My Two Cents

Final Four …. here come the Huskies!

East Region MVP Maya Moore scored 25 points, Renee Montgomery added 22, Tina Charles had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Kalana Greene came through with 10 points as UConn advanced to its second straight Final Four — and its 10th overall — with an 83-64 victory over Arizona State at the Sovereign Bank Arena Tuesday night.

The Final Four is now all set. Louisville and Oklahoma will play in the first game at 7 p.m. Sunday night with UConn and Stanford meeting in the second game at 9:30 p.m.

They may not be the greatest photos but here’s Maya Moore (below) being the post game guest of ESPN.

Here’s Renee Montgomery and Maya Moore in the post game press conference

And here’s Renee and Geno Auriemma in the presser:

Here’s some post-game quotes:

UConn coach Geno Auriemma on Renee Montgomery:

“She (Renee) played out of her mind tonight. Renee sees herself as the emotional and floor leader of our team, physically and mentally. In her mind, that’s her responsibility. She’s taken complete accountability to get this team to the Final Four.”

Arizona State’s Briann January on UConn’s offense:

“They’re a great, great offensive team and they’ll make shots if you let them get comfortable and that’s what we did. We didn’t have any weak side help and we let them do what they wanted to do. And if you let great players be comfortable, they’re going to make shots.”

Sun Devils coach Charli Turner Thorne on the UConn-Stanford rematch:

“Stanford is going to be a very tough match up for UConn. If Maya continues to hit three’s like that in transition, that’s really difficult for post players to defend. I think that is going to be the challenge for Stanford. They are also a great offensive team and they rebound as well. I think it’s going to be an outstanding game. Stanford is really peaking now and they’re really playing good basketball. It’s going to be interesting.”

Renee Montgomery on facing Stanford again:

“I’m very excited. Not to show people that I’m the best point guard in the country but just because I’m confident with the team I’m going with this year. It’s great that we do get to play Stanford again. We’re excited to play them and I’m sure they’re excited to play us. I’m just excited for this whole season and how everything has worked out and how everyone has responded. I’m just excited about everything.”

Maya Moore on breaking Kara Wolters single-season scoring record of 694 points (She’s got 712):

“Kara Wolters is one of those special people that when you walk into practice everyday, all you have to do is look up and you see her name in the rafters. She’s a great player. Set history here at UConn. She was a trailblazer. She’s part of the reasons I’ve been able to be in such a great program. It’s an honor for me to even be compared to the great player that she was.”

Fans are starting to settle into the Sovereign Bank Arena for tonight’s NCAA East Regional championship between UConn and Arizona State. Several well-known women’s basketball followers, including Rebecca Lobo, seem to think that the Sun Devils actually have a chance against the Huskies but I don’t see it.

In fact, I see this one shaping up as another dominating performance by UConn with the victory margin falling in the 20- to 25-point range. I mean, if you try and stop Maya Moore, then Renee Montgomery will get you. If you try and stop Montgomery, look out for Tina Charles. No one has been able to shut down the Big Three and Arizona State won’t be able to either.

The Huskies are on the court warming up, that’s Renee Montgomery, center, waiting for her turn in the layup line.

Here in the press room of the Sovereign Bank Arena as the clock ticks toward 6 p.m., about a dozen media members are currently banging away on their laptop computers, pounding out stories for tomorrow’s newspapers. Arizona State and Connecticut went through another day of press conferences with the head coach and the five starters from each team answering questions regarding tomorrow’s East Region championship.

Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne feels the pressure to win tomorrow is squarely on the Huskies shoulders.

“I definitely think the pressure’s on them and it’s huge,” Turner Thorne said. “It’s just seems like nothing short of a national championship is going to satisfy them or anyone else in UConn Nation. Geno’s a great coach, he’s got that scout team beating the crud out of them everyday. Geno and that program know all about diffusing pressure. I think they’re used to that. Obviously, it’s their expectation every year to win the national championship. They’ll be ready to play.”

