The Connecticut Sun return to the court tomorrow after a week off and the action on the court is not the only show in town.

WNBA president Donna Orender, former Olympic starting point guard Dawn Staley and former UConn/Connecticut Sun forward Tamika Raymond will be on hand for a press conference held in conjunction for the release of the All-Star ballot.

The four girls' high school state championship teams will be honored by the team at halftime and the Sun will conduct a collection drive for female armed service personnel.

Fans are encouraged to donate such items as baby wipes, lip balm, sunscreen
(45 spf or stronger), shower gel, soap, baby powder, foot powder, powdered
drink mixes, and power bars. No glass or aerosol items will be accepted.

The four girls' high school state championship teams including Class L champ Hillhouse and Class S champ Old Lyme will be honored at halftime of Sunday's Atlanta Dream/Connecticut Sun game at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Here's the release from the Sun

The Connecticut Sun will continue a tradition of honoring high school girls' basketball Sunday, recognizing CIAC Class LL champion Norwich Free Academy, Class L champion Hillhouse, Class M champion Bacon Academy and Class S champion Old Lyme during an on-court ceremony at halftime of the game with the Atlanta Dream at Mohegan Sun Arena.

WNBA President Donna Orender will also be on hand for a special
presentation and halftime entertainment will be supplied by the USO Liberty
Bells.

Each high school champion will receive a commemorative plaque from the
Connecticut Sun, and one framed jersey from each of the four teams will be
displayed on the Mohegan Sun Arena concourse during the 2009 season.

Sunday's festivities cap off a series of initiatives undertaken by the
Connecticut Sun to highlight local high school girls' basketball, where
future WNBA stars are already competing. Throughout the high school season,
Connecticut names a Team of the Week, and the Sun also hosts a CIAC
Championship luncheon for the eight schools that compete for the four state
titles.

Former UConn guard Renee Montgomery is one of 12 candidates for the Honda's Collegiate Female Athlete of the Year which will be announced at a press conference at Columbia University in New York on June 22.

Montgomery was the Honda Cup winner for women's basketball, making her eligible for the award along with the award winners from the other women's sports:

Jennifer Barringer, Colorado (women's track and field)
Mallory Cecil, Duke (women's tennis)
Nicole Fawcett, Penn State (volleyball)
Maria Fernandez, Purdue (golf)
Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech (cross country)
Courtney Kupets, Georgia (gymnastics)
Danielle Lawrie, Washington (softball)
Hannah Nielsen, Northwestern (lacrosse)
Casey Nogueira, North Carolina (soccer)
Susie Rowe, Maryland (field hockey)
Dana Fullmer, California (swimming)

Five finalists will be named on Monday with the winner being announced on June 22. It should be noted that Montgomery, now playing with the undefeated Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA, does not have a game that day so if she is a finalist, hopefully they will let her attend the press conference. She can be on a plane and be back in Minnesota later that afternoon or in the early evening to prepare for a home game against New York the next day.

Montgomery, the unquestioned leader of UConn's national championship team, is in some pretty select company. Here are some of the noteworthy achievements of the other finalists.

Barringer recent became the youngest American woman to break the 4-minute mark in the 1,500 meters. She is currently competing in the NCAA track and field championships.
Cecil was the women's NCAA singles champion as a freshman and helped Duke win the team title
Fawcett was a three-time first-team All-American and national player of the year as a senior and led Penn State to its second consecutive NCAA title and 38-0 season. The Lady Lions did not drop a set until the NCAA tournament.
Hernandez was the NCAA champion and is currently competing in the Futures Players Championship in Decatur, Ill.
Kipyego is the first woman to win the NCAA Division I cross country championship three times and won her sport's Honda Cup award three times as well. She headed into the NCAA track and field championships, currently being held, with eight NCAA titles.
Kupets won the all-around, bars, beam and floor exercise to lead Georgia to its fifth straight NCAA championship. Kupets graduates with 10 individual NCAA titles.
Lawrie led Washington to its first NCAA softball title and led Division I pitchers with 42 wins and 521 strikeouts. She was also a member of Canada's 2008 Olympic softball team.
Nielsen led Northwestern's lacrosse program to its fifth straight NCAA title while breaking her own Division I record with 83 assists en route to scoring a national-best 142 points.
Nogueira led the nation with 25 goals and 58 points and had seven game-winning goals.
Rowe broke school records with 28 goals and 74 points to lead Maryland to its third national title in the last four years.
Vollmer won the 100 and 200 freestyle titles and swam on the winning 400 and 800 freestyle relay squads at the NCAA championships to lead the Bears to the team title. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, swimming on the United States' 4 x 200 relay squad.

