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UConn headed to Lincoln regional
If there is going to be a fourth meeting between UConn and conference rival Louisville this season, it would have to occur in the Final Four.
After weeks of speculation that the Huskies may be shipped to play in the Louisville regional, the NCAA committee made the defending national champions the No. 1 seed in the regional in Lincoln, Neb.
It is the eighth straight year and 17th time in the last 21 years that the Huskies earned a No. 1 seed and it will be the sixth time UConn will enter the NCAA tournament with an undefeated record. The Huskies won the national titles with perfect records during the 1994-95, 2001-02, 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons but lost to Tennessee in the regional final during the 1996-97 campaign.
UConn, eyeing a record seventh consecutive trip to the Final Four, will host SWAC tournament champion Prairie View A&M on Sunday at either 5:30 p.m. or 8 p.m. With a win UConn would meet either Georgia or Saint Joseph’s. Duke is the second seed, Texas A&M the No. 3 seed and Nebraska, the host of the regional, is seeded fourth.
“At this time of the year what are you going to do?” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “You worry about yourself. You worry about what you are going to do instead of the opponent. This is my favorite time of the year because you don't get to focus on an opponent because even though you might know tonight who you are going to play in the first round, you have no idea who you are going to play if you win that game or if you win the next one or you win the next one but you really do get to focus on the inner game, you do get focus on what your players are feeling, what they are thinking and how they are and those are the things that I like the most. Getting ready to play an opponent, that is fun and all of that but really getting your team into a state of mind of being ready to win is what I enjoy the most. Getting into who they are as individuals and who we are as a team.”
It is the second year in a row Saint Joseph has been sent to subregional in Storrs. Last year the Hawks fell to Vanderbilt in the first round. Georgia last played UConn in the 2006 NCAA tournament while this is the second time in the last three years that Prairie View will face the Huskies in the first round.
Prairie View opened the season losing its first 11 games, failing to score 50 points in five of the games. However, playing a tough non-conference schedule aided the Lady Panthers during the SWAC tournament. Junior guard Jeanette Jackson averaged 21.3 points per game in the three games in the SWAC tournament.
UConn will be opening NCAA tournament play in the state for the 24th time in the last 26 seasons. The only times UConn didn’t play in Storrs, Hartford or Bridgeport in the first round came in 2010 and that is the only time UConn didn’t have at least one game in Connecticut since the Huskies made their first tournament appearance in 1989.
UConn has a 32-2 career record in the NCAA tournament at Gampel Pavilion and have won the last 30 NCAA tourney games at its on-campus arena.
After weeks of speculation that the Huskies may be shipped to play in the Louisville regional, the NCAA committee made the defending national champions the No. 1 seed in the regional in Lincoln, Neb.
It is the eighth straight year and 17th time in the last 21 years that the Huskies earned a No. 1 seed and it will be the sixth time UConn will enter the NCAA tournament with an undefeated record. The Huskies won the national titles with perfect records during the 1994-95, 2001-02, 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons but lost to Tennessee in the regional final during the 1996-97 campaign.
UConn, eyeing a record seventh consecutive trip to the Final Four, will host SWAC tournament champion Prairie View A&M on Sunday at either 5:30 p.m. or 8 p.m. With a win UConn would meet either Georgia or Saint Joseph’s. Duke is the second seed, Texas A&M the No. 3 seed and Nebraska, the host of the regional, is seeded fourth.
“At this time of the year what are you going to do?” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “You worry about yourself. You worry about what you are going to do instead of the opponent. This is my favorite time of the year because you don't get to focus on an opponent because even though you might know tonight who you are going to play in the first round, you have no idea who you are going to play if you win that game or if you win the next one or you win the next one but you really do get to focus on the inner game, you do get focus on what your players are feeling, what they are thinking and how they are and those are the things that I like the most. Getting ready to play an opponent, that is fun and all of that but really getting your team into a state of mind of being ready to win is what I enjoy the most. Getting into who they are as individuals and who we are as a team.”
It is the second year in a row Saint Joseph has been sent to subregional in Storrs. Last year the Hawks fell to Vanderbilt in the first round. Georgia last played UConn in the 2006 NCAA tournament while this is the second time in the last three years that Prairie View will face the Huskies in the first round.
Prairie View opened the season losing its first 11 games, failing to score 50 points in five of the games. However, playing a tough non-conference schedule aided the Lady Panthers during the SWAC tournament. Junior guard Jeanette Jackson averaged 21.3 points per game in the three games in the SWAC tournament.
UConn will be opening NCAA tournament play in the state for the 24th time in the last 26 seasons. The only times UConn didn’t play in Storrs, Hartford or Bridgeport in the first round came in 2010 and that is the only time UConn didn’t have at least one game in Connecticut since the Huskies made their first tournament appearance in 1989.
UConn has a 32-2 career record in the NCAA tournament at Gampel Pavilion and have won the last 30 NCAA tourney games at its on-campus arena.
posted by Jim Fuller at
7:05 PM
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