Since I've been covering UConn (and my first season on the beat was 1999-2000) it's been pretty easy to see how Geno Auriemma's assistant coaches are utilized.

Chris Dailey would work with the post players as would another assistant (first it was Jamelle Elliott and more recently Marisa Moseley). The other assistant (first it was Tonya Cardoza and now Shea Ralph) worked with the guards.

Ever since seeing that Jasmine Lister will work with the guards after she was hired as an assistant coach, I was wondering if it would force a shift in Ralph's duties. I finally got around to asking Auriemma about how Lister replacing Moseley on the staff would impact the coaching responsibilities tonight at the first of the UConn Road Show events.

"There is no offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator in our program," Auriemma said. "Shea's not going to move from where she is, she has such a great connection with these kids and as far as what CD is going to be doing, we've got some ideas moving forward about how we want to move our players around. We looked at our roster and it doesn't seem to me like we have a center so maybe we just say, 'OK, you guys down that end, you guys down this end' and not care much about who is where.

"There are just not that many big kids who want to play in the lane, the game has moved away from it in a certain sense. I still believe in it but I don't even know anymore what I see."

The players are back on campus meaning that the coaches get to see them (in small doses) playing pickup and going through conditioning drills so I got some updates.

First, the news is good on Mikayla Coombs return to the court. Her freshman season ended abruptly due to a blood clot issue forcing her to miss the NCAA tournament. That's a little different than a player coming off an ankle, knee or shoulder injury but Auriemma said things are progressing nicely.

"She's doing some individuals, haven't seen her play but a lot of the individual stuff she can go full (court) so we'll see where that takes her," Auriemma said. "If it is not completely gone, it will be. They have given her a clean bill of health going forward."

All-American Katie Lou Samuelson is no longer wearing a walking boot after undergoing surgery on the left ankle that she hurt early in the season but Auriemma said she is not yet cleared for basketball activities.

The best bit of UConn women's basketball related news I heard (actually I saw) was that Megan Walker headed to Missouri to go through workouts with Napheesa Collier. The sessions are run by Alex Bazzell who calls himself  a "NBA/WNBA Skills Trainer" on his Twitter account. One of the workouts was posted on Twitter and it showed Collier and Walker hitting jumping after jumper and going through a grueling workout. Bazzell's work with Collier played a key role in her development at UConn and I couldn't imagine a better role model for Walker than Collier. The competition didn't stop there. Samuelson can't take part in pickup games yet but she does make the call on which players are on which teams. Auriemma is delighted to hear that Samuelson makes certain that Collier and Walker are not only on opposing teams but have to guard each other.

"They had a little go at each today which I thought was good," Auriemma said. "I think the more of that, the better. (Lou) makes sure Pheesa and Megan are on opposite teams guarding each other so I think that will play out pretty well. I think it will help Megan a lot, Pheesa might be the best player she guards all year so not a bad way to start training."

It might already be out there but with UConn announcing that it will face Vanderbilt on Nov. 17 at Mohegan Sun Arena in the Hall of Fame Women's Showcase, it got me wondering if that was going to be the season opener. Fortunately, among tonight's attendees was UConn's Senior Associate Director of Athletics/External Relations Neal Eskine, who is the point man for the women's basketball schedule and he said that the home game against Ohio State will be the season opener.

At this time of the year it is seemingly a daily occurrence for either Geno Auriemma or his players to receive some sort of national award or be among the list of finalists for such an award. It just so happens that all of this is the case today.

The Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced that Auriemma has been named the women's Division I coach of the year for the seventh time after leading his team to another undefeated regular season even after the graduation of All-Americans Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck.

Also, Napheesa Collier joins Washington's Kelsey Plum, Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell and A'ja Wilson of South Carolina as finalists for the Wade Trophy, the top individual award bestowed to a women's basketball player. Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams were also named to the WBCA's all-region team making them eligible to be selected to the WBCA All-American team which is the criteria required to be part of the Huskies of Honor.

Collier is averaging 20.2 points per game (shooting 69.3 percent from the field), she leads the Huskies in rebounding (8.9 per game) and has a team-best 68 blocked shots.

Samuelson is the team leader in scoring (20.9 points per game), her 114 3-pointers is seven shy of Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis' single-season program record. She also has 111 assists and 50 steals.

Williams is averaging 13.7 points per game, leads the Huskies with 179 rebounds and 93 steals and is second on the team in rebounding and blocked shots.

In case anybody is wondering why Kia Nurse is not on this list, the way the WBCA does things, there is a limit of three players per team who can receive all-region honors. That is why Asjha Jones is not up on the Huskies of Honor even though she had the kind of senior year that normally ends with All-American recognition. Nurse is certainly one of the best 40 players in women's college basketball but only three Huskies can make this list.

UConn incoming freshman Megan Walker capped her brilliant senior season with an undefeated season and third straight state championship. One of her rewards is being awarded one of the most prestigious honors.

Walker was named the winner of the Naismith Trophy becoming eighth former, current or future Husky to win the award joining Tamika Williams, Diana Taurasi, Ann Strother, Maya Moore, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Breanna Stewart and Katie Lou Samuelson. She also joins La'Keshia Frett and Kara Lawson as the only Virginia high school players to win the award.

“Megan is so deserving of this award. She holds herself to a maturity level of people many years her senior. She is humble yet confident, and is always helping everyone on the team improve,” said Larry Starr, Monacan High School coach in a release. “Megan is a great teammate, leader, and person and will represent the Naismith Trophy with dignity and class.”

Walker averaged 25.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game and saved her best for last with 18 points in a 60-59 win over King's Fork in the Virginia 4A title game including the game-winning basket with 14 seconds left to play.

Walker had six 30-point games and nine double-doubles as a senior and helped Monacan end the season on a 53-game winning streak.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma made his way down to Walker's final game at Monacan so he witnessed Walker's brilliant fourth-quarter performance.

"There is not a lot that Meg can't do," Auriemma said. "I am looking forward to getting her up here, let's put it that way. When you are her size (6-foot-1) you are not limited to just one thing. She is like Lou (Katie Lou Samuelson), not as tall but you can put her anywhere on the floor and be successful. It is just a matter of repetition and being put in the situation where you aren't the best player on the floor every minute of every day. There is a reason why everybody in America thought she was the best player because of the many things that she can do and not the one thing that she can do."

Being at the game enabled Auriemma to act like her coach for a few moments after the game.