Of course Montgomery's resume isn't too bad either. She is only player in school history to rank in the top 10 in points, assists, steals and 3-pointers and she played in a school-record 150 games. She finished her career by leading UConn to a 39-0 season, the program's sixth national championship and the Huskies became the first team to win every game by at least 10 points. She was the No. 4 overall pick by the Minnesota Lynx in April's WNBA draft.

I know San Antonio Silver Stars guard Becky Hammon is a very talented woman but can she be in two places at once? There is a report on the the FIBA Europe site stating that Hammon will be joining Russia for the Eurobasket Championships. Well, Hammon is also a member of the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars and will be facing some very serious scheduling conflicts unless Russia somehow fails to make it into the quarterfinal round (highly unlikely since the tournament's defending champions are given credit for two wins in the first stage of the tournament), Hammon figures to miss San Antonio's eastern swing.

If Russia moves into the semifinals undefeated which is not exactly a reach, Hammon will either have to be in Latvia playing for Russia or in New York when the Silver Stars play at the New York Liberty on June 19. Two days later San Antonio will play the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena but the Eurobasket championship game will be played on June 20 beginning at 1:15 p.m. Eastern time (8:15 p.m. in Latvia). Assuming Russia finishes either first or second in Group F, it will play in the quarterfinals on June 18. By finishing third or fourth in the group, the quarterfinal game will be played on June 17. Once a team reaches the quarterfinal round, they are there for the duration since the tournament has playoffs for not only first and second but for the third-eighth spots meaning Hammon will be in Latvia through June 20.

Doing a little checking, I see no commercial flights available from Riga, Latvia to New York after the Eurobasket title game is over (around 10-10:30 p.m. in Latvia). It is possible that if a flight is chartered for Hammon, she could arrive in time for the game against Connecticut but it seems more likely that she either has to choose to play for the Silver Stars against the Liberty and Sun or play in the semifinals and finals for Russia. How do you think the New York fans will react to not seeing Hammon, who played in New York for her first eight seasons, especially if it is not widely reported that she will not be at the game? I have to assume she is leaving for Latvia after the Silver Stars host New York tomorrow night. Hammon is actually a bit fortunate that San Antonio has five days off between the two New York gams or she could be missing more than just two games.

EDITED AT 12:45 P.M.: Upon closer examination, it is not that farfetched that Hammon could arrive in time for the game against the Sun. I am not her travel agent but I book enough of my UConn flights to offer my two cents. If she is so inclined, Hammon could board a flight in Riga, Latvia at 6:05 a.m. local time on the 21st and after a stop in Amsterdam, land at Boston's Logan Airport at 10:20 a.m. (yes, the seven-hour time difference would be a huge help to her in this instance). That is more than enough time to make the drive to Mohegan Sun Arena. Would she be exhausted? I imagine so. But she would be far from the first WNBA star to step off a plane after playing in Europe and play in a game. It would make for a heck of a story to the assorted masses who cover the Connecticut Sun, that's for sure.

Russia just beat Latvia to move to 3-0 in Group F (former UConn star Svetlana Abrosimova had nine points, six rebounds and two assists). If my math is correct, Russia has clinched a spot in the quarterfinals since it can finish no worse than 3-2. Belarus already has three losses while Lithuania and Italy have two losses each and still have to play each other so one of them will have a minimum of three losses. With four of the six teams moving onto the next round, Russia's stay in Latvia will last until June 20.

UConn incoming freshman Kelly Faris had nine points (hitting 4 of 7 shots including 1 of 2 from 3-point range) as the Indiana senior all-stars defeated the junior all-stars 118-63. It was the final tuneup before the Indiana team faces Kentucky in the annual North/South Classic. The first game is Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the second is at Bellarmine University in Louisville on Sunday.

