Long before Bria Hartley emerged into an All-American candidate at UConn, she was a wide-eyed middle school phenom hoping for a chance to suit up at North Babylon High School.

When Hartley got her chance as an eighth grader, among the players there to ease her transition was Chanel Chisholm.

Tonight the two former teammates will square off when Hartley and UConn host Chisholm's Cincinnati squad.

"She was definitely one of the stars on that team and the leader of that team and you could tell how hard she worked and how talented she was," Hartley said. "She was always giving me pointers even though I was one of the younger ones. Then when I was in eighth grade, I finally got to play with her. Playing with somebody like that and being around the older girls, it helped me.

"I was very young, really little but she helped me know what I am supposed to do when I am on the court and just do what I did best."

Hartley and Chisholm were teammates for two seasons. Their last year together was a special one. When Hartley was a freshman and Chisholm a senior, they helped North Babylon win its first Long Island title.

"She had a really big role, actually, even though she was in middle school," Chisholm said. "She was playing up on the varsity team and played a really big role competing and getting us to the state finals (during the 2006-07 season)."

Chisholm headed to Vanderbilt for two seasons before transferring to Cincinnati. While Chisholm was adjusting to college life, Hartley was developing into one of the top players in Long Island. Her emergence was not a surprise to Chisholm.

"She has always been a really good player, she has always competed at a high level so I am not surprised at all.

"I thought Bria was really good, especially when she was younger. She had a good understanding of the game and had a really good basketball IQ, she was very fundamentally sound as well as she has a lot of skill and is talented. I knew she was going to be really good the older she got."

Both Hartley and Chisholm are eager for tonight's reunion.

"She was a lot older than me but we were still pretty close and pretty good friends," Hartley said. "Anytime you are playing against somebody that you knew for a long time growing up, you see that you are both doing well and both playing Division I basketball, you just smile and have fun while you are playing.

"I think a lot of fans that saw us play in high school, they watch the games. I talk to some old friends and they talk about how we are playing each other. It is something special."


CPTV SPORTS AIRING BREANNA STEWART'S HOOPHALL GAME
For those of you who have CPTV Sports, they will be televising the Cicero-North Syracuse (N.Y.)/West Springfield (Mass.) game from last week's HoopHall Classic beginning at 5 p.m. tonight. It will give people a chance to see UConn commit Breanna Stewart in action before checking out the UConn/Cincinnati game.

WNBA SCHEDULE IS OUT
The WNBA announced its 2012 schedule which kicks off on May 18 when Seattle hosts Los Angeles.

The Connecticut Sun opens up the following day with a 4 p.m. game at New York with the two teams playing in Connecticut's home opener on May 20 at 5 p.m.

Tracking the former Huskies coming to Mohegan Sun Arena
June 1: Minnesota (Maya Moore, Charde Houston), 7 p.m.
July 1: Seattle (Sue Bird), 5 p.m.
Aug. 26: Chicago (Swin Cash), 5 p.m.
Sep. 7: Phoenix (Diana Taurasi, Ketia Swanier), 7 p.m.

Here is Connecticut's entire schedule
Saturday, May 19                  at New York                            4:00 pm
Sunday, May 20                     New York                            5:00 pm
Friday, May 25                     San Antonio                         7:00 pm
Friday, June 1                     Minnesota                           7:00 pm
Sunday, June 3                     Washington                          3:00 pm
Friday, June 8                          at Indiana                             7:00 pm
Sunday, June 10                     Atlanta                                     5:00 pm
Wednesday, June 13                     Los Angeles                         8:00 pm
Friday, June 15                     New York                            7:00 pm
Sunday, June 17                  at Atlanta                             3:00 pm
Tuesday, June 19                     Indiana                                     7:00 pm
Thursday, June 21                  at Indiana                             7:00 pm
Friday, June 29                  at Washington                          7:00 pm
Sunday, July 1                     Seattle                                     5:00 pm
Friday, July 6                          at Tulsa                               7:00 pm
Saturday, July 7                  at Minnesota                           7:00 pm
Tuesday, July 10                  at Washington                         11:30 am
Wednesday, July 11                     Washington                          7:00 pm
Friday, July 13                          at Chicago                             7:30 pm
Thursday, August 16                  at New York                            7:00 pm
Saturday, August 18                     New York                            7:00 pm
Tuesday, August 21                     Tulsa                                       7:00 pm
Sunday, August 26                     Chicago                             5:00 pm
Tuesday, August 28                  at Chicago                             7:00 pm
Thursday, August 30                 at San Antonio                         7:00 pm
Sunday, September 2                  at Atlanta                             3:00 pm
Tuesday, September 4                  at Washington                          7:00 pm
Friday, September 7                     Phoenix                             7:00 pm
Sunday, September  9             Chicago                             5:00 pm
Wednesday, September 12         at Phoenix                             7:00 pm
Friday, September 14                 at  Los Angeles                         8:00 pm
Sunday, September 16                  at Seattle                             6:00 pm
Wednesday, September 19             Indiana                                     7:00 pm
Sunday, September 23            Atlanta                                     5:00 pm