This just in, Tina Charles seems to have the hang of this championship game deal.

Charles' performance in the 2009 national championship game will go down as one of the best effort in the glorious history of the UConn women's basketball program.

Charles delivered with a title on the line again on Saturday in Belgrade, Serbia.

Charles had 28 points and 18 rebounds (one shy of Ayana Walker's U.S. single-game record) as the U.S. defeated Russia 83-64 to win the gold medal at the World University Games.

"I just wanted to go out and play the way I know how to play," Charles said. "I treated this like it was a national championship game or a Big East Conference championship game. I know everybody worked hard, everybody wanted to win, and that's what was always on my mind."

Charles finished as the leading scorer (16.1 points per game) and rebounder (6.5 average in the seven games) for the undefeated U.S. squad.

Even with her UConn teammate Maya Moore forced to miss the tournament with a sprained knee, Charles had plenty of help. Danielle McCray of Kansas and Ohio State's Jantel Lavender were also double-figure scorers, averaging 12 and 10.4 points respectively.

UConn rising sophomore Tiffany Hayes led the U.S. with nine 3-pointers, was the fourth-leading scorer with an average of 8.9 points per game, tied for second with 12 steals and was third with 12 assists.

For those who get Fox College Sports, USA Basketball is saying the game will be aired on that station at 7 p.m.

Here's the info:


Belgrade, SERBIA (July 11, 2009) - Fox College Sports will air the 2009 Women's World University Games Gold Medal Game online at the following link www.sportzu.tv
. The broadcast will air at 7 p.m. EDT and loop three times.

Former Cheshire Academy star Johannah Leedham's 24 points, seven rebounds and five steals were not enough as Great Britain lost to Poland 89-94 in overtime in the fifth-place game in the World University Games Friday in Belgrade, Serbia.

Unless Katerina Elhotova of the Czech Republic scores 31 points and/or Australia's Elyse Penaluba has 34 points in Saturday's bronze-medal game, Leedham will finish in a tie for third in scoring at the World University Games with an average of 18.9 points per game. The rising senior at Franklin Pierce is also tied for fourth in steals (2.4 a game) and tied for fifth with 17 3-pointers.

Leedham's older sister Jennifer, who also played at Cheshire Academy and Franklin Pierce, averaged 6.4 points and tied her sister for the team lead with 22 assists.

The U.S. will play Russia at 9 a.m. Eastern time in Saturday's gold-medal game. UConn's Tina Charles leads the 6-0 U.S. in scoring (14.2 points per game), is second behind Ohio State's Jantel Lavender in rebounding (6 per game). Charles' UConn teammate Tiffany Hayes leads the U.S. with nine 3-pointers, is fourth in scoring (9.7), third with 12 assists and second in 12 steals in the first six games of the tournament.

There's a chance that Amber Holt will play her first regular-season game with the Connecticut Sun on Saturday night.

Holt has been out since breaking a bone in her right hand in a May 27 preseason game against Atlanta. She practiced without restriction for the first time since suffering the injury on Thursday and went again on Friday.

Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault and head athletic trainer Jeremy Norman will meet before the game to decide whether to let Holt play against Detroit or hold her out until Tuesday when Los Angeles comes to Mohegan Sun Arena.

"The doctor said it is my decision if I want to play tomorrow but I am going to leave it up to Coach (Thibault)," Holt said. "Hopefully I’ll play."

Holt is not the only player who will be a game-time decision. Tamika Whitmore missed half of Friday's practice as one of the muscles under her knee is still a bit tender.

"Some days it feels great, some days it is pretty sore," Thibault said of Whitmore.

If Whitmore sits the game out, that would be noteworthy based on her ironwoman reputation.

Whitmore missed five games as a rookie with the New York Liberty in 1999 with a left ankle sprain. Since the beginning of the 2000 season, she has missed just one game (on June 25, 2003 when the Liberty played the Phoenix Mercury because of a sprained right foot.) Whitmore has played in 169 straight regular-season games.