Speaking of Faris, her chance to making the U.S. team competing in the FIBA Under-19 World Championships appears to have improved with the news that Stanford sophomore to be Sarah Boothe will not be attending next month's training camp because she is undergoing foot surgery. If no replacement is named by USA Basketball, that means only one player instead of two will needed to be cut from the original list of 14 before the team leaves for Bangkok, Thailand.

It may be one of the most obscure statistics out there but to me, efficiency rating is also one of most telling.

I know it is early as some WNBA teams have played only one game but a quick peek at the efficiency numbers shows that former UConn forward Charde Houston ranks eighth in the WNBA in efficiency rating and among those averaging at least 10 minutes a game, Houston leads the way in efficiency rating per 40 minutes. For the record, she has a 20.7 efficiency rating (putting her ahead of established WNBA stars Lindsay Whalen, Alana Beard, Katie Douglas, Deanna Nolan, Asjha Jones and Sue Bird). She has an efficiency per 40 minute rating of 32.5.

Houston's numbers are pretty impressive through the first three games of the season. She is averaging 18 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.7 blocks.

Houston, a third-round pick of the Minnesota Lynx in the 2008 draft, had a solid rookie season averaging 8.8 points and 3.7 rebounds. Houston went to Israel and had an outstanding campaign for Raanana Hertzeliya. Houston was named the MVP of the Israel league, receiving five of the 10 votes. She averaged 23.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.6 blocks. She returned to Minnesota a more confident player and among the areas of her game she has improved is ball security and the range on her jumper.

Last year she averaged 1.67 turnovers a game while playing 17.6 minutes per contest. This season her turnover/game numbers are the same even though she is averaging 25.3 minutes per game. After not attempting a 3-pointer last season, she has hit three of her first four treys this season. Oh by the way, Minnesota is 3-0 and leads the league in scoring offense (95 points per game) and scoring margin (16.7). If you want to see the new, improved Charde and happen to live in these parts, you will have to be patient since the Lynx won't make it to Connecticut and New York until Aug. 22 and 23. However, six games are scheduled to be shown on NBA TV beginning with the June 27 contest against Phoenix and the June 30 Minnesota/Atlanta game will be on ESPN2.

As Caroline Doty works her and her surgically-repaired knee way back into shape, there is no such thing as a "minor" milestone.

A couple weeks back the rising sophomore guard was thrilled when she was told she could start running and sprinting. Next up is getting the OK to start cutting, probably in the next couple of weeks. The hope is that she will be able to start playing basketball again by either late August or early September.

"So far so good," Doty said Wednesday during a break in the rehab process. "No complaints at all, it feels great. We kind of go week by week with progressions, every two weeks and go by month marks. I am almost at the fifth month mark and we were really concentrating on jogging, landing right. Now we are working more on plyo (plyometrics), lot of single leg stuff as well as keeping up with the strength, trying to get all the muscles back and working at that. In gym, I'm standing in place and shooting, trying to get my reps up, (doing) a lot of foul shooting and making sure my knee doesn't go in when I bend it to jump. I can't do any cutting yet so I am working on the form and getting that back."

Doty was accompanied by UConn women's basketball trainer Rosemary Ragle who has been stressing patience with Doty even though Caroline wants to be back playing basketball again in the worst way.

"We talked about with her surgeon and because it is her second ACL (tear), it is a different type of graft that it used, we have a different type of time frame," Ragle said. "We can go a little slower and be a little more conservative. Normally people with straight ACLs are going to be back in five or six months. With Caroline, we are looking more at the seven-month mark. At six months (likely somewhere between mid to late July or early August) is where she is going to start some 1-on-1 drills with her teammates, then she will go 3 on 3 and then she will play half-court 5 on 5 so we are looking at having her be a full go by the seventh month."

Doty is taking a biology course in the first summer session and has been taking in some of the pick-up games featuring her UConn teammates. She has been impressed by the amount of work Lorin Dixon had done on her perimeter game as well as the physical fitness of Kaili McLaren who Doty said is working relentlessly on the stationary bike and other cardio machines.

