Using this week as some much-needed R&R, it is time to start catching up.

So let's see what I missed in the world of women's basketball.

Bill Laimbeer quits after leading Detroit Shock to three WNBA titles and Hartford native Rick Mahorn takes over as head coach with assistant coach Cheryl Reeve becoming the new general manager. Detroit promptly loses its first game under the new regime to Indiana to fall into a tie for last place in the Eastern Conference with New York. It would be pretty hard to top that in terms of news value, wouldn't you say?

OK, maybe not. Word that Rutgers Epiphanny Prince, the top returning scorer in the Big East, is bypassing her senior season to get a jump start on her pro career, now that is a stunner and even beats out Trader Bill in the "shock" value scale. It's not the first time a player has left school early in pursuit of making some big bucks in pro ball but it is very rare in women's basketball. It leaves Rutgers returning a young but relatively untested nucleus. The Scarlet Knights never seemed to hit their stride without Essence Carson and Matee Ajavon in the lineup and now they have to place not only Prince but Kia Vaughn. With Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer's system usually baffling incoming freshmen, the three players remaining from last year's highly-touted recruiting class (April Sykes, Nikki Speed and Chelsey Lee) better be a heck of a lot more effective as sophomores than they were as freshman or Rutgers could in a world of hurt.

Jayne Appel of Stanford had knee surgery and pulled her name out of contention for one of the 12 spots on the U.S. World University Games squad. So what exactly is in the water in Palo Alto, California? Reports also have Stanford rising sophomore Sarah Boothe pulling out of the U-19 trials meaning that 13 players will head to Colorado Springs next month fighting for the 12 spots unless a player or two is added to the list of candidates invited back.

Seimone Augustus of the Minnesota Lynx, expected to be in contention for MVP honors, tore the ACL in her left knee in a loss to Phoenix and will miss the rest of the season. Now former UConn standout Charde Houston is Minnesota's top scorer averaging 17.8 poinrs per game. With Houston, Nicky Anosike and Candice Wiggins, Minnesota has a pretty solid nucleus of offensive players to build around. I found it interesting that Roneeka Hodges has given the start in place of Augustus in Friday's loss to Phoenix. Hodges was also the player who saw the biggest jump in playing time. She averaged 8.4 minutes in the first five games but played 22 against the Mercury. Anosike, Houston, Wiggins and former UConn star Renee Montgomery also saw an additional 2-3 minutes each. It was just one game and it is hard to read too much into the substitution patterns of a game the Lynx lost by 24 but it bears watching.

Not only did Becky Hammon have to miss the San Antonio Silver Stars East Coast swing because she was playing for Russian in the Eurobasket Championships in Latvia, but a death in Vicky Johnson's family forced her to leave the team as well. Not surprisingly, the reigning Western Conference champions got blown out by New York Friday night. They play in Connecticut tomorrow.

Just so you think I am only focusing on the bad news to hit the women's basketball world, I urge you to read on.

UConn incoming freshman Kelly Faris averaged 10.5 points, 8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks per game as the Indiana squad swept a two-game series from Kentucky's top seniors in the annual North/South Classic.

Her future teammates Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes headed back to Colorado Springs for the World University Games training camp.

The Connecticut Sun, looking for anybody who can hit a 3-pointer until Anete Jekabsone-Zogota arrives in the next week or two, may have found a keeper in Tan White. The former first-round pick of the Indiana Fever was one of the surprise cuts in the preseason. Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault was hoping his top perimeter shooters would find the range but when that didn't happen, he reluctantly cut rookie point guard Kristi Cirone and picked up White. Proved to be a good move as White hit four 3-pointers as the Sun snapped a two-game losing streak by beating Chicago on Friday.

Speaking of the WNBA Friday night action, all 10 UConn players currently in the league were in action. Here's the breakdown
Asjha Jones Connecticut vs. Chicago 17 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Diana Taurasi Phoenix vs. Los Angeles 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
Charde Houston Minnesota vs. Seattle 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Swin Cash Seattle vs. Minnesota 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Barbara Turner Connecticut vs. Chicago 7 points, 2 steals
Sue Bird Seattle vs. Minnesota 4 points, 10 assists
Renee Montgomery Minnesota vs. Seattle 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
Ashley Battle New York vs. San Antonio 2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Jessica Moore Indiana vs. Detroit 0 points, 1 assist
Ketia Swanier Phoenix vs. Los Angeles 0 points, 1 rebound

Perhaps the most remarkable part of how the UConn products fared is that with the exception of the Seattle/Minnesota game which had a pair of ex-Huskies on each team, every team with a UConn player in action won last night.

The last item (I promise) is the play of former and future members of the Connecticut Sun at the Eurobasket Championships.

Heading into the championship game between France and Russia, the top scorer is ex-Sun guard Evanthia Maltsi (22.6 points per game). Jekabsone-Zogota, who is expected to make her debut with Connecticut early next month is second at 20.3 points a game. Sandrine Gruda, also planning the join the Sun after taking some time to relax after playing a heck of a lot of basketball in Europe in the last several months, is fifth but would finish third if she scored at least 20 points against Russia. Jekabsone-Zogota is also fourth in assists and 3-pointers made while Gruda ranks fourth in rebounding.

The Russia/France game is set to tip in about a half hour for those interested in such things.

Other than that, it was kind of a slow news week.