ALL-STAR PRACTICES OPEN TO PUBLIC
Mohegan Sun Arena will host open practices for the East and West All Stars on Friday, July 24th, the day before the 2009 WNBA All-Star Game.

The East All Stars are scheduled to practice from 3-3:45 p.m. The West All
Stars will follow, practicing from 4:15-5 p.m. Arena doors will open at
2:30 p.m. and there will be no admission charged.

The All-Star lineups will be announced on Tuesday during the nationally-televised game between Connecticut and Los Angeles.

UConn rising senior Tina Charles had her second double-double of the tournament and scored in double figures for the fifth time in six games to lead the U.S. past Australia 81-66 and into Saturday's gold-medal game in the World University Games.

Charles finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Kansas' Danielle McCray had a team-high 15 points (her fifth double-digit scoring game) as the U.S. set up a showdown with Russia on Saturday at 9 a.m. Eastern time for the title.

Alexis Gray-Lawson of California and Oklahoma's Danielle Robinson added 10 points each while UConn's Tiffany Hayes had four points and six rebounds. In the first six games, nine of the 11 U.S. players (Maya Moore of UConn is sitting out the tournament with a sprained knee) had scored in double figures at least once led by Charles and McCray. Gray-Lawson and Ohio State's Jantel Lavender had three double-figure games while Hayes and Georgia's Ashley Houts have a pair of double-digit scoring games.

Russia earned a spot in the final with an 106-64 win over the Czech Republic.

DUNN, HUGHES GET THE CALL
Dan Hughes of the San Antonio Silver Stars and Lin Dunn of the Indiana Fever will be the coaches in the July 25 WNBA All-Star game at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Hughes earned the honor by virtue of leading San Antonio to the 2008 Western Conference title but with Bill Laimbeer of the defending WNBA champion Detroit Shock having stepped down, the nod went to Dunn as she has led the Fever to the best record in the Eastern Conference (8-2).

UConn teammates Tina Charles and Tiffany Hayes combined for 36 points as the United States defeated the Czech Republic 115-78 to advance to the semifinals of the World University Games.

Charles had 20 points and six rebounds in 18 minutes while Hayes 16 points and four 3-pointers in 16 minutes. Danielle McCray of Kansas had 15 points and seven rebounds, Ashley Houts (Georgia) had 13 points, Jantel Lavender (Ohio State) 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists and Kayla Pedersen of Stanford nine points and 11 rebounds for the U.S., which will face Australia in the semifinals on Thursday (11:30 a.m. Eastern time). Russia and Czech Republic play in the other semifinals on Thursday. The semifinal losers play in the bronze-medal game on Saturday (6:30 a.m. Eastern time) with the gold-medal game set for 9 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday.

Charles leads the 5-0 U.S. squad in scoring, averaging 14.6 points per game and is third in rebounding (5.8). Hayes is fourth in scoring (10.8), tied for the team lead with 11 steals and third with 12 assists. Maya Moore, the consensus national player of the year, is sitting out the tournament with a strained right knee.

Former Cheshire Academy star Johannah Leedham headed into Tuesday's play third in scoring (21.3) and steals (12) and tied for the tournament lead with 11 3-pointers. Leedham and her Great Britain team lost to Poland 74-64 on Tuesday. Great Britain plays Taiwan on Thursday. With a win, Great Britain will play in the fifth-place game on Friday. With a loss, it will take part in the seventh-place game on Friday.

FARIS NAMED TO U.S. SQUAD
UConn incoming freshman Kelly Faris was named to the U.S. Under-19 team which will begin training camp on Thursday.

Faris originally was named one of the 14 finalists for the team following tryouts in May. With Stanford’s Sarah Boothe and Pepper Wilson of Pittsburgh pulling their names from consideration because of injuries, the remaining candidates were named to the final U.S. roster.

Faris and the U.S. will open play in the FIBA Under-19 World Championships against Spain on July 23 in Bangkok, Thailand.