In recent weeks there have been no lack of updates on where Kelly Faris ranks on UConn's career charts.

However, when I think of what Faris contributes to the team it does not come down to the number of points, rebounds, assists or even steals that she gets on a nightly basis but the way that everything she does is about trying to win games. Faris, who will move into a tie with Ann Strother for the number of games played, is currently 10th all-time at UConn in the number of victories she has been on the court for..

Faris could finish as high as No. 5 on this list if UConn were to win the remainder of its games.

Here is the list
1. Maya Moore 150-4
2. Kalana Greene 148-9
3. Tiffany Hayes 147-7
4. Tina Charles 146-6
5. Renee Montgomery 139-11
6. Lorin Dixon 136-4
    Diana Taurasi 136-8
   Ashley Battle 136-13
9. Asjha Jones 135-9
10. Kelly Faris 133-9 (heading into tonight).

CURTIS EKMARK HONORED
Curtis Ekmark, the head coach and father of UConn commit Courtney Ekmark, was named the WBCA National High School Coach of the Year after leading St. Mary's to a 29-1 record and Arizona Division I state title.


Ekmark has a 154-21 record in six seasons at St. Mary's
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Ekmark will also coach the Purple team in the WBCA High School All-American Game and one of the players he will be coaching is UConn signee Saniya Chong out of Ossining (N.Y.) High School. The roster of the Purple team has some familiar names as former UConn recruiting targets Taya Reimer, Diamond DeShields (who was named the WBCA National Player of the Year), Erica McCall, Stephanie Mavunga and Karlie Samuelson are all on that squad.

The game will be played on Apr. 6 at the New Orleans Arena. Courtney Ekmark, a junior guard, is planning to join Curtis at the Final Four.

Former UConn star Swin Cash will be the honorary co-captain of the Black team while Tamika Catchings will be the honorary co-captain for the Purple squad.

There is always something special when UConn honors its senior class and today was no different.

The biggest question coming into the game was whether Kelly Faris would record her 1,000th career point, being the first senior to do it on Senior Day since Ashley Battle 2005.

Faris needed 18 points coming into the game and was stuck on the 10 points she had at halftime for what seemed like an eternity. She hit a 3-pointer with 11:48 to play and another with 8:34 remaining to get within two points of her milestone.

She missed a pair of 3-pointers as her teammates were running plays to try to get Faris the ball which wasn't lost on Faris.


"I eventually figured it out because I saw Coach (Geno Auriemma) call a few people over," Faris said. "I think we were forcing it a little too much. They got really excited and I said 'wait a second, I see what they are doing.' I pulled them in and said 'I know what he is telling you to do but it will come within the offense and don't force it too much.'

"I am not usually the one who has to take every shot and I am not sure I like that position but it was good. It means more to me that they were bound and determined to give me those shots. I am usually the ones trying to get people those shots so it is different. It is a great accomplishment and definitely credit a lot of my teammates for those."

Nobody was happier to see Faris scored her 1,000th point than teammate Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who scored her 1,000th point earlier in the game. She thought it was fitting that Faris' milestone basket came after a steal.




"I wouldn't have it any other way that for Kelly  to get her 1,000th on a hustle play, that is Kelly Faris all the way," Mosqueda-Lewis said.

"For her to be able to have her 1,000th point on senior night and to have us win the way we did, I couldn't be happier for her. I wouldn't rather have scored my 1,000th point with anybody else."

As for Mosqueda-Lewis, only Maya Moore (55 games) and Svetlana Abrosimova (63) got to the milestone in fewer games than the 64 it took Mosqueda-Lewis. It was also the first time that two UConn players scored their 1,000th point in the same game since Nykesha Sales and Carla Berube accomplished the feat on Nov. 17, 1996.

Since I look at Mosqueda-Lewis filling the same role of being the young, talented shooting star like Sales was in the 1996-97 season while a jack of all trades player like Faris plays a game similar to the way Berube  did in the mid and late 1990s.

"I see a similarity there," Auriemma said after the game.

"Kaleena, the she started the game was kind of a reflection of  what I think all great players do. What great players do is they impose themselves on the game right away and they continue to impose themselves on the game the entire time they are out on the floor.

"What Kelly does is sometimes Kelly's contributions are a little less noticeable, they don't hit you right between the eyes like  those first five minutes that Kaleena was on the floor, not everybody can do that and that takes kind of a special player. The two of them have a lot in common, the both  want to impact the game, they both want to win and they are both changing their games to suit the occasion. I am hopeful that today was an omen of things we can do down the road. It is a good day for our seniors and I think some of our younger guys made sure that it was."

A couple other statistical notes about Faris: 

She recorded her 500th assist 43 seconds after recording her 1,000th point as she set up fellow senior Heather Buck for her first basket.