"I always tend to look at things funny, 'Meg you were amazing in that fourth quarter, 18 points the game-winning bucket, just took over the game. You know Meg if you had done that in the first quarter, second quarter and third quarter you wouldn't have been down 11 and you wouldn't need to be a hero," Auriemma said. "She looks at me, 'yeah, I know.' What she did in that fourth quarter, she is capable of doing that the entire game but she is a high school kid and she doesn't know enough about that, we are dealing with that with Crystal (Dangerfield). When these kids are in high school and they know that, 'OK, game is on the line, time for me to take over ...'

Auriemma was thrilled that Walker and fellow UConn signee Mikayla Coombs ended their (non all-star game) high school careers by winning state titles and doing it on the same day was extra special.

"I am happy for them that they were able to win championships," Auriemma said. "Mikayla does it completely different, she has a lot of Kia Nurse in her, she just accomplishes a lot. She is going
to give us a different kind of dimension that we don't have right now."

UConn's Geno Auriemma, who has guided the Huskies to their ninth undefeated regular season, is one of 10 finalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year award.

Auriemma has won the award seven times including last year.

The other finalists of Karen Aston of Texas, Brenda Frese of Maryland, Wes Moore of North Carolina State, Mike Neighbors of Washington, Robin Pingeton of Missouri, Scott Rueck of Oregon State, Vic Schaefer of Mississippi State, Sue Semrau of Florida State and Tara VanDerveer of Stanford.

Four finalists will be announced on March 15

MILESTONE FOR UCONN SIGNEE
UConn incoming freshman Megan Walker scored the 2,000th point of her career in leading Monacan High School.

Walker had 18 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot (the 100th of her career) in the 71-32 win over Charlottesville in the quarterfinals of the Virginia 4A tournament. Monacan faces Lake Taylor on Saturday in the semifinals with the title game set for Mar. 10.

Andra Espinoza-Hunter had 36 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead Ossining to a 79-66 win over Our Lady of Lourdes in the New York Section I Class AA semifinals. The championship game is Sunday at 2 p.m. against Albertus Magnus.

Freshman Crystal Dangerfield set to make another start in place of Saniya Chong

There was no sign of senior guard Saniya Chong at the portion of today's practice open to the media so it wasn't too hard to figure out her status for tomorrow night's game against Ohio State.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma confirmed that Chong won't play tomorrow and her status is up in the air for Wednesday's game at Nebraska.

"She is doing some of the stuff you have to do, it is just taking a really long time," Auriemma said. "She is not going to be ready for tomorrow night obviously and probably not Wednesday either so perhaps the time we get back from the holidays, hopefully she will be ready to go."

Freshman Crystal Dangerfield should make her second consecutive game as Chong is slated to miss another game due to concussion-like symptoms after she was hit in the head in the second half on a Dec. 7 win at Notre Dame.

That leaves UConn with an even thinner bench than normal. Neither Molly Bent nor Kyla Irwin played against Notre Dame and got in for just the final 1:29 against Kansas State so it will be interesting to see how early they are called upon against a deep Ohio State team.

"It is a big problem and you saw some of the problems when we played K-State, we just don't have a lot to go to but we are going to have to figure it out," Auriemma said. "We had a conversation with some of those young guys that we have to figure out a way to get you involved. I think they want to be involved but if you watch them every day you just kind of shake your head so you might have to just close your eyes, throw them out there and see what happens."

The timing couldn't be worse for Chong to be injured. Unlike Kansas State, a team which preferred to run the clock down and didn't put very much pressure on the UConn guards, Ohio State likes to extend defensive pressure and figures to do even more of that with the Huskies being shorthanded.

"If you remember last year Pheesa and Lou didn't get a lot of playing time at Ohio State, they weren't quite ready for something like that," Auriemma said. "Now they aren't that much different than they were last year to be honest with you, they've added some pretty good pieces with  Sierra Calhoun, Tory McCoy and (Stephanie) Mavunga an they have gotten a lot, they have (Linnae) Harper playing so they have a lot of bodies that they can put out there, obvoiusly they want to go up and down and want to create as much of a high scoring game as they can. Controlling the tempo is going to be really important. Not that we want to walk it up and play 50-45 game but our starters are going to log a lot of minutes tomorrow but we are going to need some help from our bench and that is a big concern."

I've spoken to UConn senior guard Saniya Chong countless times over the last four years and always resisted the temptation to ask her about Andra Espinoza-Hunter, her former teammate at UConn since it would be a violation of NCAA rules for Chong to talk about her until Espinoza-Hunter signed her national letter of intent.

Well, Espinoza-Hunter put her signature on the dotted line on Wednesday and is officially part of UConn's four-player incoming recruiting class so I got Chong's take on Espinoza-Hunter after today's practice.

"It was awesome playing with her," said Chong, a teammate with Espinoza-Hunter during her junior and senior seasons when Andra was a seventh and eighth grader. "She can do all different things on the court, she can get to the basket, play defense so with her it made the team even better.

"She will fit in right away because she works hard, she is always focused and really excited. You see her here all the times coming to games, coming  to practice so I am sure she is ready to jump in and show what we can do."

Espinoza-Hunter helped Ossining to the 2012 and 2013 New York Class AA titles. After spending three seasons at Blair Academy, she has decided to play her final her senior season at Ossining.

"That is amazing to start off and now to finish especially with her being home," Chong said. "I think she loves that. She misses her friends, she misses her family and being in that home environment is really great,"

Batouly Camara, a transfer from Kentucky who is sitting out this season, played with Espinoza-Hunter for two seasons at Blair Academy.

Espinoza-Hunter said it was "the best day ever" when she heard the news that she would be teammates with Camara again

Camara will get to play with Espinoza-Hunter for three more years which is something she is really excited about.

"It will be awesome to play with Andra again, we have known each other since we was in fifth grade and I was in seventh so we had a great relationship and I am so glad she is coming here," Camara said. "The opportunity to play with her at Blair, to watch her grow into the young woman that she is today it just makes me so happy."

So what will Espinoza-Hunter bring to the table when she comes to UConn?

"Just energy, she is a competitor in everything she does so that is what she is going to bring on and off the court," Camara said.

Espinoza-Hunter joins Mikalya Coombs, Lexi Gordon and Megan Walker as part of a highly-touted incoming freshman class. All-Star Girls Report, which includes the transfers of Camara and Azura' Stevens in the ratings, has UConn with the No. 1 recruiting class.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma had to wait until Thursday as Walker, the top-rated recruit in the class, completed the class with her commitment. He said it was a relatively stress free process.

"As we were going through the recruiting process I thought we were recruiting some really good kids who had a pretty good idea of what we are looking for," Auriemma said. "For the most part every one those kids was kind of easy to recruit. They were really knowledgeable about what have and what we have to offer, what they could accomplish there.