Was also able to speak to Tiffany Hayes who said she (along with Maya Moore and Tina Charles) will be returning to Colorado Springs for the World University Games training camp. The three Huskies are 14 finalists for the U.S. squad and two players will need to be cut to 12 before the team leaves for Belgrade, Serbia. Hayes, who is taking two classes in the first summer session, has only one regret from the summer - she is struggling to find the time to return to Florida to visit her family. Hayes said she did have the chance to chat with UConn incoming freshman Kelly Faris during the USA Basketball trials in May and when she did get to watch the Under-19 trials when she was in Colorado Springs, she was impressed with Faris' game.

Faris' arrival in Storrs is still to be determined. She is currently in training with the Indiana team which will play the Kentucky squad in the annual North/South Classic. Faris is one of 14 candidates for the U.S. team set to compete in the FIBA U-19 World Championship. She has to be in Colorado Springs by July 9 and if she is one of 12 players named to the team, she likely wouldn't be able to come to Storrs until early August since the U19 World Championship will not wrap up until Aug. 2.

Also ran into new UConn assistant coach Marissa Moseley at Gampel. She seems like a pretty nice kid. She has already found a place to live and before long will be hitting the recruiting trail.

Kelly Faris, UConn's only incoming freshman, had 11 points and four steals and had a basket to key a 16-3 run to break open a close game at Indiana's Senior All-Stars topped the Junior All-Stars 91-78 Tuesday night. Faris was 4 for 8 from the field and missed her only 3-point attempt to add offensive support to Penn State signee's Alex Bentley's game-high 21 points and 19 points, five rebounds and five assists from Notre Dame incoming freshman Skylar Diggins. The teams will play again on Thursday. It will be the final preparation before Faris and the rest of the Indiana squad faces Kentucky in two games as part of the annual North/South Classic.

Speaking of Indiana basketball, if anybody ever questioned the toughness of former Connecticut Sun guard Katie Douglas, you might want to take a look at the photo of Douglas after she collided with Seattle's Janelle Burse in Tuesday's WNBA game. Douglas figures to have a shiner and must have been in intense pain but that didn't stop her from coming into the game in the fourth quarter to help the Fever ice its first win of the season.

When North Carolina forward/center Jessica Breland was a no-show for the World University Games tryouts in Colorado Springs last month, I never got an explanation for her absence.

Well, I think I can figure it out after reading that she is being treated for Hodgkins' Lymphoma

The good news, as the report mentions, it's a curable form of cancer. North Carolina will play UConn in the upcoming regular season either at Gampel Pavilion or the XL Center. Breland led the Tar Heels in rebounding and block shots and was second in scoring as a junior. Breland's playing status for her senior season is not known at the current time. Of course playing college basketball pales in comparison to fighting cancer. I would love to be able to write a piece on Breland's valiant fight against cancer when the Huskies and Tar Heels play, that would mean she is winning the most important battle in the biggest game of all - the game of life.

If the rest of the WNBA had its way, the Eurobasket Championships would never end because the thought of Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and Sandrine Gruda joining a talented Connecticut Sun nucleus could change the balance of power in the Eastern Conference.

Jekabsone-Zogota isn't going anything to harm her reputation as one of the best shooters in Europe with her performance in the first three games of the European championships.

Jekabsone-Zogota had 13 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter and had two of her five assists in overtime as Latvia edged Greece 70-68 to win the Group B title. After three games, Jekabsone-Zogota is averaging a tournament-best 23.7 points per game and is third with a 63.3 field-goal percentage.

Sandrine Gruda, who like Jekabsone-Zogota will join the Sun after the Eurobasket Championships, averaged 15.3 points and 7 rebounds to lead France to the Group D title. Russia, aided by former UConn star Svetlana Abrosimova's 10.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3 assists a game, won Group C while Spain won Group A as Connecticut Sun third-round pick Alba Torrens averaged 6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals. After a day off today, the tournament moves to the next stage.

Latvia and Spain are in Group E while France and Russia will be in Group F. All four teams begin the second stage with 2-0 records as they get credit for wins in the preliminary round. The field will be cut from 16 to 8 teams by the end of play on June 16. The top eight teams will have games until June 20 as there are playoffs for the top eight positions.