Here’s Geno on the fact that Arizona State uses nine to 10 players that all average around 15 minutes a game:

“I don’t whether they’ve played like that all season long or because they’re playing in a hockey arena, because they look like a hockey team. They send you out for two or three minutes, you play your shift and they bring out another group and try to wear you out. It’s kind of unusual but it’s effective. It’s going to be a challenge for us.”

Officials at the Sovereign Bank Arena announced Monday afternoon that 4,167 tickets have been sold for tonight’s East Region championship game. With the building configured for 8,455 seats, that means 4,288 are available. On Saturday, attendance was 6,461. Texas A&M coach Gary Blair spoke after his team’s loss to the Sun Devils that the NCAA needs to play in more sites like this, where the people turn out in support of women’s basketball.

“This (New Jersey) is a basketball community. This is what we need to do in the women’s game. The heck with going out west. They can’t put people in the seats,” Blair said in reference to the terrible crowd of 686 that showed up to the Galen Center in Los Angeles for the NCAA second round game between Virginia and Cal last week. “Go to spots across the country where they are going to put people in the seats.

“You’re close to Rutgers here. You’re close to Big East country. Put the people in the seats. The most important thing for the NCAA committee is that they need to realize we don’t need to go back to L.A. to play in front of an empty arena again,” Blair said. “We need places like this to play. To grow our game we need to be a little bit smarter in that regard. Let’s find 16 sites that are going to be good for that game, not whatever region is out there. As good as Arizona State is, Phoenix is sort of a neutral site. Let’s go to places where we can put butts in the seats.”

It’s a final (in case you didn’t know already) UConn rolled past Cal 77-53 to advance into Tuesday’s East Regional final here at the Sovereign Bank Arena against (surprise!) Arizona State, who upset Texas A&M 84-69.

Tiffany Hayes (below) played the game of her life with 28 points, seven assists, five rebounds, two steals AND NO TURNOVERS in 39 minutes.

Here’s a great Geno quote on Hayes …

“ESPN asked Tiffany one of those one-word answer things, ‘I am …” and she said… “confident.” Here’s a kid that thinks that none of this (NCAA) is a big deal. Like ‘This is what I came to Connecticut for, I’m a good player, I know I’m good.’ If a team plays like a triangle and two against Maya (Moore) and Renee (Montgomery) and she knocks down an open three, she looks at the other team like, ‘You got to be kidding me?’ she does that all the time. She takes it personal that they’re not going to guard her. Tiffany really believes in herself and it’s unshakable. No matter what happens on the floor, you can’t shake her confidence.”

Maya Moore, below (oops, caught her in mid-blink) scored 22.

Here’s Maya talking about the Huskies comeback after being down 31-23 in the first half:

“We responded. We kept getting one stop after another and getting contributions from
everyone. We’ve practiced these kinds of situations all year. We didn’t panic. We were confident and calm. We knew that the run was going to come and we just had to keep fighting.”

Attendance at the Sovereign Bank Arena was 6,641. Capacity for the tournament was 8,455, meaning there were just under 2,000 empty seats.

Here at the Sovereign Bank Arena, things are slowly starting to heat up prior to today’s noon tip-off between UConn and Cal in the NCAA Women’s basketball East Region. WTIC-AM radio analyst Kara Wolters is busy going over her game charts here in the press room while many of us are still trying to get past countless internet glitches that aren’t exactly making things easy.

Texas A&M and Arizona State play in today’s second game at 2:30 p.m.

According to officals at the Sovereign Bank Arena, a total of 5,780 tickets have been sold for tomorrow’s NCAA East Region games between UConn and Cal and Arizona State and Texas A&M. That means there are around 2,300 tickets available.

For Tuesday’s East Region final, around 3,000 tickets have been sold.