"It is a group that has the potential to do a lot of great things. Individually they are all probably at different levels right now, some have played at a higher level have more experience than others but I think as a group they bring a lot of things that right now if you look at our team they are going to get an opportunity to show what they've got right away. I think they are pretty versatile as a group, I don't think we have anybody who is locked in being a one-dimensional type of kids so I think all in all we helped ourselves a lot "

What is interesting about how UConn recruits is only a select few are invited for visits to campus. This year that was definitely the case as the only four players to take official visits to UConn were the four players who committed and then signed with the Huskies.

"We don't waste our time with kids we don't think we can get or kids that we think it is going to be a major struggle," Auriemma said. "We know before we ask a kid to come on an official visit, we know because a lot of them have been here before. We have a pretty good idea that it is going to be us and somebody else or it is no more than three schools generally so our chances of getting them are pretty good. That doesn't mean we are going to get all of them but we are also willing to not have a great recruiting class if we don't get the kids we want. I have really started to believe with all of my heart 'that kid you don't get isn't going to hurt you. Bringing in the wrong kid is going to hurt you so we've rather not get anybody than bring in the wrong kid. I think everyone of these kids coming in has the right temperament, the right kind of player for us."

They all know each other, they have all spent time together. There are not looking over each other's shoulder. We told them up front that your success at Connecticut has nothing to do with who else is coming and we understand that 

SNY GAMES AVAILABLE ON ESPN3
I happened to noticed that the UConn men's season opener, which aired on SNY, was not available on ESPN3 and the last time I checked with the folks at UConn they were still waiting to hear back from ESPN to see if the SNY games will be streamed live on ESPN3 (outside of the SNY coverage area).

I was told they have heard back and those 17 games airing on SNY will be available on ESPN3 as will the games on ESPN and ESPN2.

When I first heard that Chatrice White was granted a waiver by the NCAA after transferring from Illinois to Florida State and then hearing the possibility that Natalie Romeo could be immediately eligible after going from Nebraska to Washington, it got me thinking (which is never a good thing). The Illinois and Nebraska situations that White and Romeo left were not pretty but neither were the ones at Duke and Kentucky where Azura Stevens and Batouly Camara began their collegiate careers before transferring to Duke.

So if White and possibly Romeo could play for their new teams without sitting out the season, couldn't a case be made for Camara and Stevens to play for UConn this season?

I brought the subject up with UConn coach Geno Auriemma after today's practice and he said neither player will be eligible to play for the Huskies until the 2017-18 season.

"I don't have an answer behind those other programs what happened, why some kids are eligible and some kids are not," Auriemma said. "I just know that our two are not. From talking to them, it doesn't seem like there is anything that would make me think 'OK we should go and pursue this.' I don't know happened that those other players were able to do that. If I felt there were something there, I would pursue it but it would be dishonest for me to think there is when there isn't."

Also, with Kia Nurse getting a game in Canada next year, I was curious if UConn would try to secure a game in Nevada for Gabby Williams. Auriemma said that UConn's west coast trip next season will have to suffice for Williams' homecoming game.

UConn kicks off its season with an exhibition game against Division II Indiana (Pa.) tomorrow night at 7 at Gampel Pavilion. It was a foregone conclusion that Nurse, Williams, Napheesa Collier and Kaie Lou Samuelson would start. Auriemma said he is planning to start senior Saniya Chong as well. Auriemma has been thrilled with what he has seen from Chong which is a good sign but now the challenge is to carry her strong work in practices throughout the entire season. It would be huge for the Huskies if that were the case since it would allow the coaching staff to bring freshmen Crystal Dangerfield and Molly Bent off the bench. There will be more on Chong in the coming days.

Auriemma said everybody should be good to go for the game. He said Nurse stepped on somebody's foot but she was able to practice without restriction today so she should be good to go.

Finally, the preseason Associated Press poll comes out tomorrow at 9 a.m.. UConn has been the preseason No. 1 team in each of the last three seasons and six times in the last eight years but I would be pretty surprised if that trend continues. I vote in the poll and picked the Huskies fourth behind South Carolina, Notre Dame and Baylor.

UConn guard Kia Nurse was Canada's leading scorer at 2016 Olympics

UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, fresh off leading the United States to a second straight Olympic gold medal, said he would not be coaching the national team again. Time will tell if that's the case because at this point four years ago Auriemma was saying pretty much the same thing.

However, it is clear that Auriemma came out of this Olympics significantly more energized than he was four years ago. One of the advantages of covering the UConn football and women's basketball teams (especially before the practice facility came to be) is I would occasionally catch up with Auriemma inside Gampel Pavilion. One of those meetings came on one of his first trips back to campus after leading the U.S. to the 2012 Olympic gold medal. The circles under his eyes had circles of their own and he looked completely spent emotionally and physically. This time around, however, he seems to have emerged from the experience with more of a jump in his step.

At American Athletic Conference media day earlier this week, I asked him about that.

"It was a much different experience when you know what is coming," Auriemma said. "I was able to change my approach a little bit and it was still difficult to come home August 22 and have our players show up Aug. 26th, that was hard.

"I knew my team and in 2012 I didn't know them. I knew what I was going to get and there was  comfort level which made it easier for me, much easier transition."

Auriemma returned to UConn content that his team accomplished everything he was hoping they would. The story is a little different for junior guard Kia Nurse.

Nurse led her team into the Olympics after being her team's leading scorer in the FIBA Americas tournament which served as an Olympic qualifier and Pan Am Games last summer.

Canada faced France in the quarterfinals with the knowledge that a victory would give them a chance to play for a medal while a loss eliminated them from medal contention.

Canada was up by 13 points when Kim Gaucher scored with 7:30 left in the first half and took a five-point lead into halftime before it all began to unravel.

Nurse has had some many magical performances for her national team but she seemed to be pedaling uphill throughout the entire game. Perhaps it was the case that she missed much of the preparation time leading into the Olympics due to an offseason surgery, it simply wasn't her day or France was able to turn her into a jump shooter by cutting off her aggressive drives to the basket, but Nurse couldn't hit a basket. She finished 3 of 17 from the field in the 68-63 loss en route to a seventh place finish.

Nurse was hoping to return home with a medal. She joked that she would leave it with her parents and point out to her brother Darnell, a defenseman for the NHL's Edmonton Oilers, that despite the remarkable number of trophies he has accumulated, he couldn't top her achievement of earning an Olympic medal. Those conversations just may happen one day but not at the current time.

As time has gone on Nurse has learned the appreciate everything that her national team has been able to accomplish instead of a focusing on her disappointing performance against France.

