Sure, she has lost more games this season than she did in her four-year career at UConn, but still Jacquie Fernandes has no complaints about her first season as the Director of Women's Basketball Operations at Fairfield University.

Ironically, it was a call from Fairfield coach Joe Frager to Jack Eisenmann, who held the same title at UConn that Fernandes currently does at Fairfield, which started the wheels in motion.

"Coach Frager called up (Eisenmann) and wanted to see if any former players wanted to get into coaching," Fernandes said after Fairfield's 54-52 loss to Marist on Sunday. "That was kind of how it developed. Fairfield is awesome, it is a great place to be. It is a different style (of basketball). It is great to be exposed to that and great to be behind the scenes and see how this program has (emerged). It is great to play one style and then be part of a different style. You can take that wherever you go and I certainly have learned a lot."

Fernandes is not allowed to take part in the actual coaching of players but has her hand in pretty much ever part of the operation for the Stags.

"She has standard Director of Basketball Operation duties," Frager said. "She manages all of our travel, does a lot with our team meals, working with our ticket office. She does a lot of work within the office in terms of entering stuff into our recruiting database. We extend her responibilities as far as the letter of the law will allow us to. She is sort of a jack of all trades, she is going to be a very good coach.

"We knew we were getting a quality person when we took her. Of course I talked to Coach (Auriemma), he called me on Jacquie a couple of times, I spoke to Maria Conlon who spoke with some people who have worked with her so we did our homeworkon her. It is good to get somebody from a program like that because they know what attention to detail is, they know what work ethic is and what commitment is. As much as a good future coach and basketball mind you are going to get with her, you are getting a quality person through and through. There were no doubts about hiring her. She has been great."

Fernandes was bitten by the coaching bug in the later stages of her time at UConn and is enjoying her entry into the coaching profession.

"I am in all of the coaches meetings," Fernandes said. "It is great because I can give as much (input) as I can about what I have learned from Coach Auriemma. Other than directly coaching the players, I do everything else that an assistant does. On a day to day basis, I try to do everything I can for the program. I love it, I learn something new every day but I try to give as much as I can. I love the game, I love teaching it. I feel I have so much to learn and I love teaching the game that I love."

One drawback of being on the staff at Fairfield is that she can't just head up to UConn if she wants to take part in a practice with the Huskies. Needing to be at arms' length from the UConn program has not been easy for her.

"Obviously I am still great friends with a lot of team members," Fernandes said. "I follow them closely, they are my sisters. It is tough. I can't just walk into practice and say 'hey, I want to play' like other former players can do."

That doesn't mean she doesn't check out the UConn games when her schedule allows her to do so. Like so many others, she is amazed by the remarkable senior season her former teammate Maya Moore is putting together.

"Phenomenal, there's so much pressure she has to carry that team but it is going to be the other people around her who help her," Fernandes said. "Hartley's done a great job, Kelly's done a great job and of course Tiffany and obviously Stef. She has a lot of pressure to hold the paint down. She is learning and she is a freshman, she has done great. That's why you love to have Chris Dailey, look at what she turned Tina Charles into. It is great to see what's going to happen with Stef."