Good morning … from Trenton

The Post’s intrepid twosome of Elliott and Elsberry have arrived at the Sovereign Bank Arena on an overcast Saturday morning to bring you extensive coverage of the UConn women’s basketball teams march toward its sixth NCAA title and its third undefeated season.

Today’s the day that the Huskies meet the press and get asked all kinds of tough, investigative questions like: “how was practice?” and “Is Geno’s hair real?” OK, so those aren’t really the kind of questions that get asked but wouldn’t you like to know if Geno’s hair is real?

Now, a little History 101…

Did you know?
During the Revolutionary War, Trenton was the place where Gen. George Washington captured his first military victory. On December, 26, 1776, Washington’s army crossed the Delaware River into Trenton and defeated a Hessian force that was stationed here. After the war, Trenton was briefly the capital of the United States in November and December, 1784.

Throughout the 19th Century, Trenton grew steadily, as Europeans came to work in its pottery and wire rope mills. “Trenton Makes, The World Takes”, which is displayed on the Lower Free Bridge. The city adopted the slogan in 1917 to represent Trenton’s then-leading role as a major manufacturing center for rubber, wire rope, ceramics and cigars.

The Old Barracks Museum, also known as Old Barracks, is the only remaining colonial barracks in the country. It is the last of five such barracks authorized by the colony in 1758 to house soldiers during the French and Indian War. It housed about 300 soldiers at a time. The Barracks became a museum in 1914 and is still open today.

Famous Trentonians include

Judith Light from TV’s “Ugly Betty.” I have to admit, I had a huge crush on Judith Light when she played Karen Wolek in “One Life to Live.” HUGE crush.

Gulf War general Norman Schwartzkopf

and ….

Dennis Rodman

I don’t know if it was exactly a “major announcement regarding the organization” but for kids around the region, it’s good news. The Bluefish held a presser Thursday to announce that Stew Leonard’s and ABI-JAY Novelty Foods are teamming up to give kids 12-under free food on Monday and Tuesday nights.

Bridgeport mayor Bill Finch stands behind ABI-JAY Novelty Foods president Joshua Grant and the mascots from Stew Leonard’s and the Bluefish in announcing the Kids East Free promotion.

Here’s the release:

The Bridgeport Bluefish, along with two new corporate marketing partners and food concessionaire Centerplate, today announced a new promotion that brings even further value to what is already the best value in Southern Connecticut. Each Monday and Tuesday during the 2009 baseball season, kids (12 and under) will eat free at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard, courtesy of ABI-JAY Novelty Foods and Stew Leonard’s, respectively.

“I am proud to be partnered with ABI-JAY Novelty Food and Stew Leonard’s on this wonderful promotion,” says Bluefish principal owner Frank Boulton. “In these difficult times, it is our great pleasure to be able to make it even more affordable to come to the ballpark and support your hometown team.”

During each Monday and Tuesday home game, children 12 and under will receive a voucher upon entering the stadium that can be redeemed for one hot dog, a bag of chips and one 12 oz. fountain soda.

“We’re proud to have the Bluefish call Bridgeport their home. And, we’re happy to see the team working with local businesses to provide extra value to the family of fans that live in the city and the surrounding area,” said Mayor Bill Finch.

In addition to its sponsorship of Kids Eat Free Monday’s, ABI-JAY, a Bridgeport based, minority-owned corporation, will provide all the lemonade and cotton candy sold at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard during the 2009 season. ABI-JAY Novelty Foods specializes in novelty products such as: cotton candy, Sno Cones, popcorn, funnel cakes, and Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream. They operate at 15 stadiums, arenas, and festivals throughout the Northeast. ABI-JAY also provides staffing for the sports and entertainment industry.

“When the Bluefish were at their best, they embraced Bridgeport and the surrounding communities,” says ABI-JAY owner Joshua Grant. “They brought a sense of pride and ownership to the fans. I am thrilled to see the Bluefish return to what made them successful and to be a part of that process.”