"Every summer when I come back here and put my dreams (in focus) again," Nurse said. "I look back at my summer and realize how fortunate I was to have that experience, thinking about it if you want to be an experienced player you have to keep on playing. I've been fortunate to have that extra experience, find all of my strengths and weaknesses and work through them.

"My whole thing is we had three vets who were finished with the national team no matter what the outcome was and see how they carried themselves every day, the pride and passion they played with each and every day for the last four years of my career and all the years they were with the team. It was a shame we couldn't finish it off and the fairy tale for them and everything they put into the program. It was obviously disappointing but we are extremely proud of how far Canada basketball has come, when those ranking came out and we were six, we bumped up three spots that is just a testament of how far Canada basketball has come."

As Nurse referenced, the Canadian team will look somewhat different four years from now. Gaucher is 32, Shona Thorburn is 34, Lizanne Murphy is 32 and Tamara Tatham is 31 and the future of the team will rest with the seven members of the squad 25 or younger. Canada combined to go 9-3 in the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championships and FIBA U17 World Championships so perhaps players from those teams will be in the mix. There are also plenty of Canadian stars opening eyes at the collegiate level so it will be interesting to see what the team looks like in two years at the World Championships and in four years time as well.

"It is starting to get more towards my age group so all the players that I played with in the age divisions," Nurse said. "They are doing great things in the NCAA level, in the pro level overseas, for them to come up to the next level and play on the national team I think it is going to great."

A third person with UConn ties who went to the Olympics was also at media day in Philadelphia as former UConn forward Jamelle Elliott and current Cincinnati head coach Jamelle Elliott served as an advanced scout for the U.S. team.

"It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Geno to think enough of me to be a part of this Olympic staff as a coach the best players in the world and try to go for a gold medal," Elliott said. "It was an unbelievable experience and it allowed me to reenergize as a coach being an assistant again, being around the coaching legends on the men's side Mike Krzyewski, Jim Boeheim, Tom Thibodeau just to hear those conversations and hear them talk about basketball it was unbelievable experience."

If this was indeed the international swan song for former UConn teammates Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, they certainly are leaving with style.

Bird and Taurasi, who first played together during the 2000-01 college season followed up their on-court partnership at UConn by playing together in Russia and of course a remarkable run with the U.S. national team.

Taurasi finished as the leading scorer for the U.S. team and Bird set an Olympic record for assist/turnover ratio as the U.S. won their sixth straight Olympic gold medal with a 101-72 win over Spain.

Taurasi had 17 points as she averaged 15.6 points in the eight games aided by her 58 percent shooting from 3-point range as she joined Bird and Tamika Catchings as four-time Olympic gold medalists.

"It’s huge," Taurasi said. "It says a lot about the people the run USA Basketball.  It says a lot about the youth in our country that when you put this jersey on, there’s a level and it’s not necessarily just basketball, it’s a way to be a great teammate.  We showed that in this tournament "

Former Connecticut Sun guard Lindsay Whalen had 13 points and five rebounds. Former UConn star Maya Moore had 12 of her 14 points in the first half and also had five rebounds and six assists.

Bird, who missed the semifinal win over France with a knee injury, had one assist and one turnover giving her 31 assists versus four turnovers in the tournament which is easily the best mark in Olympic women's basketball history. Bahar Caglar of Turkey had 11 assists and 2 turnovers in the 2012 Olympics while in 1996 Hyun Sun Han of Korea had 16 assists and 3 turnovers.

"I’m just really happy," Bird said. "We just did something that’s pretty incredible. When you get together as a team and you know you only have a month to do something, it’s remarkable in so many ways that we were able to put this together and do it in a fashion that leaves no question marks. This put us on the map as arguable one of the best teams, and we had fun doing it.

"I don’t think I’ve ever been around a group that’s this talented and also played this hard. Again, I’m just super happy. I’m proud of my teammates. I’m proud I’m part of this group. I’m happy for Coach Auriemma and the rest of the staff, and it’s just a really fun day today."

In the second quarter alone, UConn grads Taurasi, Bird, Moore, Tina Charles and Breanna Stewart combined for 26 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a blocked shot as the U.S. outscored Spain 28-15 to take a commanding 49-32 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Charles finished with eight points, seven rebounds and five assists while Stewart finished with 11 points.

Charles and Moore join Bird and Taurasi as the only players to win multiple NCAA, World Championship and Olympic titles while Stewart becomes the ninth former Husky to win a gold medal in women's basketball.

"This is in a league of its own," said Stewart, who averaged 8.1 points per game while shooting 73.3 percent from the field. "This is a different kind of toughness to be able to win gold medal just because you come together with 11 other great players, best players in the world, and we had two weeks to prepare really. Then we got here and played well and acted like we been playing with each together for the entire year."

Moore joined Taurasi as the only double-digit scorer for the U.S. averaging 12 points per game, she also had a team-high 16 steals and was tied for the team lead with 45 rebounds. It should be noted that six U.S. players had at least 20 assists and four of them graduated from UConn as Moore had a team high 34 assists, Taurasi had 26 and Charles finished with 25.

It had to be extra special for Auriemma. He made it clear after returning home from the 2012 Olympics that he was done with being in the pressure cooker of coaching the U.S. national team. USA Basketball Women's National Team Director Carol Callan wouldn't take no for an answer and Auriemma decided that being able to coach his former players and especially Bird and Taurasi was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

It wasn't an easy ride. He had to answer questions daily about whether the dominance of the U.S. team was good for the game (like he never heard that question before). When two-time Olympian Candace Parker was left off the team, he faced accusations of picking players because they went to UConn. Those petty claims were on social media even today. None of that seemed to matter after the gold medal game as Auriemma became the first coach to win multiple Olympic gold medals in women's basketball even if he doesn't get a medal.

"Obviously, it was an incredible tournament for us," Auriemma said after the game. "From the very first game that we played to today, with very few exceptions I thought we played basketball at a really high level. I can’t say enough about our players. How quickly they’ve come together, how much they’ve been able to accomplish in less than a month that we’ve been together. It wasn’t as easy as sometimes it looked. These last two games especially with France and today against Spain. These are very good teams that we’re playing, and you could see that it wasn’t just a cake walk, that it was a struggle. Then finally, because of our depth and because of the experience on our team, we were able to separate ourselves. But the way we played, we respected our opponents and we respected the game itself, we earned a lot of respect from a lot of people around the world, and I’m really proud of that."

Catchings has announced that this was her Olympic swan song and we'll have to see if Bird and Taurasi opt to try to become the first five-time Olympic gold medalists in women's basketball in four years time. Also, will UConn coach Geno Auriemma be the head coach for the U.S. in 2020. If I had to guess I would say no on all accounts.

