UConn signee Kelly Faris had 32 points to lead her Indianapolis-based Heritage Christian team to a pair of wins in the Lawrence Central regional on Saturday. The Eagles defeated Hagerstown 69-44 and Winchester 63-46 to advance to the Semi-State portion of the Indiana state tournament.

Heritage Christian (24-1) will face Austin on Saturday and with a win, the Eagles will advance to the 2A state championship game to face either Garrett or Oak Hill on Mar. 7 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Heritage Christian won the 2A title in each of Faris' first three seasons.

Word is that UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey could be California bound in a few days with a pair of prime UConn recruiting targets set to square off.

Junior guard/forward Lauren Engeln, who was offered a scholarship during her unofficial visit to UConn last weekend, will lead her Laguna Hills team against top-seeded Matei Dei of Santa Ana in the quarterfinals of the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section's Division IIA tournament. Mater Dei is led by highly-touted sophomore wing Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who made an unofficial visit to UConn in mid-January.

Since it is bringing in just one player (although a multi-faceted player like Faris is a pretty high-quality class of one) this year, the UConn staff is going all out in its effort to secure a top-notch Class of 2010.

The Huskies are already off to a good start with commitments from Chaminade Julienne of Dayton, Ohio wing Samarie Walker and Minisink Valley of Slate Hill, N.Y. center Stefanie Dolson. Engeln and North Babylon (N.Y.) guard Bria Hartley also top the Huskies' wish list for the next class. They would also like to bring in a forward. Michala Johnson, a 6-foot-3 junior at Montini Catholic in Lombard, Ill., is planning to visit UConn next month. UConn also has their eyes on 6-foot-4 Sheronne Vails out of Arundel High in Gambrills, Md. and Orsi Szecsi a 6-foot-3 Hungarian native who plays for Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va. However, as I have previous reported on this blog, Vails mother said she doesn't consider her daughter to be a priority recruit of the Huskies while Szecsi probably won't be making any campus visits until the fall.

Another name to keep an eye on is Laurin Mincy, a junior guard at University High in Newark, N.J. UConn coach Geno Auriemma is said to have been impressed when he saw her last earlier this month. However, with a commitment from Samarie Walker already in hand, it would be a bit surprising if UConn pursued both Engeln and Mincy.

The feeling is UConn could bring in a class of at least four but I have heard that at least one member of the UConn staff wouldn't mind bringing in six players. It should be an interesting process. In fact, it has already been quite intriguing on some levels.

DOWN THE STRETCH

Time is running short for some of the Big East teams on the NCAA tournament "bubble."

The belief is that UConn, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and DePaul have put together impressive enough bodies of work to earn spots in the field of 64. Villanova and Rutgers have a little bit of work to do but seem to be in position to join its conference counterparts in the NCAA field. After playing UConn on Tuesday, the Wildcats end the season with games at Georgetown and at home against South Florida. If Villanova wins both games, I can't see how they can left out of the field.

Rutgers, with one of the toughest schedules and a very strong RPI, should also make it if - and this is a big if - there are no more stumbles. Rutgers hosts Cincinnati on Tuesday and plays St. John's on Saturday before ending the regular season with a home game against UConn. If Rutgers beats Cincinnati and St. John's (which could be playing without leading scorer Monique McLean who has been suspended indefinitely), the Scarlet Knights would be 17-11 and 9-7 in the Big East heading into the Big East tournament even with a loss to UConn. That should be enough, especially if Rutgers can win a game or two in the conference tournament.

I could be wrong but I don't see the Big East getting an eighth team in for the third year in a row. Using a .500 record in the league as a minimum requirement, Marquette, Georgetown, Syracuse and South Florida are the only other teams capable of finishing at or above the .500 mark in the final Big East regular-season standings.

Marquette is 7-6 after beating St. John's and a win at Providence on Wednesday would guarantee that the Golden Eagles finish no worse than 8-8 in the Big East. If Marquette wins at DePaul or at home against Louisville, their NCAA resume suddenly improves especially considering they own a win over Notre Dame but barring an upset win, I would think Marquette will get the chance to defend its WNIT championship.

Unlike Marquette, Georgetown doesn't have a win over a team with a top 50 RPI (although that could change if the Hoyas beat Villanova on Saturday). With wins over Syracuse today and Villanova, Georgetown's NCAA tournament hopes would get a major boost but if that doesn't happen, the Hoyas figure to be WNIT bound which would be a nice accomplishment since it would be the program's first postseason appearance since being invited to the 2003 WNIT.

Syracuse would have to win out to finish 8-8 in the conference although sweeping Georgetown, Notre Dame, West Virginia and Providence will be no easy feat. Wins over Rutgers and Notre Dame (if the Orange pull it off) would at least merit them consideration for a bid.

South Florida may have kissed its NCAA tournament hopes goodbye with a loss to West Virginia Saturday night. The Bulls could finish the regular season with 20 wins but will need to beat DePaul, Cincinnati and Villanova just to finish at .500 in conference play.