of basketball operations today, Stags coach Joe Frager announced. Fernandes will be responsible for team travel and the day-to-day operations of the women’s basketball office.

“I am very pleased to add Jacqui to our staff,’’ Frager said. “Jacqui has been a winner, not just in college, but throughout her high school career as well. With her enthusiasm and work ethic, she is a welcome addition.’’

Fernandes recently served as an intern in the UConn women’s basketball office where she assisted the coaching staff as it prepared for the July recruiting period and also served as a liaison to other athletic departments nationwide. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology in May and worked in the UConn Video Department during her senior year, formulating tape for the Huskies’ film sessions.

Rich

Holy Cross has released its schedule. UConn will host the Crusaders in the season opener at Gampel Pavilion Nov. 14 at 2 p.m.

Rich

Several months ago the odds-on guess was that Sara Hammond, a 6-foot-2 senior forward from Mount Vernon, KY, was going to sign and play for Louisville. But much has changed since UConn began recruiting her this summer. So much so that today Eddie Hammond called the race between the two Big East rivals a “toss-up.’’

That’s how well Hammond’s official visit to UConn went last weekend. The family met with academic advisors. They had breakfast with Huskies’ coach Geno Auriemma and other members of the coaching staff. Sara, who was hosted by sophomores Kelly Faris and Heather Buck, had the chance to hangout with the Huskies and get to know them a little bit. She also played pick-up with them and former Huskies’ guard Kalana Greene.

“We had a great weekend,’’ Eddie Hammond said. “We really did. Sara had a real good time getting to know the players. And that’s really one of the things that she wanted to do more than anything was, particularly the five freshmen coming in, she wanted to get a feel about the kids that she would be playing with, how she might fit in. Because even though you do build a relationship with a coaching staff, these are people that you’re going to spend day in and day out with. You want to have a good feel for them. And she loved the campus. I just got off the phone with Coach (Marisa) Moseley just a little while ago. I told her, `Obviously, Connecticut’s come in here sort of … I don’t want to say at the last minute. Because Sara’s been recruited by Louisville and Vandy and some of these other schools in the area probably for a couple of years. Louisville, probably of all of those schools, was a school that was probably in the lead the whole time. But I told her it’s sort of like a political race where you have this newcomer all of a sudden that comes on in the polls. Somebody may be in the lead, but then right at the last minute it’s sort of this toss-up. I think that’s sort of the way it is right now.’’

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, a 6-0 senior wing from Anaheim, Calif. who has orally committed to play for UConn, also made a official visit with Hammond. Juniors Moriah Jefferson, a 5-6 guard from Glenn Heights, Texas, and Michaela Mabrey, a 5-9 guard from Holmdel, N.J., made unofficial visits.

Hammond, who is ranked No. 12 in the Class of 2011 by ESPN HoopGurlz, is no longer considering Vanderbilt or Western Kentucky. Louisville coach Jeff Walz will make a home visit Thursday. UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey and Moseley will make a home visit Friday.

Eddie Hammond said that Sara will likely make her final decision this weekend.

Two events that truly stood out for Hammond during her visit to UConn were attending Friday’s exhibition game between the U.S. National Team and Australia at the XL Center and spending time at Auriemma’s home Saturday night following the football game against Texas Southern at Rentschler Field.

“We got to go to the USA/Australia game and that was pretty exciting for Sara because she’s a big Diana Taurasi fan,’’ Eddie Hammond said. “That’s sort of the girl she always grew up wanting to be like. Of course, we’re in the backdoor of Tennessee. We’re probably about an hour and 40 minutes from Knoxville and girl’s basketball in this area has pretty much been Tennessee-dominated for years. But Sara’s a girl that’s always wanted to be Diana Taurasi, always wanted to play for Connecticut. She was always in the minority around here. I told Auriemma the other day none of us are big Orange fans. He said, `I’m not either.’’’

The visit to Auriemma’s home helped the family get to know him on a more personal level and gain a better understanding of what the program is about.

“The big thing was we did go out to Coach’s home,’’ Eddie Hammond said. “Of course, this weekend with the U.S. National team and he had a lot of his family up. So he entertained Sara and her mother and I and Kaleena and the basketball team to come out and meet his family and have a good evening. Of course, we sat down and talked with him while we were out there as well. That was a real impressive visit for us because when you watch somebody on TV for years that’s, obviously, become a household name … And people in places like Kentucky have a persona about how people are and then when you meet these people for real you realize that, `Hey, here’s just a person who had an opportunity and took the most of it and excelled at it by doing the right thing and doing the best thing.’ The approach that they took with us was that this is what we’re about. `If you like it and this is a place you want to come, you’re going to come. And if it’s not something that you like then, hey, that’s OK.’ We didn’t feel very pressured at all. They just really tried to let us know what they’re all about. We’ve heard from a lot of different people (at other schools). And some people have gotten to pressuring a little bit, wanting to know and `we’ve got to move on’ and `we’ve got to schedule other visits’ kind of stuff. So to have that type of a situation was just very refreshing.’’