Former Connecticut Sun draft pick Alba Torrens led Spain with 18 points.

Serbia won the bronze medal with a 70-63 win over France. Former Connecticut Sun forward Danielle Page had 10 points as she was one of five players from Serbia in double figures.

Former UConn star Tina Charles shoots over former Connecticut Sun forward Elizabeth
Williams in Monday night's exhibition game in Los Angeles. (Photo courtesy of USA Basketball)

The U.S. women's Olympic team was in danger of dropping its first game when a trio of former UConn stars took control.

The U.S. Select team, a group of young WNBA players, held a two-point lead with a minute to go. Breanna Stewart hit a layup off an assist from Tina Charles to tie the game. Charles also had a pair of key rebounds while Maya Moore was 4 for 4 from a foul line in the final 39.3 seconds to lead the U.S. to an 88-84 victory.

"We were trying to accomplish a lot," said Moore, who tied for the team lead with 11 points. We were putting different lineups out there on the court, trying different schemes, trying to see what we could do…and the Select Team was very aggressive in terms of those moments when we weren’t completely on the same page. But we were able to respond and finish the game the right way. Hey, we could have easily lost this game. So I’m glad we were able to come through and build some momentum for the next game."

Moore also had three rebounds and three assists while Elena Delle Donne also had 11 points. Lindsay Whalen and Angel McCoughtry had nine points each, Stewart had six of her eight points in the fourth quarter, Charles had eight points and four rebounds. Diana Taurasi had seven points and a team-high five assists while Sue Bird finished with six points.

Natasha Howard had 18 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter, Jewell Loyd had 20 points and Odyssey Sims added 17 to lead the Select team.

"I thought the way the Select Team played was really cool," UConn and U.S. coach Geno Auriemma said. "They played as if they play against these guys all the time, which they do. There wasn’t going to be any sense of intimidation of who they are, which is why we play these games. We need the challenges. We need to look at different combinations and figure out what works for us and what doesn’t. For us, in the two days we’ve been together, we did a lot of really good things and we’re going to get better and better every day. And for the future of USA Basketball, there were some unbelievably positive signs out there of what the next group could potentially look like. It was a good day, I think, all the way around."

The U.S. will now play three international friendlies in three different states beginning tomorrow when the U.S. faces France at 7:30 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware. That will be preceded by a 5 p.m. game between Canada (featuring UConn's Kia Nurse) and Australia at 5 p.m. On Friday at Webster Bank Arena, Australia and France will play at 4:30 p.m. followed by the Canada/U.S. game at 7. Canada and France will meet at 1:30 p.m. on July 31 followed by the U.S./Australia game at Madison Square Garden. The team will wrap up the state-side preparations with a practice in Houston on Aug. 2 before leaving for Rio.

"They’re three really big games for us against three teams that are going to be at the Olympics that we’ve played before," Taurasi said. "We know what kind of team they are, what kind of quality they have. It’s going to challenge us to go out there and play hard and play really well to win. When you put this jersey on, as coach said, there are no moral victories. At the same time, these games are there to prepare you, to get you in a position where when we get to Rio, we know what we’re going with and the things that we’re really good at. It’ll be a tough and competitive three games."

Perhaps the biggest upset of the women's college basketball season up to this point is that UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey had no idea of the honor that was bestowed on her earlier today.

There is not an aspect of the UConn program that Dailey doesn't have her finger on so when members of Dailey's family were contacted about her impending induction into the Huskies of Honor, somehow the word never trickled down to Dailey.

"You can't even describe it because I wasn't expecting it and he (UConn coach Geno Auriemma) doesn't keep secrets very well so I didn't know anything and he didn't say anything," Dailey said. "Usually you would think somebody would blab and it would usually be him."

Pretty much from the time the Huskies of Honor program was created, it was more of a case of when and not if Dailey would be included among the legendary figures she helped to recruit and coach. Auriemma said he wasn't sure why but this just seemed to be the right time. After Moriah Jefferson and Breanna Stewart had their banners unveiled, the mystery surrounding who the third banner was for ended up being revealed.

Morgan Tuck was the only player who knew what was coming. She was told on Friday just so she wouldn't think she was being honored in that fashion.

 "I think CD is extremely important," Tuck said. "She is the one who keeps everybody on our toes and makes sure we are doing the right things. Every little thing, CD is on us, how we dress, how we act or (wearing) headphones so she helps us become better people."

Dailey knew some of her family members would be in attendance but didn't realize just how many of them made the trip until the announcement came that she was joining the Huskies of Honor.
"My sister lives in London, my brother came from Ohio," Dailey said. "I had no idea that a lot of my cousins, my aunt and a lot of people were here. Just to see your name up here, it is emotional because I know my parents would be really, really proud. They were here at the very beginning."

Dailey's father passed away in 2003 and her mom died just last year. Dailey teared up when discussing the support she received from her parents.

"It is never enough to say that she has been for as long as I have," Auriemma  said. "I think the most important thing is putting her up on that wall kind of puts her next to, not above, not under but next to all the people who wouldn't be on that wall if it wasn't for her so I think it is very appropriate. Every single player that is up there, there's a pretty good chance they wouldn't be there if it wasn't for a bunch of stuff that CD did."

So why was Saturday the day for Dailey to be honored?

"We are not getting any younger and I always say it is never too early to do something but there can come a time when maybe it is too late," Auriemma said. "Maybe we missed the boat, maybe we should have done it when her mom was alive. I know she is our biggest fan, her and (Dailey's) dad but just felt like the right time to do it, I don't know why. I am glad we did it and every player who has ever played her appreciates it."

There was a video at halftime with many of the players weighing in on Dailey's honor including Rebecca Lobo playfully mentioning many of the Dailey-enforced rules and suggesting that Dailey needs to step it up because she is the coach of the post players and the list of players in the Huskies of Honor is dominated by perimeter players.

Dailey reflected on how meaningful it was to be honored in this way.

"Mostly you think about a lot of different things and that was on the my mind," Dailey said. "My family, the players that I had a role (in their development). I already looked at my phone and there are a lot of texts of everybody from Morgan Valley, Rebecca. It has just been that kind of week with having Diana, Sue and Maya back (for the national-team training camp) and you just think about a lot of things, it is difficult to put into words."

There's plenty of ways to display leadership. UConn seniors Moriah Jefferson and Breanna Stewart are more of the "lead by example" types and that is exactly what they did in Saturday's win over Memphis.

Although the Huskies were rolling along with a 14-point lead early in the second quarter, there was a sense among the players and coaches that the Huskies were somewhat lethargic.

One of the first signs of life came in one stretch when Stewart and Jefferson came up with offensive rebounds that were more about a relentless effort to extend a possession than their natural athleticism.

