(Associated Press photo)
Stefanie Dolson said the rest and rehabilitation will take care of the stress
fracture in her right ankle which had hampered her play in NCAA tourney.

Watching Stefanie Dolson struggling so much physically during the NCAA tournament makes it evident how thin the line is between championship glory and a disappointing end to the season.

The 6-foot-5 junior center Stefanie Dolson has been called the heart and soul of the UConn team by her head coach but a stress fracture in her right ankle has severely limited her offensive impact in the NCAA tournament.

Earlier in the tournament Geno Auriemma wondered whether Dolson would be able to make it through the entire tournament. Well, she is 40 minutes away from doing just that.


"The timing, although it sucks, in the tournament I am happy that it didn't happen in the middle of the season to kow that thee are only 40 more minutes of playing basketball it is not going to faze me," Dolson said. "I am not going to think about it. It won't affect my game or anything."

As painful as it is, Dolson said that no surgery should be needed when the season is over to fix the issue.

"I've talked to Rosemary, it has been a tough road but definitely afterwards resting it, treating it and a lot of rehab," Dolson said.

So how much time will Dolson need to take away from the basketball court to be fully recovered?

"I don't know, we don't really talk about that right now," Dolson said.."It is something in the future and what happens happens."

JEFF WALZ THE WAITER?
With the remarkable postseason run of his Louisville team, Jeff Walz's name has come up more than once as a potential candidate for high-profile coaching openings but he discussed a different vocation in Monday's press conference when the subject turned to his laid-back sideline attire.

"This will most likely be the last game that I coach here," Walz said. "It's been a great six years.  As a women's basketball coach, you go through times where you're always wondering what are you going to do when you're finished.  I've been to three national championship games. Now that I've got the opportunity to be a waiter in his restaurant; I don't know what the hell else somebody wants in life.  So my goal is to become the head waiter.  Not just one that sits in the back.  I want to be the best damn one he's got.  So I'm going to talk to him after the game tomorrow night and see when I can start, see if we can talk a contract through, and hopefully we can get things taken care of.  It would be an honor to work in his restaurant.
I love the guy.  He's a great guy."

Auriemma wasn't completely sold on a head waiter at Geno's Fast Break at Mohegan Sun Casino who goes to work minus a tie.


"I heard about that, that he had said that," Auriemma said  "I ran into Shoni Schimmel's parents on the way over here, and they said they're all for it and the Schimmel twins are transferring to Connecticut. Even though they're not twins.  So that's the plus side of him resigning or retiring.

"He doesn't dress well enough to work in the front room of my restaurant, so he'll be bussing dishes and taking out the trash in the back until he fixes his attitude."