For 14 years, Tonya Cardoza stood out of the glare of the spotlight despite her yeoman's work developing some of the greatest guards in the history of women's college basketball.

Even when ESPN would bring a camera crew to Storrs for the unveiling of the NCAA brackets, the center of attention would be her boss (UConn coach Geno Auriemma) or star pupils (Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and most recently Renee Montgomery and Maya Moore).

Now in her first season for the NCAA tournament bound Temple, Cardoza addressed the difference of the emotions on being on a staff like UConn where the intrigue concerning the making the NCAA tournament ended around mid-December to her current situation of being the head coach of a "bubble" team.

"I was really nervous" Cardoza said on a Tuesday morning conference call with the Connecticut media as well as a couple members of the national media. "One thing Coach Auriemma always said is you don’t leave it in somebody else’s hands. If it is something people can vote on, that is the last thing you sit around and hope they vote for you and we didn’t get the job done (losing in the Atlantic-10 Conference semifinals).

"It’s been difficult since we lost to Charlotte. I have never been in that situation. All we do (at UConn) is wait to see if we are going to get (shafted) and get sent some place else but sitting around and waiting was nervewracking for me and the players. It was relief and joy, we were really excited and we are just happy we are this point."

Cardoza admitted that when she walks into Gampel Pavilion and runs into her former players, it will be an emotional scene.

"When I see Renee, I am probably going to cry. We talk a lot and I haven’t been able to get to a game this year and I promised her that I would so last night we talked. She didn’t want me to come to Storrs because she said if we got to (play) each other it is going to be so weird but it is going to be great to see those guys I am going to be really happy and I am probably going to cry when I see Renee.

"It's unbelievable to see what they have done without Elena (Delle Donne), without Caroline (Doty) and for those guys to be undefeated ... They only play about seven guys that get a lot of minutes. Just to see the teams they are playing against and the dominance, I am so proud of those guys because I know how hard it is to be in that position when you are undefeated and everybody is coming after you. To be able to do that throughout the season is one of the toughest things and it is a credit to him, his staff and the players. It is something that they all want to go undefeated and be the best, that is what I am trying to get my kids to do to strive to be the very best."

Cardoza was asked about 10-12 questions before the subject of her opponent on Sunday came up.

"Florida is coming from a great conference, they are starting off the season really hot and the last few games in that conference it is hard to sustain that," Cardoza said. "They are a very athletic team, they shoot the ball really well and they play small ball too so it is going to be a tough matchup for us."