Saniya Chong had just missed a jumper when Stewart used her 7-foot-1 wing span to secure an offensive rebound that few other women's college players could have corralled. Stewart would miss a jumper of her own. A pair of Memphis players seemed to be in perfect position to snare the rebound only to have Jefferson aggressively chase the ball down. Given a third opportunity, Stewart drained a jumper off Napheesa Collier's assist. The crowd, which had been waiting for something to cheer about, unleashed a rousing ovation for the blue-collar work from the Huskies' star players.

"We made a few hustle plays in a row and got into the crowd into it," Stewart said. "When you have the crowd, that is a huge momentum swing for us."

Jefferson was thrilled to have a role in the signature sequence of events in the victory.

"Those are the types of plays that we have to make and we can make memories on," Jefferson said. "You can have energy and the team builds off of that. If you aren't going for offensive rebounds, if we are in a tight game and need them, we aren't going to be able to do it.

"Those types of plays definitely bring energy to the arena, the fans love it and we love it as a team."

Jefferson admitted that she was not a happy camper at halftime and let her teammates know it.

"I usually don't do too much yelling but I did a little bit at halftime just saying that our energy wasn't there," Jefferson said. "It wasn't so much the things we were doing, we were getting stops and making plays but it wasn't enough. We were definitely low energy and we can't ever have that in any game that we play."

Stewart finished with 19 points as she tied Tina Charles for second place on UConn's career list with the 117th double-digit career scoring game. She also moved within 15 points of tying Charles for the No. 2 spot on UConn's career scoring chart. Stewart added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Jefferson had 11 points and seven assists. She also became the ninth UConn player with three seasons of at least 100 assists and 50 steals and tied Bria Hartley for fifth place in career assists in the process.

Morgan Tuck, who returned to practice on Friday, missed her fourth straight game as she rested her surgically-repaired right knee.

"It is always going to be her (decision not to play) from here on in," Auriemma said. "If she knows she is good to go, she'll go. If she goes 'I am not ready' I trust her.

"She (felt) pretty good but not where she wants to be and I respect that. We will see Monday at practice, we have Monday, Tuesday and shootaorund on Wednesday so we potentially have three more looks at it (before UConn plays at Tulane on Wednesday) so if she goes all three days then we will figure it out. I would like to get her back, obviously."

Warde Manuel, who was officially introduced as Michigan's director of athletics, was in attendance and met with the media at halftime to discuss his decision to head back to his alma mater.

Others in Geno Auriemma's situation might opt to take the high road when asked questions about his boss potentially heading to greener pastures. However, side stepping questions is not Auriemma's way. After today's win over SMU he was asked to weigh in on current UConn director of athletics Warde Manuel who is rumored to be at the top of the short list to become the new AD at Michigan.

What follows is what Auriemma had to say about Manuel and the whole Power 5 banter.

"I try not to get myself involved in all of that stuff. I wish I had a dollar for every idiot who thinks Warde is the reason we are not in the Power 5 (conference). You can't even find the words to describe how idiotic that is. My relationship with Warde professionally is as good if not better than any relationship I've ever had with any AD. My relationship with him personally is as good if not better than any relationship I've ever had with any AD.

"I think he's done a phenomenal job with the coaches where we were to where we are right now and he might still be our AD for the next 10 years. Whether it is the one people are talking about, Michigan, or some place else, he is always going to be in the news. His name is always going to be up there and we should hope that it is because that would mean he is really good at what we does and people want him. If we have an AD or coach that nobody wants than we should be thinking 'maybe this guy or this woman is not that good.' So to sit there and say we are disappointed if his name comes up ... I look at it as everybody has to do what's in the best interest for them, their family, their future, their careers and all the people that Warde is our AD should be happy if he stays and they should be happy if he goes. I personally really enjoy his company and really enjoy what he has meant to our program. Beyond that, this whole Power 5 stuff, people are out of their minds on a lot of this stuff. I wish people would understand that it is bigger than any of us."

If I've learned nothing else in the years I have covered the UConn women's basketball team, it is Geno Auriemma driving home the point that there's a huge difference between shooting well and playing well.

Katie Lou Samuelson, like fellow former Mater Dei High School and UConn star Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, has what Auriemma has referred to as a "get out of jail free" card with their ability to hit 3-pointers.

As Auriemma did with Mosqueda-Lewis, who would graduate as the NCAA's all-time leader in 3-pointers made, he has been pushing Samuelson to bring more to the table than just the ability to hit shots from the perimeter. Making a couple of shots is not going to be enough to satisfy a demanding coach like Auriemma and it's hard to watch Samuelson play, especially in last night's win, and not think she has gotten the message.

While she still has some growing to do on the court, I thought Samuelson's effort against Memphis was the best of her young collegiate career.

Against South Florida Samuelson attempted five shots before she had any other statistic whether it was a rebound, assist, steal or blocked shot. Wen she failed to close out on a 3-point shooter when USF came roaring back, she got an earful from Auriemma who instructed all the players on the court at the time not to give up uncontested 3-pointers. When she got into the game against Memphis Samuelson quickly grabbed a defensive rebound and on the ensuing possession, battled hard for an offensive rebound. The shots would come later as Samuelson finished with a pair of 3-pointers en route to scoring 11 points but when it came to her compete level, I thought this was a really good showing for her.

"Just going in and getting that rebound kind of gave me a bounce in my step and made me ready for the rest of the game," Samuelson said. "Instead of having a slow start where I did nothing, I got in there, got an offensive rebound. Whenever I come off the bench, that is what I need to do. I need to do something that is going to get my game going and I am not just relying on that first 3 that I am going to hit. I have noticed different ways that I have been able to get points, mostly if I focus on getting other people shots too the other ones come easier."

Auriemma said it is not a coincidence that Samuelson's shots have started to fall with more regularity as she contributes to UConn's success in other ways.

"She has been getting more aggressive every day," Auriemma said. "Her practices are getting better, she is doing more things and it is not unusual that the more things that you start doing that the more your shot starts dropping. She is doing so many different things right now that her confidence level is way higher than it was a month ago."

Auriemma certainly drove the point home to Samuelson during a Dec. 30 game at Cincinnati when he did not summon the reigning national high school player of the year off the bench until there was 1:48 to play in the third quarter. He wanted Samuelson to compete harder in practices and not just for stretches in practice.

Samuelson had a pretty good idea that messages like that would be coming when she decided to commit to UConn.
"I kind of expected it to be one of the hardest things I've done but just the consistency that I need to put myself into and my hard work, it definitely has been harder than anything I've done. I am kind of getting better at doing what they ask me to do. Recently with how hard I have been trying to push myself, it has made things easier not only during games but in practice."