It's no wonder that Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault wished that Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and Sandrine Gruda were with his team right now rather than playing in the Eurobasket championships (or European championships if you wish).

Through two games, Jekabsone-Zogota is the second-leading scorer averaged 22.5 points for Latvia while Gruda is fifth in scoring (17.5 points per game) and seventh in rebounding (7.5).

Jekabsone-Zogota hit 7 of 9 shots (3 of 5 from 3-point range) to finish with 25 points, four rebounds and five assists as Latvia topped Hungary 76-59 to move to 2-0 in Group B. Latvia can win the group title today with a win over Greece.

Gruda had 12 points and eight rebounds as France edged Belarus 63-61 to improve to 2-0 in Group D. France can clinch the group title with a victory over winless Israel today.

Former UConn star Svetlana Abrosimova had 11 points as Russia routed 72-37 to go to 2-0 in Group C. A win over Lithuania today will give the Group C title to Russia.

Wait, there is more. Alba Torrens, the Sun's third-round pick in April's WNBA draft, had six points, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals in Spain's 85-59 win over Ukraine. Torrens, who is not expected to report to the Sun this season, will lead her team into today's showdown of undefeated teams when Spain and Slovak Republic play for the Group A title.

The tournament runs until June 20. Jekabsone-Zogota is supposed to fly to the U.S. shortly after the tournament is over to join the Sun. Gruda has been given permission to return home to France for a few days before flying in to join the Sun. With the Sun at the WNBA maximum of 11 players, two players will need to be cut when Jekabsone-Zogota and Gruda report.

UConn incoming freshman Kelly Faris has been named the top high school female athlete in Indianapolis by the Indianapolis Star.

I can't say I have too much knowledge to the other top female athletes in Indianapolis but it's hard to argue with the choice. Faris led Heritage Christian to four consecutive Indiana 2A titles while setting school career records in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.

It's a busy time for Faris, a 5-foot-11 wing. Last week she played in the Hoosiers' Reunion All-Star Classic on the same court when the movie "Hoosiers" was filmed. She is currently practicing with the Indiana squad which will play against Kentucky in a two-game North/South all-star series.

On July 9 Faris will head to Colorado Springs for the training camp for the Under-19 national team. She is among the 14 finalists for the team, a number which will be cut to 12 before the team leaves for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship in Bangkok, Thailand.

HARTLEY LIGHTING IT UP
UConn recruiting target Bria Hartley was named the MVP of the Rose Classic tournament, leading her AAU team - Exodus NYC - to the title. Hartley had 32 points in a 75-55 win over Swagger Like Us Sunday in Brooklyn to lead Exodus to its sixth straight title.

It was a successful day all around in Connecticut Sun land.

Not only did the Sun avoid opening the season 0-2 for the first time since 2004 but Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and Sandrine Gruda, who will join the Sun when the EuroBasket Championships are over, led their teams to opening-round victories on Sunday.

The Sun, which lost to Washington in Saturday's season opener, rebounded with a 66-57 win at New York. Lindsay Whalen, the runner-up in the league MVP voting last season, had another strong game with 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Erin Phillips, who did not score against the Mystics, had 13 points including a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter when New York was threatening to steal the game. Tamika Whitmore came off the bench to add 11 points and eight rebounds and Asjha Jones added 10 points. Kiesha Brown, picked up late in the preseason after Washington cut her, had her second straight solid outing off the bench with seven points and four rebounds. Perhaps most importantly, after managing just five offensive rebounds against Washington, Connecticut had 16 offensive rebounds (five by Whalen) and outrebounded New York 47-33. Former UConn star Ashley Battle was a bright spot for the Liberty with eight points, five rebounds and three assists.

Jekabsone-Zogota had a game-high 20 points in Latvia's 85-52 win over Poland. Gruda, despite early foul trouble, had a game-high 23 points as well as seven rebounds in France's 76-61 win over Italy.

Former UConn and Connecticut Sun forward Svetlana Abrosimova had 16 points, five rebounds and four steals in Russia's 74-61 win over Turkey.