Hammond averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds last season for Rockcastle County High School. She has been named All-State in three sports – basketball, track and cross country.

“She’s talked to everybody,’’ Eddie Hammond said. “Maryland and Brenda Frese and Gail Goestenkors from Texas. Tara Van Derveer from Stanford. All of them have called. Notre Dame’s probably the only other school that she had mentioned at one time about possibly going to take a visit. But I think after UConn sort of came on the picture she didn’t talk about a lot of those others for a while. And doesn’t anymore.’’

Rich

In just over two months the Huskies will begin their quest for an NCAA record-tying third straight national championship. They’ll do so riding the longest active Division I winning streak in the country.

The Penn State volleyball team had its 109-match winning streak stopped Saturday in a 3-0 loss to Stanford at the Nike Big Four Volleyball Classic in Gainesville, Fla. The Nittany Lions had not lost since dropping a five-set match to Stanford at the Yale Classic Sept. 15, 2007.

UConn has won 78 straight games since an 82-73 loss to Stanford in the national semifinals in Tampa, Fla. April 6, 2008.

Rich

The Supershow/First Night festivities in the middle of October have long been a top showpiece for the Huskies when it comes to impressing recruits. The national championship banners, the national Player of the Year recipients, the Huskies of Honor and a healthy supply of adoring fans at Gampel Pavilion is unlike what most programs in the country can provide.

But if a recruit cannot make a visit during that particular weekend, this weekend will be equally impressive. Huskies/U.S. Senior National Team head coach Geno Auriemma and a host of elite players open training camp today in Hartford and will play a pair of exhibition games at the XL Center in Hartford Friday against Australia and Sunday against Spain.

Seniors Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, a 6-foot-0 wing from Anaheim, Calif., who has orally committed to play for UConn, and Sara Hammond, a 6-2 forward from Mount Vernon, KY, will make a visit over the next couple of days. Mosqueda-Lewis is ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2011 by ESPNU HoopGurlz. Hammond is No. 12.

Former UConn players Tina Charles, Asjha Jones, Renee Montgomery and Diana Taurasi and current Huskies’ senior All-American Maya Moore are all expected to compete for the U.S.

According Brian Stewart, whose daughter Breanna is the top player in the Class of 2012, UConn also invited her to visit this weekend. However, the family could not make it work.

Stewart, a 6-4 forward from North Syracuse, N.Y, is currently planning to visit Duke Oct. 14 during a family vacation to North Carolina. She also wants to visit Virginia and Notre Dame at some point, and Brian said there is a possibility of attending UConn’s game against Baylor at the XL Center Nov. 16.

“The way it is with them right now is they’d love to have her out there whenever she can get there,’’ Brian Stewart said. “They really want her there. I kicked around the idea of the Baylor game with Breanna. We haven’t made any plans, though. I know we’re going to. She wants to go back out there before the end of the year.’’

UConn, Penn State, Duke, Virginia, Kentucky, Louisville, Notre Dame and Syracuse are some of the schools Breanna is considering at this point. Brian Stewart said that “it’s fair to say’’ that UConn has offered Breanna a scholarship.

“We don’t talk about it that much,’’ Brian Stewart said. “Have we gotten a letter that said we are offering you a scholarship? We’ve gotten a lot of those from other places. But I don’t think that that’s been necessary from UConn. We know they want her. We feel there’s a very mutual interest. She’s had offers from several schools. I know in my heart that they have Breanna as a top recruit. I think they really like her and a lot of schools do because I think Breanna is very … I’ve heard the word `coachable.’ She comes across like she could easily fit into their program because she’s like a sponge to me. She’s very easy going and very eager to learn.’’
“I know there’s certain schools, including UConn, that are probably going to be there at the end that’s for sure. How do you not have UConn on your list if they think that highly of you? But right now she’s uncommitting. We talk about it a lot and we’ve gone back and forth a little bit with it. And we’ve kind of sent the message right at this moment Breanna and I and her AAU coach they just want to kind of lay low and not have too much contact in the next couple of months. Because of the floodgates that have opened she wants to just kind of focus on the schools that she’s already established relationships with. And that’s not to say she’s not open to, for example, an Oregon that has shown a lot of interest. But right now it would be so overwhelming for her. I think she wants to enjoy the beginning of her junior year. She had a busy summer and she has no idea so she doesn’t want to strain her brain with the idea of doing too much. But she’s certainly thrilled with the schools that are interested in her and I know she’s talked to UConn on a couple of different occasions. Coach (Chris) Dailey. Coach Auriemma. She’s kept in touch with them. She’s talked to them a couple times since she’s been back (from France) as well as some other coaches like Coach Muffet (McGraw) from Notre Dame.’’

Senior Betnijah Laney, a 6-0 wing from Clayton, Del, said Wednesday that she has not yet set up all of her official visits. Senior Kiah Stokes, a 6-3 forward from Marion, Iowa, will make an official visit to UConn for First Night Oct. 15 and the first day of practice the following day.

Rich