Auriemma mentioned after the Memphis game that he was encouraged that the three road games in three different states did not become merely a showcase for Breanna Stewart but other players and in particular younger players stepped up in different ways.

"It has helped us a lot," Samuelson said. "We have gotten different kinds of games and a lot of playing time in each of them. I think the variety we have been through has really helped us as players and prepared us for what is going to come later.

"I think we have definitely grown, having these three games that close, everybody's going to be tired, everybody wants to go home and we knew coming into this game that we had to take care of business. Just being able to rely on each other knowing that everyone is going through the same thing that you are, you really want to do that and go as hard as you can for your teammates."

DANGERFIELD ON NAISMITH TROPHY WATCH LIST
UConn incoming freshman Crystal Dangerfield is one of 25 girls' basketball players named to the midseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy.

Dangerfield, a senior guard at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn., is averaging 23.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.4 steals per game as a senior.

The national semifinalists will be announced on Feb. 10, the finalists on Feb. 24 while the winner will be announced on Mar. 10.

Another honor could be coming Dangerfield's way on Sunday as that is the day the 24 boys and girls players taking part in the McDonald's All-American Game will be announced. The squads will be revealed on the selection show airing on ESPNU from 10:30-11 p.m. It would be stunning turn of events for Dangerfield not be one of the 24 girls players selected to play in the Mar. 30 game at the United Center in Chicago.

My curiosity got the better of me.

During last night's game I tweeted that South Florida's Courtney Williams posted her fourth career 20-point game against UConn. I figured that the last time it happened, it was probably done by a Notre Dame player and I was correct.

Skylar Diggins actually had five 20-point scoring games against UConn while Natalie Novosel accomplished the feat four times. Williams is averaging 22.8 points in her last five games against UConn.

The Huskies certainly made Williams work as it took 25 shots for her to get the 26 points she scored last night. Pretty much every UConn player had their chance to guard Williams and watching live, Gabby Williams (no relation) seemed to be the most effective defender against the USF star. I joked to the other beat writers at the game that I would pay money to see a decathlon or heptathlon competition between UConn's Williams, who finished fifth in the high jump at the 2012 Olympic trials, and USF's Williams who also has an incredible vertical leap.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said that Williams is as difficult to guard as any player his team has played this season. Historically the Huskies have been effective containing the other team's top offensive option. Notre Dame (whether it was Diggins, Novosel, Kayla McBride or Jewell Loyd) did seem to be able to get shots for the players it wanted to get shots and the story is the same for Williams who has taken between 22-26 shots in the last five games against UConn.

"The outside shot was obviously on display and she does a really good job of stopping on a dime so you kind of have to stay in your stance and keep her guessing on what you are doing but at the same time you are trying to keep her in front of you so it is always a bit of a difficult task,"

UConn sophomore guard Kia Nurse said. There was one stretch when the 6-foot-4 Breanna Stewart was chasing Williams around and Stewart's length did make things challenging for Williams - for a while.

"That is when your competitive nature really starts flaring," Stewart said. "She is a great player and she can get her shot off quickly. You want to make her do things that she is not so good at which isn't a lot." Williams has at least one and as many as three games left against UConn so perhaps she will match Diggins' total of five 20-point games or even surpass that total.

NURSE A PEERFECT 50 FOR 50
There have been some pretty gaudy numbers associated with the UConn women's basketball program in recent years. The Huskies have the three of the four longest winning streaks in NCAA history and before the end of the month could have the top three marks. There was another number coming out of last night's win over USF that I didn't pick up on at the time. It was the 50th start for sophomore guard Kia Nurse and UConn's record in those games is 50-0.

It's not the first time this has happened as Tiffany Hayes started 54 games in her freshman and sophomore seasons as the Huskies posted back to back undefeated seasons but it is still rather impressive.

Geno Auriemma knows something about breaking any perceived gender barriers in the basketball world as he was the second men's head coach to win a Division I women's national title and only one to do it more than once. So who better to ask about former WNBA star Becky Hammon not only being the first female to be a head coach of a team in the NBA Summer League but also leading the Spurs to the summer league title?

"That is what we have been trying to tell everybody, if you are good at what you do, it is not that complicated," Auriemma said on Tuesday after he taped an interview with Michael Kay of the Yes Network in New York. "People think that the game of basketball is really complicated. It is really not. What is complicated is if you complicate your relationship with your players. When you look at Becky and she spent a year under maybe the best coach in the NBA (Gregg Popovich).

"She is probably really good at interacting with those guys 1 on 1 and getting them to believe in 'this is what we are doing, this is how we are going to do it.' That is not a gender thing. It has nothing to do with gender."

Many of the players who led the United States to the FIBA World Championship for Women in September and October were missing at the recently-completed national team training camp for a variety of reasons.

As a result there was an opportunity for some of the younger players to try to open some eyes.

"It's been pretty good because we have had a chance to see some of our veterans," UConn and U.S. coach Geno Auriemma said. "We've had a chance to bring out some of the younger guys to see what impact they can have in trying to figure out 'do our veterans still have what it takes, are they still at the level that they need to be.' We are missing a lot of guys from the World Championship team so it has given our players a chance to spend more time on the court, show us a little more of what they can do.

"I have seen the competitiveness, I have seen how much they have improved - the older guys - I have seen what the present looks like and ultimately what the future could look like."

Leading the list of the younger players were Jewell Loyd, the No.1 player taken in this year's WNBA Draft, current South Carolina star Tiffany Mitchell and former BYU center Jen Hamson.

"For them it has been a little bit of a struggle because they are so young so even compared to the guys who didn't make the team at the last world championships they are young," Auriemma said. "Forget that we've got veterans who made the world championship team, the guys who didn't make who were young. Bria Hartley is here, well Jewell Loyd and Tiffany Mitchell compared to Bria Hartley are still young so they have a ways to go to catch up to the guys that are at the second level. It was good for them to see what this is what I have to improve on and they all had their strengths, they all had their weaknesses and they all did things that make you glad that we invited them out, they had some success in the first two days and it is going to help them going forward. It is invaluable, you can't get this experience anywhere else."

So did Auriemma put out all the younger players at the same time or mix and match them with more experienced players?

"A little bit of both," Auriemma said. "We tried to be a little more flexible with that. Sometimes we have them out there with a lot of the young guys and try to figure out who can figure things out, sometimes we get them out there with some veterans. We try to give them a little different looks throughout practice and they have held their own. It is good to see."

Having gone through one full four-year cycle has allowed Auriemma to get a better sense of what he has to work with especially with those players who didn't play for him at UConn. He recruited many of those players and faced nearly all of them at some point during his time with the Huskies.

