As if there was a question regarding UConn's interest in Hillhouse junior Bria Holmes, assistant coach Shea Ralph was sitting four rows behind the Academics' bench at the TD Bank Sports Center during Monday's Southern Connecticut Conference tournament semifinal.

Holmes had 16 points (on 7 of 11 shooting), eight rebounds, three assists, one steal and five turnovers while playing all 32 minutes as Hillhouse held on for a 51-50 victory over Career.

Holmes saved her best for the early portion of the third quarter, grabbing half of her eight rebounds in that quarter as the Academics built up a commanding lead only to come back behind the play of Bria Moore, who had 16 of her game-high 17 points in the second half and also had 11 rebounds.

Career had a chance to take the lead in the closing seconds but Nicole Bentley missed a driving layup. However, a foul was called during the ensuing scramble sending Nicole Anderson to the line with 0.6 seconds to play. Anderson made the first foul shot but miss the second as Hillhouse escaped with a 51-50 victory.

When I was there, I heard rumblings that Rutgers is the leader in the clubhouse for Holmes so I spoke with Hillhouse coach Catrina Hawley-Stewart to get an update on where her star player is in the recruiting process.

"It's not just Rutgers, the entire Big East is interested," Hawley-Stewart said. "Baylor, Duke, the top 10 is interested. Obviously she will be interested in UConn. It's an honor to have Coach Shea Ralph up here."

Hawley-Stewart said it was hard to pinpoint how many times a member of the UConn staff has been in attendance at one of the Hillhouse games this year. I said "three or four?" and Hawley-Stewart said that was about right.

Holmes, who plays both in the post and on the wing for Hillhouse but projects as a wing player at the next level, is not close to making a decision or even narrowing her list of schools.

"It is still a ways away," Hawley-Stewart said. "I don't think the coaches are putting on the pressure. She is the kind of kid who teams would like to have. Bria likes a family atmosphere and there is no rush unless a coach says now or never and then she would kind of figure out what she would like to do. Right now she is taking advantage of getting to know the coaches, what kind of style they play, what their home life is like and what the team does together. Bria wants to be a part of a happy, winning family."

UConn, Rutgers, St. John's and Providence (where Hawley-Stewart played) are among the schools Holmes has visits.

"She wants to go down to West Virginia, to Louisville," Hawley-Stewart said. "She just wants to see what (options) she has and I think she wants to stay close."

Holmes' main focus is on leading Hillhouse to its third consecutive state title but come April, she'll "be able to use every weekend to go and see schools," Hawley-Stewart said.

"She is overwhelmed (by the recruiting process)," Hawley-Stewart said. "Every time you go to the mailbox and it is overflowing. They haven't even been able to call her yet so just imagine when all the calls start rushing in."

I asked Hawley-Stewart about how much Bria has connected with Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer.

"Everybody loves Vivian but she also loves Coach Geno (Auriemma)," Hawley-Stewart said. "She likes the (UConn) style of play, she really likes (UConn associate head) Coach (Chris) Dailey. She loves and wants to talk to her often. She really likes the UConn family and we'll see what happens. Her mother will go up there with her (for another visit) and she is excited to see them win another championship."


Speaking of UConn, here is a link to the advance I wrote for tomorrow's game against Seton Hall which focuses on the on-court chemistry between Maya Moore and Kelly Faris.