She had seven steals to move by Renee Montgomery and into sixth place on the Huskies' all-time list. She moved by Pam Webber and Tina Charles and into eighth place on the all-time list in minutes played and she will tie Ann Strother for 10th on the all-time list at UConn in games played when UConn hosts Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Shortly after receiving an invite from USA Basketball to take part in the inaugural FIBA 3x3 World Championships, Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike the noises began to rattle her cell phone.

Among the first people to reach out to Ogwumike was her soon to be teammate Bria Hartley, who will be across the court from her this afternoon in the anticipated No. 1/No. 2 matchup between Ogwumike's and the Cardinal and Hartley's Huskies.


"Bria Hartley is one of my closest friends in life," Ogwumike said. "We started out knowing each other in the AAU circuit. We traveled in the same AAU circuits, you see the same players and you end up seeing the same teams later on in the tournaments. We had rivalries but friendly rivalries when it came down to us getting recruited and talking about it as girls do 'oh, I don't know where we are going to go to school.'

"When it came to USA Basketball Bria has always been in my age group and I always competed with her except in the World University Games. We had so much fun with summer. Bria is a battler and it was a unique experience. The best ting is that our friendship allowed us to pursue that experience. The first thing when we got invited by Coach Carol (Callan), Bria was texting me saying did you hear we are doing 'no crowds just go out and play, woah this sounds like a great opportunity.'"

USA Basketball hand picked a team of Hartley, Ogwumike, Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins and Alyssa Thomas of Maryland to compete in a tournament to pick the U.S. team playing for the world title. As expected, the quartet rolled to xxx victories to win the tournament.

When the team returned to Colorado Springs for final preparations, mononucleosis kept Thomas from making the trip to Athens for the tournament so she was replaced by former UConn star Ann Strother.

After winning the first seven games by an average of 12.7 points per game, the U.S. had to fight hard to outlast Australia in the semifinals and France in the gold-medal match. The two one-point victories allowed Hartley and Ogwumike to return home with gold medals.

Before the game perhaps the two will share a quick hug and a few words but once the game starts, they will be all business.


"We go out there and we are trying to win but off the court we are really friendly," Hartley said. "We still talk a lot but when we are on the court we focus on trying to win the game."

Ogwumike concurs with Hartley on that matter.

"we are frenemies, we are best frenemies," Ogwumike said. "We are best friends when we compete for USA Basketball but we are enemies when it comes to December 29."

BIG GAME FOR CHONG
UConn signee Saniya Chong followed up a 23-point effort in the first half by adding another 23 in the second half to lead her Ossining (N.Y.) team to an 80-70 win over St. Anthony's in the semifinals of the Slam Dunk Tournament at the Westchester County Center on Friday.

The 46-point effort propelled Ossining into Sunday's championship game against Irvington. The 5-foot-9 guard had five 3-pointers and was 18 of 18 from the free-throw line and also had nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

Also coming up on Ossining's schedule is a home game against Christ the King on Jan. 4 at 4:30 p.m. Christ the King is led by UConn recruiting target Sierra Calhoun.

When I spoke to Ossining coach Dan Ricci at Chong's letter of intent signing ceremony, he said they were planning to come down for the Jan. 5 UConn/Notre Dame game.

UConn recruiting target Jordin Canada had 13 points to lead her Windward School team to a big win against Long Beach Poly 49-38 in the semifinals of the Oaks Christian Tournament. Next up is tonight's championship game against defending CIF Division IV champion Bishop O'Dowd out of Oakland.

Fellow Class of 2014 UConn recruiting target Brianna Turner had a pair of 20-point games in the Alvin Lions Tournament on Friday.

Turner had 25 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals and five blocked shots in a 91-29 win over Lamar and had 23 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots as Manvel beat Fort Bend Hightower 83-46.

Next up is a game against Channelview tonight in the championship game.

UConn junior guard Bria Hartley and former UConn star Ann Strother were members of the United States team which eked out one-point wins over Australia in the semifinals and France in the championship game at the FIBA 3x3 World Championships.

Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame were the other team members for the U.S. team which finished undefeated in the tournament.

Hartley tied the gold-medal match with a two-point shot to tie the game at 13 and hit the next two baskets as well. Hartley assisted on a Ogwumike basket which ended up being the winning margin.

 Here are quotes from Hartley and Strother courtesy of USA Basketball.

BRIA HARTLEY
You won a FIBA U19 World Championship and now a FIBA 3x3 World Championship. How does it feel to be a two-time world champion?
It feels good. The feeling doesn’t change. The 3x3 is new to me, and new to a lot of us, to come out here and win that, especially in that game, it was really close and a tough game coming back from down 7-2. I think it was all about pride. I remember being on the court and being like, ‘Guys, we’ve got to win this,’ and we turned it around.