"You don't spend enough time around them to really know who they are but you do get a sense of 'this is why I recruited these kids,'" Auriemma said. "Obviously from when they are in high school to now they have changed but they are just like any other kid, they just come at it from a different perspective. My guys are sued to me and I am used to them but I enjoy being around those guys. They are fun to coach even though we competed against them all the time. Somebody like Angel McCoughtry is fun to coach. Seimone Augustus is great to coach, I love that. I really appreciate their talents. I enjoyed coaching against them and I enjoy being around them."

The Canadian national team, which includes UConn's Kia Nurse, announced its plans for the coming months which includes a two-week training camp beginning on Sunday in Edmonton and six international friendlies, three being played in Spain and three more in France before playing host to the Pan Am Games. It's a different situation for the U.S. Auriemma said the earliest the team could get together would be in late September with the players not in the WNBA conference finals taking part in another training camp.

UConn's Moriah Jefferson, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Breanna Stewart were named to the WBCA Region 1 team making their eligible for the WBCA All-American team.

Stewart leads UConn in scoring with an average of 17.1 points per game, is also the Huskies' top rebounder (7.1 per game) and second in assists, steals and blocked shots.

Mosqueda-Lewis, who averages 15 points per game, is the first player in program history to make more than 100 3-pointers in two different seasons.

Jefferson leads the team with 169 assists and 89 steals while contributing 12 points per game.

Former Hillhouse star Bria Holmes, a junior guard at West Virginia, is a member of the Region 5 team.

Also, UConn's Geno Auriemma was named the WBCA's Region 1 Coach of the Year making him eligible to be named the WBCA National Coach of the Year for a sixth time.

Everybody I've spoken to about UConn incoming freshman Napheesa Collier can't speak highly enough about one of the three recruits signed by the Huskies.

The folks at USA Basketball including those who coached her rave about her performance on the court and way she carries herself off the court. Incarnate Word Academy coach Dan Rolfes obviously has loved coaching Collier for the last three seasons.

The UConn coaches haven't been shy is expressing their praise of the 6-foot-1 forward.

Carl Adamec of the Manchester Journal Inquirer and I gave UConn coach Geno Auriemma another chance to talk up his incoming freshman after one of the press conferences at the subregional held at Gampel Pavilion.

Collier completed a dominant four-game run to lead Incarnate Word out of St. Louis to its third consecutive Missouri Class 4 title (one for each year Collier played there). Collier averaged 30 points (scoring 31, 31, 28 and 30 points in the tournament), 14.8 rebounds, 5.8 offensive rebounds, 3,5 assists, 4.3 steals and 5 blocks per game. She had a triple-double aided by a 10-steal game and another game with nine blocked shots. In the last three games of the tournament she was 40 of 50 from the field.

Obviously Auriemma was kind of busy here in Connecticut but he has seen Collier play enough that her postseason performance was not a surprise to him.

"She is a tremendous kid and their team wasn't as good as they were last year," Auriemma said. "They have a fabulous coach, he does a tremendous job and those kids are really lucky to be coached by a former college coach. I just think that goes a long way and they play really well together. she just kind of pulls it all into place because she is so versatile and so unselfish. I just love her as a person. She is a leader by nature, it just comes naturally to her and she is able to do it and it is kind of effortless. Some people have to work really hard at being (a leader).

"When you watch her play, you are amazed that she plays both ends of the floor equally hard. It is not some kids I see in high school, they do play both ends of the floor. You heard me say when they are on offense on this end, they play offense and when they are on offense  on that end, they play that end but rarely at the same time. She is one of those few kids who competes and competes really hard on both ends of the floor."

Collier finished her senior year averaging 26.7 points per game (shooting 70 percent from the field and 80 percent from the line), 13 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 4.1 steals and 4.1 blocked shots per game.

It didn't seem too long ago that 5,000 fans would show up hours before the one of the UConn women's basketball Midnight Madness events. Call it the SuperShow, First Night or whatever you like, the mere opportunity to see the players who figured to contend for a national title would always draw a crowd.
Then came the rows and rows of empty seats at Saturday night's NCAA tournament opener against St. Francis (N.Y.). The final attendance number was 3,666, the lowest for an NCAA tournament game at Gampel Pavilion since 2,585 showed up for the UConn/Clemson tilt back in 1990. Factoring in the large amount of fans from St. Francis, Rutgers and Seton Hall and the seemingly indifferent
response from Husky Nation resulted in a much lower turnout than most people expected.
"It is not indicative who our program is and what we have done to get to this point," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "It is kind of embarrassing. We took great pride in who we are, what we have done and how we have done it for all of these years. For that to happen, I am not pointing a finger at anybody but I just think it is embarrassing. I am not blaming anybody but I just know that in 2002 there would have been 3,600 people (at a UConn NCAA tournament games)."

From 1994-2003 UConn soldout every NCAA tournament home game. Yet, here were the Huskies being outdrawn by fans at Oregon State, South Florida and Florida State among others.

Some of the issues are a result in the change in how the subregionals are awarded and marketed. The days of being given a subregional and putting tickets on sale months in advance ended when the NCAA opted to have the top 16 seeds host the first and second rounds. When you add in UConn getting 9 p.m. start times both on Saturday and Monday and there was a recipe for a low attendance number. Auriemma believed some of it is just a case of UConn winning so often and by such large margins that coming to opening round NCAA tournament games isn't the hot ticket it used to be.
"I think it is indicative of all sports," Auriemma said. "Hey, let's go check it out and after a while 'oh, I'll watch it on TV.' I don't think that is any different whether that is in baseball, football or whether it is in any sport. There comes a point when 'what's the point? They are going to win.' Then they look for excuses why. It is the tickets are too expensive, it is what time the games are, it is the parking, it is where I am sitting, it is anything that you can imagine to justify it and who's to say they are wrong."
Auriemma wasn't the only person at UConn a little miffed at getting the latest start time on both Saturday and Monday.
"I don't know how all of those things are done. I would assume the TV networks said 'hey, we want UConn on at 9 p.m.,'" Auriemma said. "We have the same deal with SNY. If SNY says Saturday's game is going to be at 2, we play at 2. If they say it is at 4, we play at 4. There is no answer. If you are looking for an answer, there is no answer.
"It makes no sense to me and my fans. Somebody said to me before the tournament what is your ideal situation? I would have said Saturday at 4 and Monday night at 7 if it has to be Saturday/Monday or Friday at 7 and Sunday at 2. You look or windows where you know who our fan base is and get 8, 9 or 10,000. I don't make those decisions."