Your team got down early, but you never gave up. What does that say about your team?
We’re players that are competitive. Skylar, I’ve been playing against her plenty of times, and Chiney, we’re just really competitive. This entire trip, there are only four of us. We all became really close being together all that time on the court. We were able to talk to each other and tell each other what we need to do. I think we knew we had to buckle down, and we looked each other in the eye and said, ‘Let’s go, let’s turn this around, let’s step up defensively.’ That’s what we did and we picked it up on offense as well.

What did you learn at the 3x3s that can help your game this year at Connecticut?
Definitely half-court stuff, getting to the basket. I think this game is a lot more physical because of how you have to finish around the rim. I think this will help when I go back to play at UConn.

What will you remember most about this experience?
I think that this is the first-ever 3x3 World Championship. To be the first-ever world champions, not only for the USA, but the first-ever for any country, I think says a lot and is something to remember as you get old.

ANN STROTHER
You won a bronze medal at the 2001 FIBA U19 World Championship and a silver medal at the 2003 Pan American Games. Now you have a FIBA 3x3 World Championship gold medal. How did it feel to stand on top of the podium with the gold medal around your neck?
It feels great. It feels like it finally ended the way it was supposed to. It’s been great to be here and play with these guys and win a gold medal with USA Basketball.

You had to fight through both games today, does that make the gold medal sweeter?
Absolutely, I think when you’re in a situation where you really have to fight for it, it makes it even sweeter. I think it would have been a letdown had it been too easy. France was tough, Australia was tough, and really every team competed and played hard. It definitely made it sweeter.

Your team got down early today, but you never gave up. What does that say about your team?
They’re incredible competitors. I think at 7-2, in a game like this, you can come back as easily as hitting two (two-pointers).  You can’t ever get down, there’s not time to think about being down, or worry about the score. It was fast and fun and great.

What will you remember most about this experience?
All of it, really. The gold medal definitely stands out. For me, I feel like I haven’t been able to play at this level and with players that are this good for a while. It was so much fun to be playing at this level again. Maybe this is the last time I step on the court in this competitive atmosphere, and to end with a gold medal in the World Championship, I don’t think it gets much sweeter than that.

Another day and two more convincing wins for the United States team competing in the FIBA 3x3 World Championships in Athens, Greece.

The U.S. wrapped up pool play 21-2 win over Netherlands and in the knockout stage beat Estonia 21-11 and then defeated Hungary 21-8 in the quarterfinals.

The U.S. will play Australia in the semifinals on Sunday with the winners playing the winner of the France/Ukraine game in the gold medal game.

The U.S. featuring UConn junior guard Bria Hartley, former UConn star Ann Strother, Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame.

The United States opened play in the FIBA 3x3 World Championships with wins over Germany (22-9) and Angola (21-4).

The good news is the games on Court 1 in the event in Athens, Greece will be streamed live including tomorrow's game against Argentina at 1:30 p.m. at www.ert.gr/webtv/web-tv-live/ert-websport1-live,

The U.S. team includes UConn rising junior Bria Hartley and former UConn star Ann Strother along with Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins and Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike.

Hartley, Strother and Diggins will be competing in a shootout competition on Sunday.

With Maryland rising junior Alyssa Thomas unable to compete in the inaugural FIBA 3x3 World Championship later this month, USA Basketball selected former UConn star Ann Strother to join rising juniors Bria Hartley of UConn and Chiney Ogwumike and Notre Dame senior to be Skylar Diggins.

The quartet is taking part in a training camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. before embarking for the FIBA 3x3 World Championship in Athens, Greece which begins Thursday.

"Playing for Team USA is as good as it gets," said Strother in a release put out by USA Basketball. "It's an incredible honor to be here and to come in here and play with these three. I'm just excited for the opportunity."

Strother's most recent USA Basketball experience came at the 2003 Pan American Game although she competed in the 3x3 tournament in Colorado Springs were Hartley, Diggins, Ogwumike and Thomas went undefeated to earn the honor of representing the U.S. at the FIBA event.

Strother was a member of national championship teams during her first two seasons at UConn and scored 1,699 points for the Huskies from 2002-06 before playing for three seasons in the WNBA.

Sorry to admit I completely missed the fact that Bria Hartley made the 100th 3-pointer of her career in Monday's win over North Carolina (joining Jen Rizzotti, Diana Taurasi, Ann Strother, Mel Thomas and Maya Moore as the only sophomores to reach that milestone). Then I noticed that Caroline Doty has 99 career treys heading into Thursday's game against Cincinnati. It got me wondering how many times has UConn had three players with 100 career 3's playing at the same time since Tiffany Hayes has 160 career 3-pointers.

I leafed through the UConn media guide and the only other time I could find it happening was during the 2003-04 when Taurasi, Maria Conlon and Strother accomplished the feat.